A Sermon Preached at University Baptist Church, Columbus, Ohio
20 November 2011
- We are tempted to look at today’s gospel text as a parable, but, really, it is not – it is more like a statement in the tradition of the ancient prophets – it is a word from the Lord concerning, once again, the end time – and Jesus begins the statement with “When the Son of Man comes in his glory…” – and if you were here last week, you might recall that I said that the parable of the talents, which is not an allegory, sets the stage for this prophetic word
- In the parable of the talents, I said that the master and the two so-called good slaves describe how the world is – the world is a place where people value good business sense, in every negative connotation you can imagine for that term – the master is a harsh man who reaps where he has not sown and gathers where he has not scattered seed – he does not work for his wealth, he takes it from others – the two slaves he praises, the two who invest his money and double it, are people just like the master – they have acted much as he would have done – what he praises is that he sees himself in their profitable business dealings – they may be slaves, but they have good heads for making money
- I also said that if there is anyone in the story with whom Jesus’ disciples would have identified, that it is the third slave, the one the harsh master calls lazy, wicked, and worthless – the third slave is the one who defies the master even though he is afraid – he stands against the way of the world – he stands against reaping where one does not sow – he stands against the wealthy who oppress the poor – and for his pains, the harsh master takes away everything the slave has and throws him into the outer darkness – and I submit that the third slave is the one Jesus wants us to emulate – I believe Jesus want us to stand against unjust business practices and injustice – when we come to today’s text, we see some ways that we can do that
- Jesus’ prophetic statement here is not a prediction of the future – it is not a timetable or schedule of events – he is telling his disciples something about how to live their lives to please God – there will come a day, Jesus says, when everyone will stand before the Son of Man and Son of Man will judge their actions, placing “sheep” at the right hand and the “goats” at the left hand – the difference between the sheep and the goats, however, is not a matter of belief – Jesus does not say that the sheep have believed in God and in God’s work through Jesus while the goats have not believed – Jesus does not say that the sheep have held the correct dogmas and the goats have not – Jesus here says nothing at all about belief – he talks about action – he talks about people demonstrating who they are by what they do
- The sheep have seen Jesus hungry and fed him, seen him thirsty and given him drink, seen him as a stranger welcomed him, seen him naked and clothed him, seen him sick and taken care of him, and visited him in prison – this is a surprise to the sheep – they have no memory of seeing Jesus in any of these circumstances – and then comes the big reveal – any time the sheep have done these things, they have done them for Jesus – and the goats are the ones who did none of those things – the sheep receive the reward God has prepared for them since the foundation of the world – the goats receive nothing
- Do not get caught up in the idea of reward and punishment – what the text is about is about living in ways that are consonant with what we say – to me, this is what our University Baptist Church mission statement is about – it is about being and doing
- Our mission, in part, is to be the people God has made us and called us to be – our mission, in part, is to be authentic followers of Jesus Messiah – and we must never underestimate the value of being – being is central to living into the Vision of God – but being is only one part of the mission – we also strive to do – we strive to make authentic followers of Jesus Messiah – we strive to live lives of extravagant welcome and hospitality so that others will want to share in the journey, to share their stories with our stories
- Another way in which we strive to do is in our giving to others, in our service in the cause of Jesus Messiah in the world – we give of our time, our effort, our wealth, not out of guilt or out of coercion – we give because we have received – we give of ourselves because that is people of the Vision do
- In the Christian calendar, we call today the Reign of Christ – it is a time to remember the rule of Jesus in the lives of Christians and in the churches – it is a time to remember that God has created and continues to create all that is – all that we have and all that we are come from the hand of God
- In just a minute, you are going to have opportunity to discuss the concept of stewardship within the context of our mission – as we share stories with one another, may God be at the heart of our conversations – and may we always remember all that we are to be and to do as people of the Vision
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Tags: Matthew 25.31-46
