“Whoops. We blew it big time”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Matthew 25:31-46 (Forward, p. 76) CEV p. 1018
So much depends on the details. In fact, many major policy decisions and actions, some quite disastrous, have been based on inaccurate, partial or erroneous information or intelligence. The successes of D Day and Vimy Ridge lay, at least in part, in the misreading of the signs by the German high command, and the devastation of Pearl Harbour can certainly be blamed on a failure on the part of US intelligence agencies. And, certainly the same can be said of much else in life: details are very, very important.
Possibly no more is this true than in the reading of today’s passage, what is often called ‘Final Judgment’ or ‘Judgment of the Nations’. Here there are two details that are crucial, two details upon which hang the whole passage. The first detail concerns its audience: just who then is Jesus addressing? Many commentators, based on the mention of ‘the people of all nations’ being mentioned in verse 32, will conclude that it is all the people of the world, people everywhere regardless of country or anything else, that are being singled out for attention and reproof. But then, back at the beginning of chapter 24, verses 1-3, it is quite clear that Jesus is addressing only His disciples. Nothing is said afterwards to indicate a change in audience. In fact, just the opposite: in our present chapter, chapter 25, verse 13, He addresses His disciples once again. And so the warning that Jesus is making in today’s passage is not addressed to the world at large but to a select crew, namely His disciples, those who have decided to trust Him and follow Him. Now, whether this message of care for others, this message of responsibility to others, is meant to apply to everyone in the world is another matter. It may well apply as well but in this case they are not being addressed. If it does apply—and I’m not sure that it does, given what later transpires, it would be the disciples, that is, us, who would need to take this message out to them.
So, Jesus says that there is an onus on certain others to care for those who are hungry and thirsty, those that are strangers or refugees, those that are naked and impoverished, and those who are sick or in prison. And, in all this, this caring is to be more than mere words, but put into practical and meaningful action. But then, who are the ‘they’ that are supposed to be helped and cared for? Here is another detail that is most crucial. Jesus
says, ‘the least of these my brothers’ [and presumably, sisters], or in other translations, ‘my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed’. And so, by this reckoning, it would appear to be referring to our fellow Christians, our fellow Church members.
Now, if this be true, the message becomes especially harrowing and challenging, but far too often it has been one’s fellow Christians that have been the people most notable for being judgmental and uncaring and nasty and unloving. Far too often the Church has been guilty of ‘shooting their wounded’, as one person put it. Perhaps it was indifference or apathy or lack of knowledge or inner hesitancy that might account for the failure, but far too often it was more intentional, a matter of habit or comfort or busyness, for instance, or a desire for power or control, or a desire to see one’s agenda pushed through.
What is particularly scary—and challenging—is that Jesus says that this neglect of our fellow believers is actually, really, whether intentional or not—more likely not intentional--a neglect of care for Himself. And, if I was one of the culprits, one of those guilty of neglect, I’d have to say, “Whoops. We blew it big time.” But then, it wasn’t as if we weren’t warned. So let us, you and I, heed this warning and make sure that we do care for our fellow Christians the very best we can. Amen.
Forward notes: “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’” (verse 40).
“The shepherd separating the sheep from the goats is a familiar image. My memory often gets stuck in the barnyard, and I forget the larger context: a vision of divine kingship. The Son of Man comes in glory; he is surrounded by the heavenly host, seated on the throne before all the nations. This is the moment we enter in our own liturgy, when joining our voices with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we sing ‘holy, holy, holy.’ And this sublime king has one criteria to judge his people: compassion. God’s only criteria for us is our compassion.
“We have another familiar vision of divine kingship in the Lord’s Prayer. After saying to God ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done,’ we immediately turn and ask for bread. God is the one who feeds us, who has mercy on us, who is compassionate toward us. The Son of Man upon the throne of judgment is that same King of Love we recognize, with a simple reminder for us sheep and goats: it’s not as hard as we think. The way to follow Jesus is to act like Jesus.”
Moving Forward: “How would Jesus act? Go, and do likewise.”
A concluding note: if my exegesis of this passage is correct Jesus is addressing His disciples, His followers, only. So what is being judged upon the basis of our compassion toward others is not our salvation. That has already been decided on the basis of our allegiance to Him, our decision to love and follow and obey Him. But what, then, about the dismissal of those who fail to care? Does that mean that they lose their salvation? Or, that they never were true disciples—based upon what should be an automatic care for others, given how much God has cared for us? Surely, this should give all of us reason to pause and ponder.