Pharisee or Tax Collector?

Rev. Debbie Cato
Luke 18:9-14
Fairfield Community Church
October 23, 2022

God of Wisdom and Grace, you speak through your Word read and proclaimed. Prepare us now to listen well. Open our ears to your truth. Humble us in your presence so nothing will stand in the way of what you say to us today. Amen.

 

Pharisee or Tax Collector?

 

Jesus loved to tell parables, didn’t he?  Little stories to teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven.  Rather than just telling his disciples and the hundreds and thousands of people that would follow him around how to live; how to treat one another; and how to be in relationship with God, Jesus would give illustrations through parables.  And it’s through these parables that He teaches us as well.

The challenge with the parables Jesus tells is that they are often hard to understand – they certainly left the disciples puzzled often enough.  More times than not, Jesus doesn’t even explain what they mean!  In fact, at one point his disciples ask him, “Why do you speak to us in parables?” And Jesus tells them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.…”  (Mt. 13:10-11)  Even his answer to their question is confusing!

But in today’s parable, Jesus gives us a clue right up front what this parable is about.  This passage begins with the answer:  “Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.”   Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else. 

 Whew!  I guess we can all relax.  This parable isn’t meant for any of us, is it?!

 Jesus sets the stage.  He says, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”   Now admit it – you already have pre-conceived ideas about this parable based on who these men are?  A Pharisee and a tax collector.  In some ways, I think it’s unfortunate that Jesus chose to use a Pharisee and a tax collector in this parable, but He did. 

 So, let’s set aside our ideas of who a Pharisee and a tax collector are and have an open mind.  Both these men are Jews because they are going to the temple.  They are both pious – they are going to pray.  Would you agree?  These two men are just two Jews going to the temple to pray.  But that’s where the similarities end.  And if you don’t listen carefully, you will miss the point because in typical Jesus’ fashion, he reminds us that appearances can be deceiving! 

The Pharisee is known for having extraordinary piety.  To Jesus’ original listeners, a Pharisee was a highly respected Jew.  A Pharisee loved and honored God.   His religion required him to fast once a week on holy days, but this Pharisee fasts twice a week.  The law required him to give one tenth of certain kinds of his income, but this Pharisee gives one tenth of all his income. This Pharisee goes over and above what is required.  He is a good Jew.  He does not steal or covet; he is not unjust; he does not commit adultery.  His religion is important to him.  He is faithful to God.

Yet, the Pharisee falls into the sin of arrogance and pride because he attempts to elevate himself above others – even God.  When it comes right down to it, the Pharisee is ignorant of his standing with God.  He gives thanks to God that he is better than the thief, the adulterer, or even the tax collector who he sees in the back of the temple praying.  The Pharisee sees his righteousness as a result of his own actions.  He is proud of himself.  He prays about who he is, what he has done, and what he has not done to put himself in good standing with God.  I do this and I do that… I, I, I…..   The Pharisee trusts in himself and in doing so, he justifies himself.  

Now, we need to remember that Jesus original listeners despise tax collectors.  Tax collectors worked for the enemy – the Roman Government.  They collected money for the enemy government.  Tax collectors paid the Roman Empire a set amount for the privilege of gathering whatever they could squeeze and gouge from their neighbors.  They were free to collect that money any way they wanted and anything over and above what was owed to Rome, they kept for themselves.  This was the source of their own wealth.  Far from being seen as humble, they were seen as powerful and unscrupulous.  They were thieves and traitors.

Jesus’ listeners must have been shocked as they listened to His parable.  After all he was telling it to “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.”   Yet, it’s the tax collector, who genuinely recognizes his offenses and his brokenness.  He is self-mortified in his plea before God.  His prayer is short and simple and heartfelt.   “Standing far off, not even looking up to heaven, the tax collector beats his chest saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”   It is the tax collector who understands that he is so steeped in sin, that he cannot save himself.  He is totally and utterly dependent on God for salvation.  His only hope is to completely trust in God’s mercy.  And it is the tax collector who is justified by God.  Not because of anything he has done – but because he reaches out to God for mercy.  

It’s hard to hear this parable without placing yourself in one role or the other.  Who are you, a Pharisee or a tax collector? 

Which of us hasn’t felt a bit self-satisfied on a Sunday morning?  Coming to church instead of staying home to watch football? 

     Getting up early to worship God rather than stay in bed and get that extra hour of sleep on a Sunday morning. 

Lord, we pray, help that other political party come to their senses and realize your desire for our country is what my political party stands for, not theirs. 

     Heavenly Father, thank you that I’m raising my children not to talk like their children talk or behave like their children behave. 

                   Thank you Lord that I don’t do the things that that person over there does… that I don’t look like that person over there….

     Thank you God that I am saved. 

Lord, I am here in church every Sunday morning and I come to Bible study every week.  I pray regularly.  I pledge faithfully.  I serve on three important church committees.  You fill in the blanks.

For some of us, it is only when we mess up in a big way that we gain the humility of the tax collector.  Those in recovery programs call it “hitting rock bottom.”  Sometimes it takes major mistakes or crises in our lives to help us see our need for God’s grace and forgiveness.  Sometimes it only comes at the end of our life – when we know we are dying.  Only then do we echo the tax collector’s words:  “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

It’s very tempting to trust in ourselves that we are righteous and to view others with contempt.  We can even blame it on “being human.”  We do our duty and confess our sins each Sunday; we put our envelope in the offering plate.  We serve the church and the world in so many ways.  Hooray for us!  Boo for those who don’t follow the rules like we do – those who do work that is detestable; those who live a lifestyle that we don’t agree with; those who should not be allowed to sit in the same pew with us.   

Even if we do not take our judgment to this extreme, (like say it out loud!) it can be hard to avoid looking on some of “them” with contempt when they do not conform to our expected standards of behavior, especially in regard to religious practices. 

We have to remember that the Pharisee is a religious person, a leader among his fellow Jews, a spiritual guide for those who seek to follow God’s law faithfully.  He is careful in his religious observance and generous with his money.  No doubt he is a good person; a religious man.  The problem here is not his religious observance or his piety, but his inability to see and name his dependence on God.  His sin is his reliance on himself.

The question is; who are we depending on?  Ourselves, or God?  I think if we are honest, we all struggle with spiritual pride at times – I know I do.  We forget that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  We can never be good enough on our own.  We can never “do” enough good things.  We are all sinners.  The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians that “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God.”   

 To the horror of Jesus’ audience, God’s amazing mercy goes to the tax collector.  He humbled himself, genuinely acknowledged his sinfulness and his desperate need for God’s mercy.  It is his candor, his simplicity, and his absolute trust in God’s mercy that makes his prayer, a model prayer.  Like the tax collector, we must be willing to stand before God without excuses, without special pleading, without expectations, without a single claim on anything except God’s mercy.

You see, the beauty of this parable is that we are all like both the Pharisee and the tax collector.  Often, we are independent and self-reliant and prideful and give ourselves too much credit.  And, there are times in our lives when all we can do is beat our chests and cry out to God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner!”  And just like both the Pharisee and the tax collector, we are all sinners – every single one of us.

No matter who we are, or how “good” we think we are, we need to remember that just like the tax collector – and just like the Pharisee, we are all steeped in sin.  We must all reach out to God for mercy.  We are all totally and utterly dependent on God for salvation.  Our only hope is to completely trust in God’s mercy.

If a tax collector can find mercy before God, who is excluded?  Praise Be to God!  Amen.

The Gift

 

Debbie Cato
Ephesians 1:3-14
Fairfield Community Church
October 16, 2022

Let us pray:  Eternal God, we lay aside all that distracts and burdens us so we may hear your still, small voice speak to us the word of truth and grace. May you be all that we seek or desire. We ask that you meet us in our places of brokenness and need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

 The Gift

  

Today is a special day.  In a few minutes, we will be baptizing Sandy Lasz and then welcoming Sandy and Holly Davidson into formal membership of Fairfield Community Church.  They have both been a part of this community of ours for a while now but today they will formally become members of our Church.  This is special.  This is a big deal.

 

So I thought for a long time about the “right” passage to preach on.  What message did I want to give on a day when we were baptizing and welcoming new members?  What is such a big deal about being a part of the body of Christ?

 

I settled on this passage in Ephesians because I want  you to have a comprehensive understanding of the extravagance of God’s actions, gifts, and blessings in and through Christ!  I want to try give you a sense of awe of the breadth of God’s blessings in Christ through Jesus’ work of redemption.  So, I’m going to tell you a story today.

 

I don’t know where the story originated and I don’t know who to give credit to, but it’s a true story and it says what I want to say to you so much better than I ever could.

 

 

There was a Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required overview course in Christianity at this particular college.  Every student was required to take this course in their freshman year, regardless of his or her major and regardless of whether or not they were a Christian – after all it was a Christian college.

 

Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked at the course as nothing but required drudgery.  Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

 

This particular year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve.  Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry.  Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen.  He was the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.

 

One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him.  “How many push-ups can you do?”  Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.” 

 

“200?  That’s pretty good, Steve,” Dr. Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?” Steve replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never done 300 at a time.”  “Do you think you could?”  Dr. Christianson asked again.  “Well, I can try,” said Steve.

 

“Can you do 300 in sets of 10?  I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work.  Can you do it?  I  

need you to tell me you can do it,” said the professor.  Steve said, “Well… I think I can… yeah, I can do it!”

 

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.  When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts.  These weren’t just ordinary donuts; they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.  Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson’s class.

 

Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?”  Cynthia said, “Yes.”

 

Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?”  “Sure.”  Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.  Then Steve again sat in his desk.  Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.

 

Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, “Joe, do you want a donut?”  Joe said, “Yes.”  Dr. Christianson asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?”

 

Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.  And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their donut.

 

Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott.  Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve.  He was very popular and never lacked for female companionship.   When the professor asked, “Scott, do you want a donut?”  Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own push-ups?”  Dr. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.”  Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.”

 

Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?”  With perfect obedience, Steve started to do ten push-ups. 

 

Scott said, “HEY!  I said I didn’t want one!”  Dr. Christianson said, “Look!  This is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts.  Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it!”And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.

 

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little.  He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down.  You could start to see beads of sweat coming out around his brow.

 

Dr. Christianson started down the third row.  Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.  Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?”  Sternly, Jenny said, “No.”  Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want.”  Steve did ten… Jenny got a donut.

 

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room.  The students were beginning to say “no” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.  Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get the push-ups done for each donut.  There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. 

 

Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the  

class, to watch Steve do each push-up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all those uneaten donuts.  He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. 

 

Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.  During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room.  When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room.  He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

 

Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. 

 

Near the end of that row, Steve was really have a rough time.  He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.  Steve asked Dr. Christianson, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?”  Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well, they’re your push-ups.  You are in charge now.  You can do them any way that you want.”  And Dr. Christianson went on.

 

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, “NO!  Don’t come in!  Stay out!”  Jason didn’t know what was going on.  Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come.”

 

Professor Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him?”  Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.  Give him a donut.”  Dr. Christianson said, “Okay, Steve, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now.  Jason, do you want a donut?”  Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on.  “Yes,” he said, “give me a donut.”   

 

“Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?”  Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort.  Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

 

Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters.  Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity.  By this time, sweat was profusely dropping off his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.

 

The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular.  Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a donut?”  Linda said, very sadly,

 

“No, thank you.”  Professor Christianson quietly asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”

 

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.  Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.  “Susan, do you want a donut?”  Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry.  “Dr. Christianson, why can’t I help him?” 

 

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No.  Steve has to do it alone.  I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.  When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book.  Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade.  Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work.  Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups.  I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push-ups.  He and I made a deal for your sakes.”  “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?”

 

As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor. 

 

Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said.  “And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, ‘into thy hands I commend my spirit.’  With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life.  And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.”

 

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.  “Well done, good and faithful servant,” said the professor, adding, “Not all sermons are preached in words.”

 

Turning to his class, the professor said, “My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever.  Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.”   (pause)

 

And that’s my wish for you.  That you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.  Jesus’ last words on the cross were, “It is finished.”  All the work has been done on our behalf.  We are loved. We are forgiven. We are redeemed.  There is no greater blessing.  There is no greater gift.

 

May you live a life that radiates the love and joy and hope that was freely given to each of you by the grace of God through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Right & The Left

 Debbie Cato

Matthew 25:31-46

Fairfield Community Church
October 9, 2022

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us this day.  Silence in us any voice but your own, that, hearing, we may be obedient to your will.  Help us to live always for your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

 

The Right and The Left

 

 

This is a powerful passage. The story of the sheep and the goats.  Those sorted on the right and the left.  The Last Judgment as it’s titled.  It is especially important because in Matthew’s Gospel, it is the final story in Jesus’ public teaching ministry.  It makes sense that the last thing Jesus would say would be something that he would want us to remember; something important – something with eternal consequences. 

 After this private teaching to his disciples, a lot happens very quickly.  They go on to Bethany, where Jesus is anointed with perfume.  He shares the Passover with His disciples. He is betrayed by Judas. Jesus is arrested, beaten and mocked.  He is crucified. Jesus dies hanging on a cross.  And then, three days later, Jesus rises from the tomb.  He is resurrected from the dead. 

 

And then, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus meets up with his eleven remaining disciples and hands them their life’s assignment.  Jesus says:  “Go out into the world & proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven.”  And; if we call ourselves disciples of Christ, this is our life assignment as well:  Go out into the world and proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. 

 

I think this powerful passage that we read this morning is actually a reminder to us of what our life mission is and how Jesus feels about his followers taking the assignment seriously.  It is another picture of what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like.  And since this is the final teaching in Jesus’ public ministry, Matthew wants imprinted on our conscience, a question that we won’t easily forget.  Are we sheep?  Or are we goats?  In the end, will you be on the right or on the left?

 

This is not a new teaching Jesus saved for the end of his ministry!  Jesus gives us a glimpse of this new kingdom at the very beginning of his ministry when he stands in the synagogue in Nazareth, opens the scroll and says:

 

 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because God has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

        “Today,[Jesus says,] this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Matthew’s thesis in his gospel is that Jesus is all about heralding in a new kingdom; the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.  A kingdom that is “upside down” from the world as we know it.  A kingdom full of good news for the poor.  A kingdom where the oppressed are freed, the blind are healed.  A kingdom where humility and service are valued.  A kingdom where there is a new kind of justice.  Where the weak are strong.  A Kingdom where the least are first.  A kingdom where physical, spiritual, emotional, & mental healing are the norm. 

 

This is radical stuff!  What we would call, liberal thinking today!  But it’s not just Jesus’ words that are radical.  Something about His person is distinctive. People swarm to hear him teach; to be near him; to just touch a corner of his clothing.  He radiates love and compassion!  He heals the sick; He touches the untouchables; He eats with sinners; He spends time with children; He talks with women.  Jesus feeds the hungry; He values the “worthless”.  Jesus hangs out with people that normally nobody wants to hang out with!  Ordinary, everyday people like you and me. 

 

When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind ….. AND love your neighbor as yourself.”   You see, Jesus knows that we can’t really love God if we don’t love one another.  

 

Jesus doesn’t focus on the rules; on the letter of the law.  He cares more about the heart.  He teaches about love and justice and this “Kingdom of Heaven” thing.  In fact, Jesus’ teachings are so radical that he upsets the religious leaders.  Jesus turns the world upside down!

 

Jesus spends 3 years teaching his disciples and the thousands of people who cross his path, how to love and treat one another.  For 3 years, Jesus teaches what the Kingdom of Heaven is about – this upside-down place that will come about by loving one another in the same way that God loves us.  So, it really shouldn’t shock us that Jesus says that the final judgment

 

will be about separating the sheep from the goats.   And now when He knows His ministry is coming to an end, He says:  

 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

 

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by God! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

 

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

 

Do you hear it?  Do you hear what Jesus is saying?  Have you loved the hungry?  Have you loved the stranger?  Have you cared for the poor?  You see, the Kingdom of God is the goal of history. It’s the goal here on earth! It is Christ’s goal, and so it must be the goal of every one of us who calls ourselves a follower of Christ.

 

White Lake, North Dakota is a small, sheltered community.  One Sunday morning late in November, members arriving for worship were met by a disturbing sight.  A homeless man sat on the front steps of their church, wearing tattered clothing, a wool cap pulled down over his eyes, clutching a bottle in fingerless gloves. They had never seen anyone like this in White Lake.  Not in White Lake.

Most worshipers simply walked around the man or carefully stepped over him, as he sat there shivering.  Some muttered words of disapproval, and others suggested that he move to another doorway before the Sunday school children arrived and saw him.  One member told the man in no uncertain terms, that the church was no place for someone like him.  At one point, a kind woman brought the man a Styrofoam cup of hot coffee, but not one person asked the man to come in out of the cold, and nobody invited him to join them in worship.

 

Imagine, then, the people’s surprise during the entrance hymn, when their homeless friend made his way into the church, staggered down the aisle, and made his way to the front pew.  Just as someone stood up to physically remove him, the man took off his dirty, old coat and cap.  It was then that the congregation recognized that this man was actually their pastor! 

 

The pastor stood in the pulpit and began his remarks that morning by saying, “I did not do this to embarrass you or to poke you in the eye.  I did it to remind all of us that this homeless man is a person that Jesus loves, and Jesus calls us to love him, too.”[1]

 

It’s easy to hear this and think to ourselves that we would have responded differently.  But would we?  How often do you drive past the person holding a sign by the grocery store, saying that her children are hungry?  Or the person sitting outside Walmart, cold and hungry?

 

How often do you call your aging parent who lives across the country?  Or visit them in assisted living?  Or call the friend with cancer?  Or the one recently widowed?  We get busy and the weeks fly by, don’t they?

 

Do you speak up when someone is being harassed?  Bullied?  Treated unfairly?  Do you think about what scripture teaches when you vote?  Do you wonder how policies will affect the “less thans”? 

 

This passage warns us that Jesus will recognize the sheep and the goats by the way we live our lives and Jesus cares more about the heart than he does about the rules.

 

Wherever there is a social injustice – and there are plenty! -  Jesus calls on us to reach out and help. To be radical.   To speak up.  turning things upside down; To be the correction that needs to happen. Today’s passage teaches us that helping someone who is hurting; helping someone in need; caring about those that God himself cares about; is the same as helping Jesus himself.

 

We live in a hurt and broken world.  People are suffering in many ways – all around us and all over the world.  We don’t have to look far to see that.  There is need everywhere.  It can be overwhelming. 

 

But, I think this Scripture calls us individually, and as God’s Church, to have compassion and love at the very core of our being; to naturally care about those who are hurting; those who go without.  I think this Scripture calls us to see every person as a person made in the image of God – a person that Christ loves.  I think this Scripture calls us to serve and to care and to love because God loves. It tells us that the way we live our life matters to God. 

 

Will Jesus tell you to go right or go left?  Will I be a sheep or a goat?  I guess I’ll find out.  Until then, I’m going to keep trying my best to live as Christ wants me to live.  Imperfectly, I know.  But still trying my best.  What about you?     Let us pray:

 

Loving God,  We need your help to live as you want us to live.  It’s so easy to get caught up in our own stuff.  Help us to care about those that you care about.  Help us to be the kind of people that you created us to be.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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[1] Sermon Writer:  Resources for Lectionary Preaching.  What the Saints Do.  A sermon by Pastor Steven Molin.