Seeing Jesus… in “the least of these”
Are you on a reward program for your favorite coffee place? Or do you like to collect credit card points or “miles”? I know people who have travelled to amazing places – Alaska, New Zealand, and others just by using various “Point” systems.” I’m a bit of a novice but I like to think I’m being a “Savy shopper” when I collect points – which I think of as basically an electronic way of clipping coupons and watching for sales before buying something.
But one day I met a woman who takes “points” a lot more seriously than I do. This woman, I’ll call her Amy, had befriended a friend of mine who was needing some help cleaning out stuff after a death in her family. Amy was friendly and seemed to love to clean and sort and just be helpful.
One day after church I stopped by my friend’s house and Amy was excited to tell me about the latest opportunity that she had had to help someone out.
She had found a man’s wallet on the street and was overjoyed that she was able to reconnect him with his wallet. I’m sure the man was grateful too. So I smiled and said, “Nicely done Amy! That’s another star in your crown!” To which she nodded and then replied, “well… I think it should be worth two points because I not only found it but went out of my way to reconnect him with it. And my friend here gets an “assist” because she helped me find his number,” So I think that’s two points for me and a point for my friend are going in the book. And then she smiled with contentment.
I stopped smiling. “You’re not serious are you? I mean, you don’t really believe that what you do earns you points in a book?” That’s not how God works.
Amy replied a bit defensively, “Well, yes. You know, the book! In Revelation it talks about the book where everyone is judged. There are are names written right there – with our deeds beside them.
At that moment, I realized that Amy interpreted the book of Revelation quite literally and a lot differently than I do. I then dawned on me that the reason she was so helpful to everyone she met was to gain credit, to get points to assure her spot in the kingdom of heaven. I still had my collar on and it was starting to get hot. I said, “I do not believe that what we do earns us salvation. Salvation is a gift of God. Salvation comes from Jesus who died for us out of his great love and grace.”
Amy persisted, “But the book. It all gets written in the book!”
I had to leave. Amy wasn’t going to listen to me – or change her mind. She firmly believes that everything that she does gets written in a book and that one day, she will be judged based on her actions alone. She’s working hard to make sure she’s got enough points. … By the way, Revelation says nothing about points.
On one level, today’s Gospel seems to confirm Amy’s position. The king doesn’t ask the sheep or goats what they believe. Instead, he sorts them on the basis of what they did, and how they treated, “the least of these.”
Jesus tells a story, a parable, about the judgment of the nations. It is the last parable in a series that Jesus is telling his disciples about the kingdom of heaven. In prior parables, Jesus teaches them who God is: God is extraordinarily generous, ready to forgive and abounding with grace and love. In this final parable, Jesus teaches them who they are and how they are to act as followers of Jesus.
In short, they/ we are to act like Jesus. Jesus fed the 5,000; we are to feed the hungry. Jesus gave life-giving water to the woman at the well; we are to give a drink to the thirsty and take care of the water supply. Jesus welcomed outcasts, lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors and Samaritans. We are to welcome refugees, immigrants and the stranger – even if they don’t look like us, talk like us or even vote like us.
Throughout his ministry Jesus cares for those who are poor, hungry, thirsty, homeless, imprisoned or vulnerable in any way. And in this parable, we see that not only does Jesus care for them, but Jesus as “the king” identifies with them and becomes one with them to the point that he says, “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Jesus invites his disciples and us to do more than be able to recite the commandments to love God and love the neighbor. We are invited to care for the stranger, for the one in need--not to rack up points and not to justify ourselves but just because that is the kind of person that God has called us to be. Jesus says, “A good tree bears good fruit.” You are made to bear good fruit. And like the good tree, the righteous in our parable bear the good fruit of loving kindness without even knowing it. It's just the way they are.
Looking back through the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us other clues about who we, as followers of Jesus, are called to be. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t say you are like salt – but proclaims: “You are the salt of the earth.”Matt 5:13 “You are the light of the world”Matt 5:14. And this is why Jesus calls us to the promise we received at baptism1, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.”Matt 5:16 Goodness knows the world needs some common sense - salt, a whole lot of light and lots more people who look at those in need and see Jesus and respond with love and care.
But in our world today – it seems a tall order and becoming more rare. The news is full of horrible images of just how unloving people can be to one another. Innocent people killed or used as hostages. Children, families, hospitals hit by incessant bombing. Looking at the desolation from across the ocean, it’s easy to simply point the finger – maybe at one side, maybe at both.
But the challenges of loving the neighbor aren’t just “over there.” Political discourse has become divisive and mean-spirited and is tearing communities and even some families apart. I know one household in which the matriarch declared at the beginning of the meal that there would be no political conversation – she declared that she would have peace at her table. Some of you may be wondering about instilling that rule at your Thanksgiving table too. It’s hard to see Christ in your neighbor’s face when we have difficulty seeing it in the face of our own families.
And yet, what would happen if we – you and I – tried to see the face of Jesus in the faces of those who are considered, “those people” in your mind. What difference would it make in the way that we treated “them?”
While I was writing this sermon, I got a call on the church phone. It was a woman asking if we had any gas cards. I smiled and hoped that we did. I mean, when you are writing a sermon about welcoming the other because it may be Jesus, I was sure hoping that we had a gas card to offer. I checked. We did. Phew. I invited her to stop by. When she came, she asked, “Are you doing anything for Thanksgiving?” Surprised, I said, “Just having dinner with family. You?” She said, “No, I mean at the church?” “Oh,” I said, “Yes! We are having a Thanksgiving eve service at 7PM – with pie afterwards. Come and join us if you can!” She smiled and said, “Thank you. I might.”
So, if you see a woman or a man that you don’t know at our Thanksgiving Eve Worship and pie on Wednesday night, be sure to stop and talk with her or him. Invite her or him to join you for a piece of pie. It may be Jesus.
Here’s an experiment for this week – or maybe this month – or to the end of the year: Try to see the face of Christ in those who you or those in your tribe would consider “other”. What could happen? Will you treat that person differently? Let me know. It might be just be a blessing. For this is the life that Jesus calls us to embody. Love the neighbor. Feed the hungry. Give water to the thirsty. Care for the stranger, the refugee, the one who is vulnerable. Because, Jesus says, when you do, you are caring for me. Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, may the eyes of your heart be enlightened so that you may see Jesus. Amen
1Dirk Lange, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/christ-the-king/commentary-on-matthew-2531-46-4
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church + November 19, 2023 + Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane