Something Peculiar

Matthew 25:31-46 Rev. Tyler Amundson November 20, 2011

We are peculiar people: we Christian people, we church going people. I mean we stand out as doing something different from other people.

What a strange thing we all do on Sunday mornings: We rise, get ourselves all ready to go, shuffle ourselves down to a big building, gather together, sing songs, hear some person yak on for 10-20 minutes or more...bet your hoping its not more. That person tells us where we might change our lives, or how we have been serving the world, or gives us a new insight into thoughts and feelings we have been having. We take money, and then we leave. Usually not all in that order, but you get the idea.

Now this might not seem strange to us. We are the ones doing it. However, to a world that bases its reason in the sound logic of strict material thought. We are sometimes called crazy or alluded to in that sense. There is no necessarily achievable material goal of going to church, even though we may see benefits, we have to be able to share them with the world.

Many aspects of Christianity have created an entirely new language to relay the benefits of being a part of the church. The roots of this language are to the ancient parts of Christianity and it is something we as a progressive church shudder at. It is this language of “Jesus Chris is my Lord and Savior.” Now I will be honest, this language comes from the earliest parts of Christianity and while that is a beautiful reconnection to our past. This in and out language has driven churches to a dualism of living apart from the world. A language to describe why we are part of a church is important, but this language that forces people to feel like they are in or out of a church is not helpful.

When St. Paul’s hired me as the associate pastor they did so recognizing a trend that many young people are beginning to see the church as a place that does not make sense. The church has a language they do not understand and many times the image of Christianity that is out in the world is one that displays a rather violent, dualistic, separation from the world. Encouraging members of churches to denounce all things in society, reject individuals, and sever ties completely with their old life.

To have people say they are a part of a Christian community and that they don’t live in the world is absurd. This is exactly what this language of, “Jesus Christ is Lord” does. We are a part of the world, but I want us to realize that to many people the actions we take as church goers are taken as “cult like.” There is an in crowd and an out crowd. There are goats and sheep. They see all Christians as violently dualistic forcing people to reject all things “non-Christian.”

The scripture today when read traditionally represents that violent separation of the world from Christianity. It demonstrates a world where those that are not Christian suffer, when read traditionally. Please listen as I read this scripture from the New Revised Standard Version:

Matthew 25:31-46

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, and then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 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, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

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; 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, 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.”

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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”

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.” 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.”

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?”

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.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ [i]

Now every time I read this text my skin crawls. They do what to people, yuck. The emotions I have about this scripture involve words I won’t use in church. What then do we do with a text like this in our Bible? This is in our Bible and simply not reading it doesn’t help us interpret it. In fact if we fail to take the time to interpret this passage, then someone else will. And it is very easy to use this scripture as an in and out text, and exclusive text.

Here is what we can offer in this text to understand it better. How we might interpret it to give a clear understanding of Christianity to the world.

Perhaps we should interpret this text as a text which “does not describe the actions of the God who created us, but rather the God whom we created." [ii]

If we look to the larger context around this text, this text falls after a parable. In fact, it looks likely to be the end to the parable before and it is a warning to us of what creating an exclusive religion can do. The parable before talks about a master who leaves his slaves with something to invest. While most of them make some wise investments for the master, the last slave does not know how to invest the wisdom properly. That person is cast out because he fails to know something. If we associate God with this person casting people out who are unaware. Unaware of the God’s kingdom then we imagine a violent God and not the loving and firmly rooted God we understand Christ to represent.

This scripture should not function as some warning of times to come, but a caution about something that is happening all around us. It is instead a reality check that the church that defines God too clearly, can cast people out.

Now I have talked about other Christian traditions that obviously have created an exclusive aspect to their religious tradition, but we too as progressive Christians can at times become exclusive. In fact we often do it to people of other Christian traditions with whom we don’t agree. Or we find ourselves locked inside a building struggling to understand how to do outreach. Living in our privilege and comfort, afraid to go and act out Jesus’ love in the world.

The challenge of Christ and this parable is that we learn to develop a language that invites us all to participate. A language that does not just tolerate people, but welcomes them into a living a fuller life. Helping us to instead of creating a God in our image, gives us insight into the God that is present all around us. To avoid violence we need to not be exclusive, but find ways to include. To create community where all share and all learn from one another. Creating this community inside our church building and also outside our church building.

I am going to share a video clip now. This is Rob Bell speaking, Rob Bell is a contemporary preacher who is very eloquent and travels the nation just preaching. He is a part of a DVD series I use quite often for young adults called Nooma, which is a greek word for spirit. This clip demonstrates how the Christians of the first century were not so peculiar, but that they had a message of diverse inclusion that might help us think of the language we might use today.

So maybe we are not so peculiar? At least back in the first century we weren’t. Christians of the first century had to use the language of the day, the language of Rome for people to understand why Jesus was so important. They did it to try and create a community that would invite people into a new kind of community, to repel violence and rejection of people and to invite all people into a loving and supportive space.

So I know I said we were peculiar at the beginning. However, is church all that different from the things we enjoy outside of church. We love gathering for concerts, in coffee shops, and forming all sorts of community. Isn’t that what we do on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights? Maybe we are not so peculiar in what we do; perhaps we know the language of the society around us. In fact I know we do because we all work outside of these walls, live outside these walls, and participate in a National Identity that is not our church. We all know the language of the people. The goal now is for us to share what makes church so amazing to us.

Maybe church allows you to find deeper spirituality or meaning?
Maybe Church is where you get your Jazz?
Maybe church brings you a family you need?
Maybe church creates a place to meet friends?
Maybe church creates a place where you feel supported to go serve the community and world?
Share these things with the world just like that.
I find spirituality in church, and get deep meaning.
I find Jazz in church and it makes me want to dance.
Church brings me family when I can not be near my loved ones.
Church is my social place to meet people to hang out with.
I go to church, so I can be supported in my goals to serve the world.

This makes sense to people in our world. Religion can even be brought up over Thanksgiving dinner if all you are sharing is what excites you about church. Who can object to you saying I am thankful for my church cause I get to go serve people with their support.

Church for me, personally, has always been a place that pushes me to find ways to open myself to hearing the stories of others, to learning how to work with new people, and to creating community that can go share the world.

Why do you go to church? Don’t be afraid to share this with people. Be excited. This is our language of how we live like Christ.

To close us today I have a story that I think demonstrates how many of us here experience God in the world, a peaceful God that invites all people into new relationship, diverse and inclusive relationship to create a new Kingdom of God.

“Lunch with God

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his backpack with cupcakes, several cans of root beer and started on his journey to meet God.

When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his backpack. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the lady looked hungry. So he offered her a cupcake. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again. So he offered a root beer as well. Once again she smiled at him.

The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word.

As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked, "What has made you so happy today?"

He replied, "I had lunch with God."

Before his mother could respond he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home.

Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, "Mother, what has made you so happy today?"

She replied, "I ate cupcakes in the park with God."

And before her son could reply, she added, "You know, he is much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring; all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Take no one for granted and embrace all equally with joy!

Author: Unknown” [iii]

May we all joyfully go into the world and share a language of God so simple as this. That we may be blessing to one another.

[i] NRSV Bible translation, Matthew 25:31-46

[ii] Information on alternate way of reading Matthew 25:31-46 found at http://www.preachingpeace.org/lectionaries/yeara-lastpentecost/

[iii] Story found at http://1stholistic.com/Reading/liv_inspiration_lunch-with-God.htm