Reigning Compassion

23 November 2008
Carolyn L Roberts
Matthew 25.31-46

The nearly-irresistible fragrance of pumpkin pie, made from John’s home-grown sugar pumpkins and Aaron’s skills with pastries wafted through our house last weekend and again on Friday night. My sister-in-law would beg to differ–she’s not a fan of pumpkins in any form–but to me, it’s a homey, all’s right-with-the-world fragrance, one that I can’t help but associate with fall and family and warm memories of snow-frosted Thanksgivings long gone when our family traveled to Orofino, Idaho to join my grandparents for the holiday. But as wonderful as my mother’s and grandmother’s pumpkin pies were, they never held a candle to Aaron’s.

On this last Sunday before Thanksgiving, it’s tempting simply to give in to nostalgia and for a few glorious minutes, take the occasion to thank God, truly, to thank God for the many blessings we enjoy. We will do that with great intentionality this coming Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, at the 7:30 service we are sharing for the first time with Trinity United Methodist and Open Door Metropolitan Community churches. I hope you plan to attend, not only to be in worship and give thanks to God, but also to extend that thanksgiving in the extravagant welcome that is so characteristic of this congregation. Sadly, the images of the holiday run headlong into the headlines of the internet and papers and television, headlines that seem to provide graphic content to the sobering scripture we read just moments ago.

It’s a reading that makes us uncomfortable. We don’t like judgment; we don’t like stories which talk of end times or the separation of one group from another...especially if one of those groups is cast forever into eternal punishment where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Trust me, the gnashing teeth are there even if the text talks about eternal fire! Of course, the reality is there’s a lot of teeth-gnashing going on right now, and sheep and goats are being separated into those who receive an infusion of funds and those who don’t. The jury’s still out on some of the supplicants.

But what a strange, remarkable reading for the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the last Sunday of the Christian year. Two groups: one on the right, one on the left. Maybe it’s the side you always sit on. Maybe you sat there because you saw a friend. Those on the right fed the son of adam when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked, visited him in prison. And in our feeding and clothing and visiting, we discovered that we had everything in common with our sisters from Peru, our brothers from Somalia, our cousins among Chinese peasants and Afghani schoolgirls. We discovered that we had everything in common with undocumented workers and Smithfield Ham boycotters and Detroit auto workers. We discovered we had everything in common with our brothers and sisters from National City Christian’s Hispanic Ministry and Covenant Baptist’s ministry and Plymouth’s and Bethesda’s and First Congregational’s ministries. Because we on the right see the face of Jesus everywhere. And that’s not a bad thing. We can do a lot worse.[1,272]

Then there are those on the left...who have one thing in common with those on the right: we don’t see the face of Jesus......anywhere. We may act differently; but our perceptions are the same.[1,272] As Shakespeare would have it, there’s the rub.[Hamlet] How does our story put it? When did we see you? Hungry? Thirsty? A stranger? Named? Imprisoned? When did we see you? Doesn’t matter who’s asking the question–it’s the same question for the bleating goats and baa-ing sheep. Only we goats are genuinely surprised. We’ve been looking everywhere for the face of Jesus. But we keep missing it, and we are constantly surprised. Maybe we need new glasses.

Meanwhile, we sheep roll our eyes. We failed the test? We’re supposed to see Jesus everywhere and like the goats, we miss it every time? So what? What’s the point of looking for the face of Jesus anyway? Wasn’t there some Greek who spent a lifetime looking for an honest man? What’s the point? What a colossal waste of time!! Forget means testing; far better that we feed people who are hungry. Forget the business of a fence or anti-immigration laws; far better that we provide water in the desert.[1,273] In other words, this teaching suggests that the difference between the sheep and the goats has everything to do with behavior. Regardless of where we are, regardless of what’s going on, how do we treat other human beings? What more basic question could we consider when so much seems to be headed in a downward spiral?

The writer of Matthew places this story at the very end of his gospel. It’s Jesus’ final public teaching, the last lingering note before his crucifixion. The gospel’s very next sentence speaks directly to that harsh reality. So this is the message: even though the stock market makes a rabbit’s path look like a straight line, even though we are at war on two fronts, even though more than half a million people have joined the ranks of the unemployed in the last three months alone, even though our planet is in peril, we cannot allow fear to immobilize the very core of our responsibility and purpose. That’s Jesus’ message in the face of his own crucifixion, and it’s the same message now. And it’s good news.

Good news because we know that message has taken root here in this congregation...a congregation that gives countless hours and thousands of dollars to provide for the family about to lose its utilities, for the elderly man who can’t pay for his medications. Good news because we know that within this congregation we will find the spiritual backbone and personal support we need to face difficult days with faith and purpose. Good news because this congregation partners with other UCC congregations to ask why people are hungry and thirsty and naked and lonely and imprisoned...and then seeks to address the root causes of the issue. Good news because we know first-hand that fear does not have the final word. That word belongs to our still-speaking God, and it is the word of love in the face of fear, hope in the face of despair, resurrection in the face of death. What better reason to give thanks?

Pass the pumpkin pie!

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