Sermon for Christ the King Year A 2014 Princes, Paupers, and Bleating Hearts There is a story by Mark Twain called The Prince and the Pauper. Two young boys look exactly alike. But one is a wealthy prince and the other very poor a pauper. One day these two boys meet face to face. They realize they look exactly alike, so they decide to change clothes and switch places. The wealthy prince becomes a pauper that, as the dictionary defines the term a person who has no money for food, clothing, shelter a person who is provided for at the expense of public charity or means and the pauper becomes a prince (a male member of a royal family inheritor of the social, financial and political class of high rank). In Twain s story, suddenly the pauper has everything he wants and needs: plenty of food, clothing, a warm and dry bed surrounded by palace guards. But the prince is now living out on the streets in filthy rags without even enough food to eat. Which do you feel more like? More to the point, which would you choose to trade places with? The prince who has all that he needs and yes, even wants, or the pauper the one who had no place to lay his head, depends on the charity and compassion of others to have enough to eat, something to wear, lives under the threat of suspicion and without protection? Which of these two would you say are Jesus? Which are the least of these? Neither of the boys had any choice about their station in life who their parents would be, where and how they would live... In the story, though they are not biologically related, yet they look identical; they share the same needs and even desires. And yet, one is not necessarily a sheep and the other a goat. I have been thinking of this story mainly because of Jesus identification with the least of these Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these members of my family, you did not do it to me. As always, it is important to remember and consider who is speaking. 1
So it is incredibly important that we remember that it is Jesus who said these profound, radical words. Now, many hear this parable or share this story of the sheep and goats to incite fear. They cast Jesus in the image of the king who is casting those the left, the goats into eternal punishment. Those who would try to dominate the world use fear, especially for political advantage. Businesses use it to maximize profit theirs not yours! Many groups use fear to advance their agendas and if you are discerning you will see that they are advancing themselves, their status, their wealth, their power with little regard for the dignity, status, sustainability or empowerment of others especially those who are least the losers in the race of life. Now if we read this passage with fear we could fixate on the many things we have not done or cannot do, becoming overwhelmed We can miss the simplicity of the responses before us and the God-given ability we have to faithfully fulfill them. Food, water, clothing, hospitality, companionship These are not only the most necessary elements for life and community; but... Think about it They are the most readily available gifts to give. The parable of the sheep and goats What I can do and am called to do is to remember what Jesus said When you did it to one of the least of these, my family, you did it to me Here s one of the weird-ities of this parable... While most of us, even those of us who have very little experience on a farm, can be fairly accurate in telling the difference between sheep and goats according to Jesus we are not at all astute or even fully aware when it comes to recognizing where and in whom God and Jesus show up. Notice that both groups ask the same question... Lord, when was it that we saw you...? And, notice that neither group tries to deny their behavior. Both the righteous and the unrighteous are surprised by where the Son of Man the Lord is found and who he is hanging out with. It seems that neither a bleating goat nor a bleating sheep expects to see the face of Prince Jesus in the face of the hungry, thirsty, stranger not to mention the naked, sick or imprisoned pauper. 2
And maybe this is a trap that the parable sets up because Jesus begins his story by saying that the Son of Man will come in his glory complete with a heavenly throne and angels. Who could blame us for looking for Jesus only among the elite and powerful, among the 1% who have it made best food, purest water, most popular, finest clothing and those who enjoy the greatest freedom. But, wait, wait... you may want to say. Who can tell who is really needy and who simply wants a bottle of cheap wine? Who can tell who is certifiably hungry and truly deserving? That s all seems like a way to sidestep or diminish the impact of this parable... and yet, the only criterion Jesus set was the least of these which means those who are weak and vulnerable, the little goat and sheep paupers are those who you and I are called not to overlook but to actually look into their all-too-human faces and see the face of Jesus. This parable might not only call into question where we typically look for God, but actually reorient us to discover and experience God s presence in our lives more fully than ever before. In this parable, it seems to me, Jesus promises to be always with and for those who are in greatest need. Which means that if we want to experience God s presence fully, deeply, and truly, we will look for God in the need of those around us and, indeed, in our own need as well. This is not, I realize, what we expect of God. We typically think of God in ultimate terms all knowing, all-powerful, all-just, and so on. And that makes a certain sense, as we are talking about the creator of the cosmos and author of all life. But that s not where Jesus invites us to meet, or be met by, God. And this act of downward mobility (condescension) and solidarity takes us by surprise, upsets our expectations and disrupts our plans. But maybe it shouldn t, as the God we know in Jesus seems to delight in such surprises. After all, God didn t come to reign over humanity at Athens or Rome or Jerusalem, any of the other major cities where one would expect God to arrive, but rather surprise! 3
God came to identify with us by being born in lowly Bethlehem in the form of a vulnerable infant. And God didn t come to conquer the world with military or political might, but instead surprise! in the scandal, shame, and pain of the cross. So also God continues to come where we least expect God to be: in the plight of the homeless, on the side of the poor, in the face of the refugee and immigrant stranger, the Ebola patient, and in the company of the imprisoned. And that s not all. If we are willing to suspend our expectations and live into the surprising reality of the God we know in Christ, then we are invited to meet God not in some distant eternal life or other-worldly reality but here and now, in the concrete and real need of our neighbors, just as they are invited to meet and be blessed by God as they tend to our needs as well. The God we know in Jesus is revealed, that is, not in power but in vulnerability, not in might but brokenness, and not in judgment but in mercy. 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. Jesus has already done what he calls his followers to do in this judgment scene. He has fed hungry people on the hillside. He has welcomed tax collectors, sinners, and other strangers to his meals. We could go verse by verse through the gospels and find one clue after another pointing to Jesus vision of righteousness and kingdom living. You could say that we live in a double-exposed photograph in which the last day and the present day are part of the same picture. When and where will the reign of God come? Jesus told us in his first public words in Matthew Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near Judgment is happening all the time, 4
and righteousness is happening all the time, and Jesus is with us all the time. Jesus is clear about the timing of the last judgment: the gospel will first be proclaimed to all the nations and no one knows when the end will come. Though we do not know the time, we do know what Jesus expects us to do: feed people who are hungry, quench their thirst, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit those in prison. The righteous ones are shocked to be blessed, wondering when they have ever seen Jesus. Those who failed to do these things are equally astonished; if they had seen Jesus they would surely have given him something to eat. I think Jesus says in this parable what he has been saying all along through his teaching and actions and what he says through his own body on the Cross: that God loves us and all the world so much that God has decided to identify with us fully and completely. And so we recognize God most profoundly in the face of our neighbor. We meet God in the acts of mercy and service we offer and that are offered to us. And we live in the blessing of God as we seek to serve as Christ served. And this seems to me like surprisingly good news: that God is with us, here and now, revealed in the fellowship of broken people we call church, made manifest in the ordinary elements of bread and wine, and available to us in the seemingly small gestures of mercy we offer and are offered each and every day. It may not be where we expect the Prince of Peace to show up, but it is just where we him to be among us who are all paupers before God. 5