Err on the Side of Love

Even though my ordination was yesterday afternoon (Nov 22nd 2020) I coulnd’t NOT lead worship – it was Christ the King Sunday, with one of my favorite texts from Matthew. I love how with just a few words added, Jesus contrasts two ways of being in the world and shows us which side is God’s.

Matthew 25:31-46

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.”

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace this day from the God of love, through Christ who showed us that love.  Amen.

This festival day has only been in existence a little under 100 years.  It was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as a way to emphasize that Christ as King stands over against the false lordship of fascism, which at the time was on the rise in Europe.

And even in that well-intentioned stand, the language of “king” can be troublesome.  And so some have renamed this day “Reign of Christ.”

Set as it is right up against the start of Advent, that can work.  So much of the prophetic literature of Advent speaks of a benevolent ruler.

While the pope’s intent may have been to remind folks that Jesus is King and not Die Fuhrer or Mussolini, this day actually functions at a far deeper and more radical level.

The way that Jesus establishes Jesus’ reign is not through acts of power, or military might, or even executive orders.

Rather, Jesus makes Jesus’ reign a thing by enabling his disciples to spread the love of God throughout the world.

Instead of setting up a checklist by which disciples could determine which people had actually EARNED their reward, Jesus reminds the crowd that the point is to INCLUDE, not exclude.

In this story, Jesus shows by example that it’s never about deciding who might be worthy, but rather assuming that everyone is worthy.

And that’s a way of operating that is not at all easy.

Each one of these actions means stepping outside our comfort zones.  Each action means entering into the pain and suffering of another human being, and making some attempt to alleviate that suffering in some way.

And we know that taking these kinds of actions is also inherently risky.  Our best intentions might be completely rebuffed, or we might end up having people angry at us for helping THOSE people.  Encouraging THOSE people to keep up whatever it is they’re keeping up.

But who does Jesus gravitate to, over and over?  Is he hanging out with the beautiful people?  Is he “in” with the In Crowd?

Jesus is on the margins.  Jesus is keeping company with the folks that the rest of society crosses the street to avoid.  Jesus goes out of his way to speak gospel truth to those in power, and gospel grace to those outside of it.

It is the way of the cross.  The way of naming a thing for what it is, of claiming the real truth that God walks with us in our suffering as well as in our joy.  The way of facing the realities of this world head on, not pretending that bad things don’t happen.  We know all too well that they do.

By contrast, take a look at the folks on the left. 

(Also, pro tip: “left” and “right” here have no association whatsoever with any political party, leaning, or affiliation.  Let’s just make that clear.)

So these folks on the left repeat almost the exact same question as those on the right, with a simple clause added: DID NOT.

Lord, when did we see you and give you something to eat; and Lord, when did we see you and did not give you something to eat.

There are two distinctly contrasting life philosophies in those two nearly-identical statements:  abundance and scarcity.

In the first statement, there is an implication that everyone has been fed, but somehow those doing the feeding missed Jesus.

But in the second statement, the implication is that they were so busy looking for Jesus that they didn’t get the feeding done.  No one seemed to be meeting their Jesus criterion, so no soup for them.

This contrast echoes the command to show hospitality that resonates throughout all of scripture.  Even the Levitical laws of the Israelites are clear that showing welcome and hospitality to strangers is of the utmost importance.  The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that it is by doing so that many entertain angels unawares.

When we live our lives in an attitude of scarcity, that we will run out, the dark sides of our nature emerge.  We become suspicious of one another, we stop trusting.  We close our hands, clutching what we perceive to be ours ever closer to us.  And we barricade ourselves away from the fear of scarcity.

But when we live our lives in an attitude of abundance, that there is enough for all – that changes everything.

That is the radical love of God in Christ Jesus, that breaks into our lives when God in an action of radical love claims us as beloved at our baptism.

That radical love calls us into a life of unfettered love and grace and mercy. 

The radical love of God in Christ Jesus, transforms us and reshapes our lives.  Rather than keeping that love to ourselves, we begin to realize that God has gone on ahead of us (as the angels told the disciples at the tomb).  Whatever barricades we might put up, whatever lines we might draw in the sand – God’s already moved beyond them.

And in that movement, the whole idea of mission is redefined.  When we move out from our safe places, we move towards God.  When we are sent out each week after worship as the body of Christ, we find out that the body of Christ is already waiting for us, in our neighbor in need.

Is it judgment from God to which we are subject?  Yes, I believe it is; a judgment that God speaks through the need of our neighbor.  BUT – it’s an incomplete judgment, the “if” without a “then.”

We are invited to, through that same radical love, write a different ending to the “then.”

If my neighbor is hungry, then I need to give them something to eat.  Once I have done that, then I can ask why my neighbor is hungry in the first place.

Our love toward “the least of these” addresses God’s own needs. To properly love God is to love everyone and everything in God’s creation. What ultimately counts is not what we believe about God (orthodoxy), but what we do for God’s beloved children, our neighbors (orthopraxy). 

The character of Father Zosima in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov observes, “Hell is the suffering of being unable to love.”

We have seen this.  People who don’t seem to be able to love, seem to be living in a hell they’ve constructed for themselves.

This story illustrates so well how it is not for us to make judgment calls as to who is worthy of the love of God.  It’s for us to, if anything, err on the side of love.

Err on the side of loving too freely, rather than not at all.

Err on the side of the radical, life-changing, earth-turning love of God in Christ.

Err on the side of abundance, not scarcity.

Because there is enough of God’s love for everyone and everything in all of creation.

Our job – our response to God’s love – is simply to share it, anywhere we can.  No limits.

Amen.