Proper 29 :: Ezekiel 34: 11–16, 20–24 / Psalm 100 / Ephesians 1: 15–23 / Matthew 25: 31–46
This
is the homily prepared for St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene
Tucker for Sunday, November 22, 2020.
“PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING”
(Homily text: Matthew 25: 31-46)
Ours is a
society which values cleanliness. We sell hand cleaner of the high strength
variety to allow those who work with machinery to get the grease and the grime
off of their hands once the work day is through. We value regular showers or
baths, and if we are to engage in a task that involves getting messed up or
dirty, we value the opportunity to clean up afterward.
The
Pharisees, the scribes and the chief priests, who are often the opponents that
Matthew has in mind when he wrote down his Gospel account, valued cleanliness,
as well. The Law of Moses (Torah) valued cleanliness. It also valued keeping
things separate that ought to be separate. The world of the Torah was one of
separation, of clean and unclean.
But the
Pharisees and their allies took the requirements of the Torah many steps
further, adding additional requirements that went far beyond the actual
requirements of the Law.
And, they
viewed those who had fallen into some sort of difficulty or illness as being
unclean, unfit for God’s attention and love, people who should be avoided
because they were guilty (obviously) of some gross moral failing. Sin, in other
words.
Into such a
situation our Lord comes, and in this morning’s Gospel text, tells those who
would be followers to minister to just such untouchable types as those the
Pharisees and the others would walk a country mile to avoid. Go, He says, to
the sick, those in prison, those who hunger, those who lack clothing.
Jesus’
instruction means that we’re going to have to get our hands dirty, if we’re
going to live out the Gospel imperatives. Jesus’ instruction means that we’re
going to have to take risks as we bring the kingdom of God into being. We’ll
have to be willing to deal with people who are in some sort of distress. We’re
going to have to go into difficult situations to bring hope and God’s love to
those for whom such things are in short supply.
In the
process, we who have been cleansed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ will
have the opportunity to say to those who are in need of such a cleansing that
God can accomplish that feat for anyone, no matter how far they have fallen
into the cracks of life. New life, new hope, that is the message we carry with
us as we minister to those for whom there is no sense of a new life, and little
chance for hope in the future.
Beginning
with the simple acts of kindness our Lord outlines in today’s Gospel text, acts
that are offered to someone in distress
or need, such acts are often the very way by which God can reach into someone’s
life, changing things for the better and for eternity.
We are,
therefore, God’s hands to do, and God’s heart to love.
AMEN.
