11 For thus says the Lord God : I myself will search for my sheep,
and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their
flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep.
I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a
day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring
them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring
them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by
the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed
them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their
pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on
rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will
be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God .
16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I
will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the
strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. 20 Therefore, thus
says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the
lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the
weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my
flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and
sheep. 23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he
shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord
, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the
Lord , have spoken.
31 ‘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. 32 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, 33 and he will put
the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 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; 35 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, 36 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.” 37 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? 38 And when was it
that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it
that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40 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.” 41 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; 42 for I was
hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 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.” 44 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?” 45 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.” 46 And these will
go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Today is the last Sunday of the church year, our very own
New Years Eve, a day for reflection on what has been and what is to come. A
festival we call Christ the King, a name which for some (particularly those who
support a republic) carries uneasy undertones of Patriarchy and irrelevance. It
is from within this shaky space that I would like to examine a much older idea
of what Kingship is all about.
In the Israel of the Old Testament, there were only Kings
for about 450 years, but the language and duties ascribed to them has become
part of our understanding of the nature of Christ. The King was the ultimate
judge, an advocate for the helpless, and his duty was to bring justice to all
his people. The King’s struggle for justice ensured more than just lawfulness –
it brought peace and fertility to the land. The relationship between God and
King was usually seen as very close – the King’s power was given and could be
withdrawn by God. A common title ascribed to kings was “Shepherd of the
people”, acknowledging the Kings especial concern for the widows and orphans –
those who could not seek justice for themselves.
It is hard, perhaps even impossible, for us to read this text today and not see the fulfilling of God’s promise of a worthy shepherd in the figure of Christ Jesus. This is of course one of the reasons why the genealogy of Jesus is of such great concern to the Gospels of Luke and Matthew – the Messiah we have been promised can so be identified as being a direct descendent of God’s anointed king David, and thus the line from God to King to Christ is preserved.
Part of Christ’s identity as King requires judgement, such as id described in the gospel we heard today. But when the sheep and goats are separated, there is universal surprise at the seperation. The people are not surprised by their behaviour – they were, of course, there. What they are surprised by seems to be the presence of Christ as well.
With all the words we associate with Christ – honour, glory, power, king, ruler, Lord – it can come as a surprise to realise that Jesus is in fact present in the hungry, the lonely, and the dispossessed. When we think about our identity as Christians, we tend to see things like adherence to our creed, affirmation of scripture, and belief in the Trinity as being the pointers to our faith. Yet none of these things are mentioned as Christ speaks about the separation of the sheep from the goats – all he is concerned with is the corporeal acts of justice and mercy we have enacted in our lives.
Jesus’ command to practice the corporal works of mercy is direct, uncompromising, and everywhere present in the entire New Testament. Taken as whole, every tenth line in the New Testament is a direct challenge to the Christian to reach out to the physically poor. In Luke’s gospel, it is every sixth line. In the Epistle of James, it is every fifth line. Involvement with the poor is not a negotiable item. This is mandated with the same weight as is any creed, dogma, and moral or spiritual teaching.
This is a lot harder than any affirmation of faith. To believe in something and to act upon it are two very different things. For those of us who are among the privileged, whether race, economic, class, gender or any combination of these, to enact justice and mercy is going to have a real and physical impact on our own way of life. We are going to have to sacrifice beyond what is comfortable to serve Jesus through his people. For me, as the season of Advent challenges me as to how I wait for God, it means taking a critical look at how much money I give in service to others. When I am deciding how many children I will sponsor, how much money I will give to the hampers, to the AMB appeal, to the charities and services that bring relief to those in need, I am having to give double what I am comfortable with to feel that I am truly serving God. It means instead of putting $10 into the sponsorship jar, I put $20. Instead of giving $200 for hampers, I give $400. This hurts – trust me, it really really does. But in my pain I know that through this action I am becoming one of the sheep – I am able to serve Christ.
There is a wonderful story out of the 16th century about Bishop Hugh
Latimer, a great leader of the church. One Sunday morning he entered his pulpit
and looked out to see King Henry VIII in the congregation. He knew that what he
had to say that day would not go well with King Henry. He thought for a moment
and then said to himself, but out loud for all to hear, "Latimer, be
careful what you say today; King Henry is here." He thought for a moment
longer and again said to himself, but aloud so others could hear,
"Latimer, be careful what you say today; the King of kings is here."
Amen.
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