Christ the King + Year A + 11.22.20

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24 Ps 100 Eph. 1:15–23 St Matt. 25:31–46)

 

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king

When I was a young person and I envisioned the scene of judgment that we hear in today’s gospel, I found it all a bit overwhelming. So for many years I broke it down like this. I don’t know where I will be at the last judgment but I do know that I can control my actions. I can attempt to feed the hungry, clothe those without clothes, and heal the sick, at least through my prayers. I can give a cup of cold water when it is asked.
In my years of being a priest I have had so many moments when I have been able to do just that. But I haven’t done it alone. Whatever I did was always with the support of the community.
I am sorry to admit that there have also been moments when I turned someone away without fully understanding or responding to their need because I felt I was too busy or I just did not understand their need. I am not talking about the people I knew were trying to play me. But sometimes I judged too soon or just felt overwhelmed, and others showed me Christ in how they responded to those in need.

But I always thought of this passage as about what I was doing as an individual. How was I earning my way to the kingdom. I wouldn’t have put it that way, but essentially that is what I was doing.

But today’s passage from Ezekiel says it is God who is gathering us: “Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out (Ezekiel 36:11).” It is God who seeks us out. It is not through our actions that we are saved but by God drawing close to us and gathering us in. Let go of the reins of your salvation- God is in charge of that.

But we must act justly, and with mercy. That is clear. Even if it doesn’t gain us salvation. In today’s gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus says that the people who will be welcomed will be those who showed compassion and care for other beings, no matter their background. But in light of Pastor Alene’s sermon of the other week, I began to realize that Jesus wasn’t talking to individuals, but to groups. He said to one group: you saw me in the poor and the hopeless, and you responded. And to another group: you were blind to me when I was bleeding in front of you. I am paraphrasing a bit, but you understand.
So in a way, that is good news for us as people of faith. We cannot respond individually to every need that presents itself to us. But as a community we can and do see needs and try our best to respond, at least to many of them. All Saints feeds the hungry, twice a week, in community with others in our community, even in the middle of a pandemic. That is HUGE. All Saints has visited those in prison in the past- less so now but we are open to it. We pray regularly for the sick and otherwise minister to them as we can. And even now Cindy Morales and friends are gathering supplies to give to the homeless this Christmas. As a community, we see a need and we respond. Praise God!
And there may be some moments when Jesus was in our midst and we didn’t see him in the neighbor. Like when the people that come to the Bread of Life program are grabby or rude. Sometimes Jesus is an expensive date, Alene likes to say to me. And sometimes Jesus is not on his or her best behavior! But most of the time, most people are good to us when we are good to them. And if not, we serve them anyway as best we can. Because that’s what we do.

There is another aspect here, one that our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry referred to during his talk at our Diocesan gala dinner online earlier this month. Because Jesus is after all speaking to us as a group, we have to think about what the “group” of our nation has done recently. Has our nation showed compassion to others? Asked about what will help heal our country as we continue to live in a polarized time, Presiding Bishop Curry said something interesting. He said that we also have to take collective responsibility for wrongs done. We can’t just take the credit for the good we do collectively. But when wrongs are done in our name, whether it is as a church or as a country, we must do what we can to counteract such wrongs. We must strive to say, “We took children from their parents and we must do something to try to make that right.”[1] We must not just use “us and them” language but walk together toward healing by taking responsibility collectively.

I saw you respond to injustice and you didn’t duck. You didn’t say –that wasn’t me. You took responsibility for the other humans and other aspects of God’s good creation in your midst. But you didn’t do it alone.

We Daughters of the King have a motto. It goes like this:

"For His Sake...
I am but one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
What I can do, I ought to do.
What I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do.
Lord, what will you have me do?"

As we awake grateful to be alive on this new day, but still in a nation and world in pain, let us rejoice in the salvation that is ours in Christ. And let us look with compassion towards others while, as a community we ask God, “what will you have me do?”

Amen.

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[1] From remarks at Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles’ “Bishop’s Gala” 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug_eX--LKeo.