Sermon for November 20, 2011 - Reign of Christ

Reading for this week: Matthew 25:31-46

I’ve only picked up one hitch hiker in my life.  Often I’ll drive past them, and make up some excuse in my mind.  “Oh, I don’t have time to slow down.”  Or, “Oh I’m only going up to Shoal Lake or to Neepawa, that won’t be helpful for them.”  Other times, I’m a little more honest with myself, “Ugh, don’t like the look of that guy!”  I’ve heard all the reasons not to pick them, all the horrible stories that come with hitch hikers, and it scares me.  But after I drive past them.  After I congratulate myself on making a wise and safe decision, I’m often left with a pang of guilt.  “What if that person was my sister or my brother?  What if that person was Jesus?”  And based on our reading for today, in many ways, that person probably was Jesus.

Set scene for “the Messiah is among you”*

It sounds like a familiar story doesn’t it?  How many times have we all lamented the state of the church, of this congregation in particular?  Not a week goes by when I don’t hear about how sad it is that the church is dying, that there doesn’t seem to be much hope, etc. etc.  I don’t mean to belittle that sadness, that fear, that pain.  But we have all heard it, and I’m sure at some point or another we have all said it, or felt it.  Myself included.

Tell the rest of the story

In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus reminds his followers that his presence goes beyond the body.  Christ is present and participating in the world, and we are invited to embrace that.  “When you feed someone who is hungry, you are feeding me.  When you give a drink to someone who is thirsty, you are giving a drink to me.  When you nurture and care for the sick, when you visit the prisoners, you are doing that to me.  All those places, where you may not want to go?  I’m there!”

There is something incredibly powerful and transformative about understanding that Christ is among us. Take a moment and look around the room.  Now start to imagine what that means, to say that Christ is among us.  And I don’t just mean looking at friends and family.  Maybe look at people you have not always gotten along with.  What does it mean to say that we can encounter Christ through them as well?  How does that change our own lives?  Like the monks in the story, how would living as though each and every one of us, offers a chance to experience Christ, change who we are as a church?  How we do things?

And if we understand Christ as being among us, if we understand and hold up that holy belief in incarnation, in the idea that God can and does reside in this world.  What does that say about us as individuals?  The abbot himself asked this question, “could it be me?”  Could we possibly be how others encounter God in the world?  And if I were to say right here and right now, a resounding “Yes!, I promise you that others can encounter God, that others can live some part of the Reign of Christ through you, through each and every one of you”, how does that make you feel about yourself?  Though perhaps you may not deem yourself fit, God does deem you fit to reside somewhere within you, how does that idea make you want to live?

And then looking at the world beyond our doors; this is a world that abounds with opportunities to live and move in, as well as to experience Christ, to know God is among us.  So often we judge others.  We say “Get a job!”  We say “Take a shower!”  We say “Well, you shouldn’t have made a mistake!”  How often do we cut ourselves off from meeting God, from knowing God, from being transformed by God?  How often do we cut ourselves off from the opportunity to embrace God the way we have been embraced?  To nurture and nourish God the way we have been nurtured and nourished?  To comfort and care for God the way we have been comforted and cared for. 

Christ lives within the world!  We are an incarnational faith, a faith that says God is among us.  Our call is to understand that, to accept that, to share that, and to learn to live on this earth, with one another and with ourselves, with that truth being central to our lives every minute of every day.  That is the Reign of Christ.  Thanks be to God, Amen!

*there are numerous versions of this story online