the least of these

The gospel reading for Christ the King Sunday was from Mathew 25.  It is a parable, a story Jesus' tells about the Kingdom of God. This is not a very Lutheran parable.  I don’t like the consequences.  Because It sounds as if Jesus is saying that in the end what really counts are your good works, your charity toward the least among you. It sounds like the end of the age will bring divine judgment that will separate the sheep from the goats;  the ones on the right are the righteous who will enter heaven, the ones who-- unbeknownst to them-- had served their King by serving the least among them.  And the unrighteous are sent to hell for having not realized that they had not served their king by ignoring the basic needs of the least.  That’s what it sounds like.  In the end God judges us by our charity toward the least.  And Lutherans don’t believe this. We believe that we are all sinners before God, that the cross and resurrection of Jesus makes us righteous, not our works or deeds.  We believe that we are justified by grace through faith, apart from works of the law. That means that reconciliation with God is not something we accomplish, but something that we receive.  At best we might say that good works flow out of a right relationship with God. We might say that the righteous ones in Jesus’ parable are the ones who have come to know and trust the God made known through the ministry of Jesus and his church and have then come to live as Kingdom people.  

But Matthew’s gospel points to the ethical demands of the law, to love God is to love the neighbor and to love the neighbor is to tend to the needs of the very least of these.  According to the parable, like it or not, there will be some who are judged unworthy before God. But Lutherans also believe that we cannot choose Christ, but that we are chosen and claimed by the Holy Spirit.  We cannot by our own reason or understanding believe in King Jesus or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me in the gospel… So why does God punish people who do not know the reason why they are being punished? Seems unfair.   And who are the least?  Is that subjective? Determined by whom?  Have we served the least or do we need to go to Haiti or Ethiopia to do that?  Is it even possible to know before the judgment day that you have done what God commands?  And if not, the judgment seems rather precarious and frightening.  I don’t like to believe that there are ultimate, eternal consequences that I must face which I cannot by my own knowledge control or address.  I want assurance of God’s love and mercy. This parable does anything but offer assurance.  This shepherd King separates the good from the bad, the wheat from the chaff, the worthy from the unworthy.  And I am really uncertain I stand on safe ground with this King.  Even my self-righteousness related to the actual ministry I have done, we have done together, leaves me feeling unsure in the face of this parable.  I can name some people I have helped.  We have pictures, proof that we have given away food, drink, and  clothing.  I have visited people in prison.  I have done these things and yet I don’t feel secure knowing that.  Maybe because, in the end, its not the deeds you can recall that matter, but the deeds you cannot.  The King was always anonymous and invisibly present among the least. He is incognito.   Nobody saw him or knew him.  They just responded: either by giving or withholding. And I know that I have done both in my life.

I wonder if the parable is instructing us in ethical demands or if there might be something else at work here that makes more sense.   The characters in the story are the King and the Nations, the ethnos, the gentiles---not the church! Let me remind you of what Jesus said to his disciples about gentiles and true greatness. In Matthew 20, when conflict arose among the disciples who were vying for royal positions in Jesus' kingly court,  Jesus called them to himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but 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.’ We know that His church consisted, not of the most powerful, the most religious, the most wealthy.  It consisted of the poor, the meek, the merciful, those who mourn, slaves and servants---not rulers.  When Jesus speaks of "the least of these" could he be referring to members of His church?  Might this parable be a parable of vindication for a suffering, persecuted church?  King Jesus is hidden in the church and the church consists of the least of all.  Christians are not meant to have power or status or wealth or privilege in this world.  We are the church, slaves and servants of the one true King. And in the end, Jesus' parable says that the world will be judged in its relation to the church.  We are to reflect, in our humble servanthood, the humility and gentleness of our King Jesus.  We are to reflect His compassionate face.  We are to embody His hidden presence on earth.  The world is judged according to its orientation toward the humble church.  As a rule, the church ought to divest itself of any desire to become greater, bigger, stronger, wealthier, more successful, or more popular.  We are to take the place of the poor, the least, the last, the forgotten, the marginalized.  We are meant to be less, not more.  Weak, not strong. It is in our weakness that the world will encounter the crucified King.  It is through our losses that the world will encounter the true God. What if, according to the parable, we are called to be the least of these?  What if the church is meant to be poor with the poor and for the poor?  Jesus said, we cannot serve two masters, God and wealth. What if wealth idolatry has blinded the church from our true calling to poverty?       

The church has amassed wealth, privilege,and power over the centuries.  And its leaders have justified it as God's blessings to the faithful.  And yet I can't ignore the ministry of saints like Francis and Theresa, who devoted their lives to the poor.  "Lord, open our eyes,that we mayse you in our brothers and sisters.  Lord, open our ears that we may hear cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened,the oppressed.  Lord, open our hearts, that we may love each other as you love us.  renew in us your Spirit Lord,free us and make us one."  If I had to choose between divine judgment based on my charity to the poor and the promise that those who are the least are blessed--I choose to be the blessed least of these.  Amen.