Meditation for July 16, 2008

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Matthew 25:31-36 (The Message)

“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all this angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne.  Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as the shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goals to his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father!  Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom.  It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation.  And here’s why:

                I was hungry and you fed me,

                I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

                I was homeless and you gave me a room,

                I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

                I was sick and you stopped to visit,

                I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about?  When did we see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink?  And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’  Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling you the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.’

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats!  You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell.  And why?  Because -

                I was hungry and you gave me no meal,

                I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

                I was homeless and you gave me no bed,

                I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,

                Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about?  When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me - you failed to do it to me.’

“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Surprised By Heaven, Surprised By Hell

As Jesus tells this story of the Last Judgment, both the “sheep” and the “goats” are going to be surprised.  Both say, “Master, what are you talking about?  When did we see you hungry and feed you (or not feed you)?”  When did we see you thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and help (or not help) you?

It seems to me that this is a passage in the Bible that challenges us to deepen our understanding of the Incarnation.  The Incarnation - one of the essential and most mystical concepts within Christianity - is simply this: God took on human form.  God became one of us.  Remember the old song from a few years back?  The refrain when something like this: “What if God was one of us?  On the bus like one of us?”  For Christians, that song should not have seemed remarkable at all.  That is what we proclaim.  God is one of us, because He took on human flesh, and He was known as Jesus.

In this passage, Jesus seems to stretch our understanding of the Incarnation ever further.  Think of it as “Incarnation Plus”.  Jesus is, in effect, saying that He is Everyman, which perhaps has something to do with why his favorite phrase to describe himself was “Son of Man”.  He so fully identified with all of humankind, and especially those who were overlooked and despised, that He says, “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.”  (If you prefer the NRSV - “... as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”)

This is a truly remarkable thing that Jesus is saying, and maybe that is why, as he tells the story, both groups are surprised.  The righteous say, “What?  We were serving you, Jesus?”  And the cursed will also say, “What?  We were ignoring you, Jesus?”  In an age where all of us so much want to be “our own person”, Jesus fully identified with those around him.  More than that, He fully identifies with all of us on the earth today, too.  But so often, even when we read this story over and over again, we are near-sighted.  We only see the person in front of us - if we see that person at all.  We don’t see the face of Jesus, the body of Jesus, the spirit of Jesus - standing there in front of us. 

This Matthew 25 passage should come to mind whenever we renew our Baptismal Covenant, and we hear the question asked again, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”  And for good measure, we are also asked, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 305) Perhaps it is easier to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and respect the dignity of every human being, if we remember Jesus’ amazing claim: “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.”

Jesus is the person who is frustrating you and so many others at work, or at church.  Jesus is the person you are serving at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.  Jesus is the person whose blood pressure you are checking when you volunteer for St. Benedict.  Jesus is the person you are speaking to when you introduce yourself to a first-time visitor to St. Ambrose.  Jesus is the child you console after a rough day at school.  Jesus in the person holding up the sign on the street corner.  Jesus is your ailing parent who doesn’t recognize you anymore.  Jesus is the person you visit in the hospital or at the Boulder County Jail.

He is the Son of Man... Everyman... the “Incarnation Plus”.  And yet, sometimes it is so hard to recognize him - just as it was for the “sheep” and the “goats” Jesus talked about in Matthew 25.

In the end, He calls us to identify with Him.  He says, in effect, “See the people that I saw.  Talk to the people I talked to.  Offer healing to the same people that I healed.  Offer a word of hope to the same people that I gave hope to.  Don’t ignore them.  If you serve them, you are serving Me.  If you ignore them, you are ignoring Me.”

In whom will you encounter Jesus today?