A Challenge

Jesus said to his disciples: “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 brothers and sisters of mine, 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.”

Matthew 25: 31-46

We have two very different revelations of Jesus today. The first is Jesus in his great glory, with the angels of heaven, and the second is of Jesus in the poor, in the naked, in the sick and in prison. Two opposing ways that he desires to reveal himself. One in his great glory, and one in the every day-to-day.  

But I think because we have heard this reading so often we can underestimate what Jesus really says. What if we were to say: When I bullied you, you did not forgive me. When I irritated you so much, you did not have patience with me. When I asked you for help on your stressful day, you exploded on me. When I hurt you, tested you, or ignored you, you did not welcome me. When I was the victim of racism or a racist joke, you did not stand up for me. When I lived the reality of war, you did nothing to help me. When I was homeless and begged for money on the side of the street, you locked your doors, or crossed the street. When I asked for 5 minutes of your time on your way out, you did not hear me. 

It hits home a little more when we rephrase what Jesus says in the passage above into our own situations. Why is that? It's because we can often think that some parts of our lives are outside the scope of God. But in reality, God's love, God's divine plan reaches every corner of our life and our action. There is no separate area that is ours verses what is Gods. No. All of it is God's. 

You see, the gospel is meant to be challenging. God's love isn't our way of approaching the world. What seems to be impossible, or unthinkable, is exactly what God calls us to work towards. His love is by very nature, greater than we can ever imagine or give- that's why Adam and Eve were kicked from the garden- because they broke God's, divine love. But Jesus today offers us an introspection of looking into God's all-consuming love. A love that challenges us to be better. A love that's supposed to transform how we approach our world.  We aren't full disciples until we allow his love to penetrate every area of our lives, and until we put it into action. 

Mike