+==Sermonizing {006}==+

My Sermon from today (11/23) "A Different Kind of Thanks"

Will you picture this with me? Close your eyes, if you feel comfortable. You are walking downtown in Chicago. You are approached by a man with a ragged coat and a few missing teeth. He asks you if you have any change.

At this point, being completely honest with yourself, what is your reaction? No one is hearing this besides you so be real. What would you do?

Let’s change the scenario. What if you looked closer and beneath the brim of the hat, you see a friend of yours. Now what is your reaction?

One more scenario. You look even closer. It is Jesus. Now, despite the odds of this occurrence, what is your reaction?

What is the difference between each of these people for you?

Would you join me in prayer??

God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Out of personal experience, I know I have done this all before. We have helped so many people, but at the same time, we have not helped… so … many… people. Why is this? Why is it that we think its ok to help some but not all? To help our friends but not strangers? We look and make assumptions about whether we should help someone.

Our passage for today, Matthew 25, is a judgment passage. However, away from it being just that, I believe it is one of the most important scripture lessons for us in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that the sheep, the righteous, are the ones who gave him food when he was hungry. Who gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, they welcomed him when he was a stranger and clothed him when he was naked. They visited him when he was in prison and took care of him when he was sick.
Those to whom he is speaking are slightly taken aback. You can hear the tone in their voice. “And when was it what we did these things for you?’ You can almost see them nudging one another—“do you remember this? I don’t remember seeing him, I mean, when would he have been in prison??”—And Jesus says to 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.” Here’s where we as members of the church get excited. We think that this is fabulous. We have a ticket into Heaven because we have helped someone. I walked the crop walk, so I helped feed someone. I donated clothes, so I clothed someone. I visited a member of our church in the hospital, so I helped the sick… that’s three right? Ok so…

But wait. Didn’t Jesus say something about some people who didn’t feed the hungry? Who didn’t visit the imprisoned, or take care of the sick? Welcome the stranger or clothe the naked? Oh and what was it Jesus said to them? Oh yea, they will go away into eternal punishment. Now this is not to scare you or intimidate you. But this poses a serious question.

What do we do? Let me share a story with you.
In "Good Goats: Healing our Image of
God" Dennis, Sheila, and Matthew Linn write
about a presentation they made to a group of nuns
about this reading: "How many of you, even once in your life,
have done what Jesus asks at the beginning of this
passage and fed a hungry person, clothed a naked
person or visited a person in prison?" All
the sisters raised their hands. Dennis said,
"That's wonderful! You're all sheep."

Then Dennis asked, "How many of you, even
once in your life, have walked by a hungry person,
failed to clothe a naked person, or not visited
someone in prison?" Slowly, all the sisters
raised their hands. Dennis said, "That's too
bad. You're all goats."

The sisters looked worried and perplexed. Then
suddenly one very old sister's hand shot up. She
blurted out, "I get it! We're all good
goats!"

So what are we? Are we really bad sheep? Or are we are really good goats.

Let me say this before I get too ahead of myself. This is not me telling you to say a prayer or think about those who will not get food to eat this Thanksgiving. This is not about donating your leftovers to a homeless shelter…..Even though both of those are good things to do.

This is about something different. When we sit down to our meal where we will gorge ourselves with lots of food, we will most likely thank God for the things for which we are grateful. Well, I want you to be grateful for something new. Something different. We need to realize how COOL, how AWESOME it is that we have the ability to be Christ to the world. But more importantly that it is our responsibility to be Christ in the world.

It was Saint Theresa of Avila who said, “Christ has no body on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world, ours are the feet with which he goes about doing good, ours are the hands with which he blesses his people.”

Wow. Did you hear that?? Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world. We are Christ to the world. Talk about building the Kingdom of God.

How does this change your view of what you have done and plan to do? The Message version of the Bible, a great interpretation by Eugene Peterson says in Proverbs 3, “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor, “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money is right there in your pocket.” End quote. I know that, for example, on my journeys downtown in Chicago, my home town of Battle Creek, and in Washington D.C. that when I see some people I tell them, “Nope, sorry, I don’t have anything on me.” Only to look down and see a $5 dollar bill in my purse. And it used to be because I was afraid of what they might do with the money… drugs, alcohol… I told a friend of this issue and she told me that we just have to trust. We have to put our faith in God that the person will make the right decision. If God entrusts us with this world, so much so that we are to do God’s work here, then shouldn’t we trust these people who are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in Christ, with what we give them?

I heard once that if you truly know Christ. WHEN you truly know Christ you live and breathe the love and compassion of Christ without having to think twice. When we don’t have to think twice about giving, that is when I believe you or I for that matter, are on the right path with God. .That is when you are truly the model of Christ in the world. When we live love. When we breathe love. We live and breathe compassion instinctively. When we know Christ we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet.

Our Psalm for today, Psalm 100, tells us
“Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

We are the sheep of God’s pasture. So if we are claimed by God as sheep and only doing the work of goats, how does that work?

In the Message version, again, it says, “God made us. We did not make God.” So often we find ourselves caught in this place of judgment and assumption. Judging those who we meet on the streets. These actions are us making God. We are attributing actions to God that we do not and cannot know. Because we reflect who God is, we are making God to be one of judgment. But God made us. God made you and you and you and me, the person you saw on the street begging for money last time you went downtown, the person who asked you for help of some sort. God made each one of us. And we are to show our compassion, our Godly compassion, to them.

This is not a new notion. The idea that we might do something to help others. It was suggested by Barbara Brown Taylor that we must have a “doing theology.” That is, “one which consists of not having a faith but doing faith.” St. Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

Taylor also tells us that in the end it will be known “how we behaved when we thought God was not around.” Not just in church, but in everyday encounters with others, all children of God. “We are called into relationship,” she continues, “even when that relationship is unlikely, momentary, or sad. We are called to look at each other and see Christ...” (The Preaching Life).

We are CALLED to look at each other and see Christ. This wasn’t a wimpy rule God made up for the fun of it. It’s not a rule that was meant to be broken. We are CALLED. Just as we are called to our vocations, our families, our churches. CALLED to see Christ. It is just that important.

So now that we have all that figured out. Or, at least exposed, what are we to give thanks for, then?

Again, this is not about being grateful for all that we have because we have been blessed, because we have not been blessed more than anyone else. This is about being thankful for seeing Christ in the homeless. The poverty stricken. The sick. The imprisoned. The naked. The thirsty.

It is about being thankful for this calling we have as Disciples of Christ. This calling which permeates our being so much so that others see the face of Christ in us. That is something for which we should be thankful.

Be thankful. Be thankful for your ability to be Christ to the world. Be thankful for others to have this CALLING. Be thankful for seeing the face of Christ in everyone we meet.

Be thankful

It may be a different kind of thanks, but it is a good kind of thanks.

Amen.