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Reign of Christ

Matthew 25
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'


Sometimes a week passes and ideas and stories wash over me. I do keep an eye out for interesting stories related the church or faith in general and I am usually rewarded with a variety of them. This week was not exception:

In an article called "Praise Jesus and pass the popcorn" the paper described "The Meeting Place," an Oakville-based church that has recently set up two satellite congregations that meet in empty movie theatres. The latest is at the Paramount at John and Richmond where young adults mostly in their 20's and 30's gather to hear a pre-recorded message from Pastor Bruxy Cavey. In total, the Meeting Place welcomes about 3000 people per week.

Another article, this time about the torture and execution of Christians in North Korea. Possessing a Bible is a capital offence, and despite this the church continues to meet in secret in the most repressive country on the planet. The article described other atrocities that are too shocking to mention in a sermon.

Finally, I spend part of Friday night in the basement of a church with 20 young teens and a handful of very patient volunteer leaders. The kids were clearly enjoying themselves and the hospitality extended. My only disappointment with the evening was that my normally outgoing son became quite shy at his first dance at Birchcliff Bluffs United Church.

It seems to me that the task of the preacher is to bring all of these things together under the umbrella of scripture and weave together something that speaks to the day, the "times" and the context where we do ministry. It needs to articulate, well-formed, and under 15 minutes. I love my work. Sometimes I mix my metaphors. But I love my work.

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34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

The easiest sermon from Matthew 25 is "we need to be doing more of this." It is the most common message that will leave pulpits this morning and in many or perhaps most places it will be true. The challenge for the preacher, in this context, is to formulate a message that is more than congratulatory in a setting where the hungry are fed, the thirsty given drink, the stranger welcomed, the naked clothed (with gently used clothing at reasonable prices!) and the sick and imprisoned visited.

What message will enliven a community that heard the Gospel call to care for the most vulnerable in society and responded in a remarkable way? What are the implications of the choices this congregation made and have these implications become manifest yet?

The common thread through the catalogue of need described in Matthew 25 is the extent to which these people are on the margins. Sickness in the Bible often denoted "contagion;" nakedness, shame and powerlessness; poverty with an absence of God's blessing. In each of these cases we are meeting the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society. And when we stop to help, as Jesus noted, we become one with them. (Texts, p. 577)

"Why," his critics asked, "does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

"Simple," Jesus said, "because it is not the healthy ones that need a doctor, but the sick." (Matthew 9.11ff)

Are we ready to join the margins as we minister to those on the margins? "'Lord," they will ask, "when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' It is goal of mission that it become seamless, a uninterrupted continuity where care will no longer recognize individual faces but see only the face of Christ. Helping brother, helping neighbour and helping stranger become one because they are one in the Risen Christ.

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I think the three stories I began with stayed with me because each posed a particular challenge to me as I ponder my own faith and the way I can convey this to you. I hope a minister beset by doubts and fears does not alarm you, and I hope that some of my musing meets some of your musing as we travel this road together.

In "Praise Jesus and pass the popcorn" I am confronted by more than a little envy. Why have I never experienced this type of church growth? Is it enough to say that it won't happen in our context or we don't preach the same message or whatever reasons we develop for being satisfied for what is rather that what could be? Do we make a study of it or do we dismiss it? I know one thing for certain: high expectations equals high commitment and low expectations equals low commitment.

In Korea, we are confronted by the past both ancient and modern. We remain comfortable describing persecution in early church and celebrate the faithful who risked their lives to safeguard the Gospel. When the persecution is happening at this moment, we become very uncomfortable. We talk about being sensitive to context, and interested in supporting indigenous religions, and don't like to be reminded of the 19th Century missionary movement that brought Christianity to Korea. I think we wish the whole situation would disappear, which is exactly what is happening in the face of the worst forms of repression.

Downstairs, among 20 young teens, I wonder how we convey the life-giving essence of our faith without scaring them away? I suppose it is enough to welcome them and remind them that this is a place where they are respected and cared for. They too live on the margins, wanting to be children when the world insists they grow up quickly and become consumers and adopt the values of the mainstream. We have an opportunity to show them another way, where we welcome them without hope of reward. This may be the last place that wants to get to know young people without trying to sell them something.

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The lesson of Matthew 25 is that we need to remain on the margins and continually determine what this means. Jesus will forever remain on the margins of a society where money and success and personal power are the pressing obsessions of the day. We try to follow a different path, but our own ties to the non-marginalized world hold us back. We are beset by doubts and fears because we live with some comfort in a world that those we serve will never experience.

The key is Jesus. On this, the day we call the "Reign of Christ" we imagine an alternate reality where his priorities become our own and we seek to serve the world with all the energy we have. We work through our uncertainly and remember that we never do this alone.

I want to give the last word to the late Henri Nouwen, who struggled in his faith journal with these same issues:

Jesus came among us as an equal, a brother. He broke down the pyramidal structures of relationship between God and people as well as those among people and offered a new model: the circle, where God lives in full solidarity with the people and the people with one another.

You will not be able to meet Jesus...full of doubts and fears. Jesus came to free you from those bonds and to create in you a space where you can be with him. He wants you to live the freedom of the children of God.

Do not despair, thinking that you cannot change yourself after so many years. Simply enter into the presence of Jesus as you are and ask him to give you a fearless heart where he can be with you. You cannot make yourself different. Jesus came to give you a new heart, a new spirit, a new mind, and a new body. Let him transform you by his love and so enable you to receive his affection for your whole being.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 9:00 AM