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Matthew 25 is put together to be Jesus’ sermon on how we should live our lives ready for the day when God’s kingdom will come. It consists of 3 parables.
The Parable of the 10 bridesmaids asks us, “Are we ready to be God’s light in the world?”
The Parable of the Talents (which was the reading for last week) asks, “Will we share what we have been given?”
And the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats asks, “Who do we share with?”
Picture of depiction of Jesus by Timothy Schmaltz.
Who is it?
What do you see?
(Discussion)
This statue is called Jesus the Homeless. Timothy Schmaltz was inspired to create it after seeing a homeless man in Toronto (and hearing in his mind part of our parable: “When was it we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and clothed you?”). The sculpture itself has had trouble finding a home. It was rejected by St. Michael’s in Toronto, St. Patrick’s in New York City, and a spot across from Westminster Abbey in London. It sat in a warehouse for over a year. The first cast now sits in front of a theological school in Toronto, and a rendering was installed in the Vatican in 2016. Replicas are now found in Canada, the United States, India, Spain, and Ireland.
This is Christ the King Sunday. When we picture Christ the King, we would be forgiven if we imagine the royalty we see in our world. All decked out in finery, in beautiful carriages, with escorts and fanfare. But our parable turns that around. No, it says. To see Christ the King, you have to look at—the least of all of us, the one no one is paying any attention to.
I was really struck by the lyrics of a song by Julie Jennings and Susan Drake called “The Stranger.” I’d like to read it to you.
I come in all colors
All colors of skin
I’m Overweight
And I’m Born-again
I can’t hear and I am blind
I can’t walk and I’ve lost my mind
But I heard it rumored I could find love here,
Without being judged, without being feared,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
I’m the last and the least,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
Tax Collector, leper, the thief,
I’m the rich old lady afraid to go outdoors,
I’m the welfare mother, mother of four,
I’m the banker who stole your best piece of land,
I’m the guy on death row who shot your best friend,
But I heard it rumored I could find love here,
Without being judged, without being feared,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
I’m the last and the least,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
Tax Collector, leper, the thief,
I show up clean shaven and hide all my sins,
I show up in rags and I smell to boot,
I got dirt on my face, and I can’t read
I’m the drunk you stepped over down in the street
But I heard it rumored I could find love here,
Without being judged, without being feared,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
I’m the last and the least,
Take me in, I’m a stranger
Tax Collector, the leper, the thief.
The story of the sheep and the goats is a reminder that Jesus shows us a radical, “upset the apple cart,” view of the world. It asks us not just to believe that that is the way God sees the world, it asks us to make it the way WE see the world.
It is much easier to sing “Crown Him with many Crowns,” than to think of Jesus homeless lying on a park bench. And that says something about us.
It says we need to hear the story again. It says we need to open our ears once more. It says we need to sit at Jesus’ feet and take in all he has to say to us. And that is what we will start to do next week, for another time—as the Christian year ends with Christ the King and begins again next week with Advent. Advent, the story of Christ coming back, even as we remember Christ coming the first time, not as a celebrated royal, with birth announcements on facebook or twitter or Instagram, and a splashy spread in the papers. No, Jesus, the son of God, was born to a young girl and her fiancée, in a backwater town, in a shed behind an overcrowded inn, in the muck and mire of a stable.
And the fact that Jesus was once one of the ones we might never have noticed, or paid any attention to, should give us pause. The parable of the sheep and the goats doesn’t just tell us to reach out, to notice the others, the stranger, in our midst. It doesn’t just make that a sign of being ready for God’s kingdom. It goes further. The I AM who Moses met at the burning bush and at the top of the mountain, is no longer far away from us and our everyday lives. I AM is right here. And God’s kingdom is right here as well, if only we have the eyes to see.
Matthew 25 pleads with us. Be like the bridesmaids who have extra oil, ready for the approach of the bridegroom.
Be like those who share their talents and make more for their Master.
Be like the sheep who “unawares” entertain and care for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
For truly, Christ is among us.
Alleluia, Amen.
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