November 26, 2023
Eyes that See
Matthew 25:31-46
Rev. Shannon Jordan
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.’
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
As you heard this story…where did you imagine yourselves in the story? I am guessing that no one identified as the king or Jesus. I am guessing many of us thought of the ways that we have cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or the prisoner. Some of us probably listed the goats in our lives or world—those who don’t care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, or the prisoner. Some of us may have looked at our lives and recognized we all have some goat in us and some sheep in us—and some of us chose our church because it so highly emphasizes the care of others and to be a part of a church that gives us opportunities to serve others.
Many of you know that FPCA is a Matthew 25 church. We are one of the almost 1200 Matthew 25 congregations in our denomination. This passage defines and shapes our denominational initiative that focuses on building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. If you have spent much time at FPCA you know that caring for the least of these is so important to our identity. As a matter of fact, next week we will join the other churches in the Church Street Collaborative for an alternative gift fair called Loaves and Fishes supporting local non-profits caring for the least of these. Additionally, Patrick preached on this passage in light of our Matthew 25 commitment in January of this year, and I encourage you to revisit that sermon.
This week we are going to explore this passage on a more personal level than the wider collective. I read in one commentary that using this passage as a motivator to care for the poor has only been a preaching direction since mid 1800’s![i]
Prior to that, this passage was used to comfort Christians who were in distress. Christians who would identify as “the least of these.”
When Matthew was written, Christians were being persecuted. They had been scattered with the Jews with the fall of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE. Because they often didn’t participate in the various guilds and organizations that were organized around the Roman gods to support the Roman economy, they were economically disadvantaged.
In The Message and the Kingdom, Horsley and Silberman share that the “same conditions of poverty and powerlessness that attracted some Jewish peasants and townspeople to seek relief and escape in the expectation of God’s Kingdom through membership in the Jesus Movement attracted Godfearers and sympathetic pagans and motivated them to undergo baptism and join in the celebration of the Eucharist.” (p.119)
Added to this, the stories of a risen prophet—one who was publicly killed by the Empire, that gave people hope… the apocalyptic language found in Matthew 24 and in Revelation as well as other places told people that God is stronger and more powerful than the Roman Empire. Hang on. God wins. Even now Christ is King. People were drawn to the hope of a risen Christ in light of the struggles of their world and still are today.
Christians were assumed to be followers of Jesus who had chosen to live humbly. Those who had chosen to turn the other cheek. Those who had put the needs of others before their own needs. People who as Jesus said in Matthew 20: whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
I went back and read what Calvin and Luther both said about Matthew 25—and their writings were firmly in the Reformation and against the excesses of the papacy. There were parallels drawn between the Jewish elite and the Catholic elite.
Luther stated:
The words of this Gospel are in themselves clear and lucid. They have been given both for the comfort and encouragement of believing Christians, and for the warning and terror of others, if perchance, they might be of help to them.[ii]
The expectation in Matthew’s day, as well as during the Reformation from Luther and Calvin’s point of view, is that it would be the Christians who are poor, hungry, thirsty, and in prison. The sheep and the goats were the ones who either showed compassion to the Christians—or those who didn’t.
That Christians are the least of these is not our contemporary expectation—at least not in the United States. Today, those who care for the least of these are the sheep and those that do not are the goats. So how do we use this passage as both encouragement and warning as Luther indicated?
It is worth noting that our passage today, is part of the last teaching narrative in Matthew and actually begins in Matthew 24 with two sermons—The Sermon of the Signs and The Sermon of the End of the World. This teaching begins with Jesus responding to his disciples asking when Jesus would return and when the world would end.
Jesus starts by warning his disciples to not be deceived when others come and say they are Messiah. He said there would be wars and threat of wars but they are not to panic. There will be famines and earthquakes; the disciples will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. They will be hated all over the world. There are also some more apocalyptic passages that seem more at home in Revelation than in Matthew about how no one will know when Jesus will come again—so “do” life knowing that Jesus could come back at any time. Matthew then goes on to the parable of the ten Bridesmaids or late bridegroom with the reminder to stay ready that David preached on two weeks ago. That is followed by Patrick’s sermon from last week on the talents and the reminder for us to do our best with what God has given us.
On this backdrop of God’s work in redeeming our world, what is our role? What do we do?
The word that jumped out at me as I read and re-read this passage is the word, “saw.”
“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”
Or the converse, when the accursed did not see?
How do we get eyes that see?
On November 5th, Patrick preached on the Beatitudes. He told us that we will be blessed when we are near the grieving, the poor, the peacemakers, the hurting, the least of these. When we are near them, in proximity to them we see them differently. We have a better idea of what they need, what they don’t need and what they experience.
How do we become people who see Christ in others? How do we become people that have eyes that see and have hearts that act?
How many of you wear some sort of glasses or contacts? Cataract surgery? How many of you didn’t realize you needed them as badly as you did? How many were content with how you see but now that you can see more clearly, can’t imagine life without them?
Recently I had my spiritual eyes checked. I tripped over my dishwasher. The congregation has been amazing in their care of me and encouragement to me. I have felt so seen with the many cards, texts, emails, and kind words. The food and the flowers. I felt loved and cared for by my church. That said, I quickly learned who of you had learned the hard way what it meant to be one handed. Not just the pain or cast after surgery—but the realization that what clothes I could wear would change. No doing buttons. The challenges of putting on deodorant one handed. The pain when your wrist would go below your heart. The list seems endless. I am thankful for those who helped cut food, have driven me around, carried my lemonade at Wednesday night supper, and so much more. My eyes now see the challenges of being one handed. When people have broken wrists, shoulders, or even knee or hip replacements—I will now have a new lens for the impact on sleep, the brain fog, the countless PT appointments and the hard course on being patient.
We have a group of people at the church who have through life experiences gained eyes that see and hearts that feel a call by God to use that vision to care for others. They see the grieving, the lonely, the exhausted, the sick, the recovering—and use this vision to serve others. They serve in countless ways officially and unofficially on our deacon teams. We have people who meet together twice a month to pray for and write cards to members of our congregation who are struggling. They also send birthday cards. Each person is prayed over by name. Who has received a card?
We have people who help prep meals on Wednesday nights to care for our families and prepare food for those who could use a boost from their church. We have served dozens of meals to people in our church family who just need to know their church sees their struggles and cares about them. We have a visitation team that takes apart the flowers from worship and then delivers to people who need to know that their church sees their pain and is thinking of them.
We have volunteers with our children and youth who hear and care for our youngest when their families are struggling. That listen and pray with them when they are afraid, disappointed, or anxious. They pray for our children and teens and their families.
If you are feeling a tug now in any of these areas, let me know. We would love to find a place for you to use your experiences in serving others in this way.
We are headed into the holidays…. Advent starts officially next week. Advent is a time that we look back at Jesus’s birth and we look forward to Jesus’s second coming and redemption and healing of our world. We have actually spent the last several weeks in a pre-Advent as we have looked forward to God’s full glory reigning here on earth. As we move into the Advent season, join me in praying that the Spirit of God give us eyes to see the Christ in others. Let us see on this Christ the King Sunday the hope that Christ and the church have for a world that is hungry and thirsty physically and spiritually. A world of people who are lonely and grieving. Help us be the church that through the power of the Spirit we are able to love others in the name of Jesus. Our world, our neighbors, need this hope now as much as ever.
Thanks be to God.
[i] https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/what-did-jesus-have-against-goats/
[ii] https://sermons.martinluther.us/Luther_Lenker_Vol_5.pdf p. 338.