Christ the King. A.11; Ezek 34:11-17; 1Cor 15:20-28; Matthew 25:31-46
Today we meet a rather odd King, “He will sit upon his glorious throne … as a shepherd.” Mt 25:31-32 Matthew places two contrasting images together: an all powerful, punishing king in strong contrast to the compassionate shepherd. Matthew has our attention.
Once there was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it would be a long trip to where God lived, so he packed a suitcase full of Twinkies and cans of root beer (his two favorite foods) & set off on his journey. He had only gone a few blocks when he passed an older woman, sitting on a park bench & just staring at some pigeons. She looked sad & lonely, so the boy went over & sat down next to her. He opened his suitcase, took out a package of the Twinkies and offered it to her. She gratefully took it & smiled at him. Her smile was so warm and wonderful that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a can of his root beer. Once again, she took it & smiled at him. The boy was delighted. They sat there all afternoon, eating the Twinkies, drinking the root beers and watching the pigeons, without saying a word to each other. As it grew dark, the boy realized that he had better get started home and got up to leave. But before he had just a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the older woman and gave her a big hug. She gave him the biggest smile of all.
When the boy got home, his mother noticed how happy he seemed. So she asked him what he had done all day. He told her: "I had lunch with God. And you know what? She has the most beautiful smile that I've ever seen." Meanwhile, the older woman had returned to her home. Her son also noticed how happy and contented she seemed so he asked her what she had done that had made her so happy. She said to him: "I sat in the park and ate Twinkies with God. You know, he's much younger than I expected."
(Source: esermons.com/Meeting God/Strayhorn)
Each one found God. Did you “see” the face of God in this story?
Now a little theology….
Walter Brueggemann has suggested that the “big idea of the OT” is that the God is a God in relationship, ready & able to make commitments to a series of “partners” who are thereby empowered to make a difference in the world. God makes partners with: Israel, creation, all nations & with each human being, but in a very special way- with the least ones among us. In the uniquely Matthean judgment scene, Jesus explains: “Whatever you did for the least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus insists that our respect for his partnership with the poor will be the criteria of our
2 final judgment. We show our respect in simple ways: offering food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, welcome to strangers,
care to the ill and imprisoned.
In ministering to these least ones, we do so to Jesus himself. In the process, he ministers to us by feeding our needs, healing our ills, calming our fears & encouraging our hope. In each act of kindness for the poor, our partnership with Jesus grows stronger. In the end this partnership will be the only thing that travels with us through the passage of death to everlasting life. Only love travels between time & eternity.
And within that relationship mercy has pride of place. Th. Aquinas said that: mercy is the chief attribute of God.” Even its name gives it away: from the Hebrew word for “Womb”/rahamin. Mercy is “the perfection of justice, the deep sigh in the depths of reality.”(JP II).
Remember that for us, judgment means to decide, to determine guilt and allocate punishment. But for God, judgment means to justify, to make good, to reconcile, to make right. God does not simply decide if we are just. God makes us just. As a printer justifies columns, as a carpenter justifies planks.
Do we suppose that the unpleasant experience of Jesus made him change his view of life, his approach to the human condition?
Did he give up on his ideals & decide to get practical, to play by the rules of the world?
Did he wish he had let the sick suffer instead of healing them?
Did he regret forgiving people who killed him?
No. Jesus wanted to reconcile things on a higher level, to justify everything. He died to save us to give us room & space to live.
Today we meet a rather odd King, “He will sit upon his glorious throne … as a shepherd.” Mt 25:31-32 Matthew places two contrasting images together: an all powerful, punishing king in strong contrast to the compassionate shepherd. Matthew has our attention.
Parables are mean to turn us around! First a story….
Once there was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it would be a long trip to where God lived, so he packed a suitcase full of Twinkies and cans of root beer (his two favorite foods) & set off on his journey. He had only gone a few blocks when he passed an older woman, sitting on a park bench & just staring at some pigeons. She looked sad & lonely, so the boy went over & sat down next to her. He opened his suitcase, took out a package of the Twinkies and offered it to her. She gratefully took it & smiled at him. Her smile was so warm and wonderful that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a can of his root beer. Once again, she took it & smiled at him. The boy was delighted. They sat there all afternoon, eating the Twinkies, drinking the root beers and watching the pigeons, without saying a word to each other. As it grew dark, the boy realized that he had better get started home and got up to leave. But before he had just a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the older woman and gave her a big hug. She gave him the biggest smile of all.
When the boy got home, his mother noticed how happy he seemed. So she asked him what he had done all day. He told her: "I had lunch with God. And you know what? She has the most beautiful smile that I've ever seen." Meanwhile, the older woman had returned to her home. Her son also noticed how happy and contented she seemed so he asked her what she had done that had made her so happy. She said to him: "I sat in the park and ate Twinkies with God. You know, he's much younger than I expected."
(Source: esermons.com/Meeting God/Strayhorn)
Each one found God. Did you “see” the face of God in this story?
Now a little theology….
Walter Brueggemann has suggested that the “big idea of the OT” is that the God is a God in relationship, ready & able to make commitments to a series of “partners” who are thereby empowered to make a difference in the world. God makes partners with: Israel, creation, all nations & with each human being, but in a very special way- with the least ones among us. In the uniquely Matthean judgment scene, Jesus explains: “Whatever you did for the least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus insists that our respect for his partnership with the poor will be the criteria of our
2 final judgment. We show our respect in simple ways: offering food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, welcome to strangers,
care to the ill and imprisoned.
In ministering to these least ones, we do so to Jesus himself. In the process, he ministers to us by feeding our needs, healing our ills, calming our fears & encouraging our hope. In each act of kindness for the poor, our partnership with Jesus grows stronger. In the end this partnership will be the only thing that travels with us through the passage of death to everlasting life. Only love travels between time & eternity.
Back to Matthew’s jarring judgment scene…..
Jesus is God incarnate. God is in relationship with us, physically.And within that relationship mercy has pride of place. Th. Aquinas said that: mercy is the chief attribute of God.” Even its name gives it away: from the Hebrew word for “Womb”/rahamin. Mercy is “the perfection of justice, the deep sigh in the depths of reality.”(JP II).
All things come home to this place of mercy.
And at the heart of the mercy seat is Jesus, God’s own Son, the One who would not break a tender reed or snuff a flickering candle. He chose to be not the Lord of all, but the Shepherd of Life. He was the One who refused to judge even a small matter over a family inheritance. Granted, he has the role of judge at the Last Scene,
…yet his view of judgment is not the same as ours.
Remember that for us, judgment means to decide, to determine guilt and allocate punishment. But for God, judgment means to justify, to make good, to reconcile, to make right. God does not simply decide if we are just. God makes us just. As a printer justifies columns, as a carpenter justifies planks.
Do we suppose that the unpleasant experience of Jesus made him change his view of life, his approach to the human condition?
Did he give up on his ideals & decide to get practical, to play by the rules of the world?
Did he wish he had let the sick suffer instead of healing them?
Did he regret forgiving people who killed him?
No. Jesus wanted to reconcile things on a higher level, to justify everything. He died to save us to give us room & space to live.
At this Liturgy, do not live in fear, but be honest at the end …
what will you bring to the Great King, the Good Shepherd?
(Sources, W. Bruggermann, An Unsettling God: the Heart of the Hebrew Bible; Celebration 11/20/11;)