“What is the Will of the Father?”
Matthew 7:21-23
Last Sunday I had a very humbling experience.
I had heard about the Ministry we have with the Community Kitchen and wanted to take part.
It’s one of our best kept secrets.
I was told to meet Kathy Stanfield, Jack and Debra Pitkin, Mike Bourne and possibly the Meagher’s down on Holtzclaw Avenue at 6 a.m. the first Sunday of every month…
…they have been doing this for 17 years.
I wanted to help them make and serve breakfast to the people who eat at the Community Kitchen…which serves 3 free meals a day, 7 days a week.
When I got there at about 5:45 in the morning it was still dark.
I hadn’t been to the Community Kitchen in a while.
The first thing I noticed was that on the sidewalks were people curled up, some in sleeping bags and some not.
At the corner was a big bunch of tents—a tent city—where homeless people live and sleep.
There were some folks milling around.
And across the street from the Community Kitchen there were tons more make-shift tents—another tent city.
I got out of my car and had a conversation with an elderly woman who was wearing a Sponge-Bob Square Pants knit cap on her head and had only slippers on her feet.
She told me about how much her feet were hurting.
When I told her I was a the Pastor of Red Bank United Methodist Church, she said that she would like to come to church, but would need to get some new clothing first.
I tried to assure her that it does not matter what a person wears to Church.
I was already feeling like a bit of a sham.
After-all, I had slept in a nice house the night before with my wife, two children, dog and about 50 tropical fish.
I had a lot of clothing to choose from that morning that I actually was able to pay money for.
As a matter of fact, I had worn one set of clothing to the Community Kitchen but had brought an entire other set to change into when I got to church.
I have never had to sleep on a sidewalk surrounded by dangers and who knows what.
I have never had to go without a shower for days, perhaps weeks.
I have never had to live near a place in the downtown of a city simply because they feed me three meals a day for free.
I was raised in white middle to upper middle-class American Suburbia.
And although I made many mistakes and went down lots of rabbit holes as a child, teenager and young adult—I always had a strong safety net to catch me when I would fall—my parents.
I lived in a part of town where I was surrounded by many good role models who inspired me and helped teach me what is possible in life.
My parents made sure I did my homework and we ate breakfast and dinner together.
We went to church together as a family.
I never had to doubt their love for me.
They paid for me to go to college.
How many of the folks living on the streets near the Community Kitchen have had the same advantages as I?
In what kinds of conditions did they grow up?
Were they abused?
Were they even shown real love?
Mike Bourne has been making the eggs for breakfast at the Kitchen for many years—the eggs that Phil and Teresa Elkins purchase and crack the day before.
Jane and Jack Pitkin brought the sausage.
Kathy is the coordinator.
When time came for the doors to open and the good folks living on the streets of our city to come in for breakfast each one of them thanked us for what we were doing.
Again, I felt like a sham.
I mean, come on.
These are my fellow human beings.
It is the very least I can do; it was no sacrifice to be there and to serve.
I left feeling a bit changed.
I had been reminded at just how difficult some of our fellow human beings have it, and how unfair and cruel this life can be.
I left realizing that I have so very much and others have so very little—nothing at all, really.
And I left wanting to do more.
See, this is really what Christianity is about, in my opinion.
What we are doing right now, worshiping God together, is incredibly important…don’t get me wrong…it is vital to our spiritual vitality, and growth to worship the One Who so loves us.
It is also incredibly important because we need one another so very much.
We need to be in relationship with each other—to be in relationship with other Christians, to hold one another up, love one-another and seek to go out into the world together taking the love of Christ with us.
But that’s just it; we need to serve.
And not just for the spiritual health of others, but for our spiritual health as well.
When we don’t serve; we forget what this Christianity stuff is about.
And sometimes, we become like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day who spent all their time judging the people according to the Law…deciding who is allowed in and who has to stay out…
…who is too sinful and who is good enough because they are following their hypocritical rules.
Jesus said that these folks loved to put on a show for others.
They liked being greeted in the marketplace, having the best seats at the table, looking holy, praying in the streets for all to see and only for all to see.
Sometimes I act like them.
How about you?
Let’s ask ourselves:
Why are we here this morning?
Are we here to be entertained?
Are we here to just take, take, take and not give?
Are we here to sing exactly the kind of music we want to sing…and if we don’t we might just complain or threaten to not come back?
Are we here just to feed ourselves?
Are we here because our worship service is the best show in town?
Certainly, we are to do our best to provide the kind of environment where we can experience the presence of God together, but the type of music, the quality of the bulletins, the temperature in the sanctuary—all that stuff is not what it is about.
A pastor friend of mine, several years ago, was walking around greeting people before worship when he came upon two men who were upset, angry and complaining about something in the bulletin, something about the worship service.
My friend approached the men and said, “What a way to prepare yourselves to worship God!”
That kind of stuff is a crock!
It’s not what Christianity is about, but the enemy sure does use it to get us off track…
…to keep our eyes off of Jesus, our hearts closed to love.
It’s an easy habit to get into, especially in middle to upper middle- class America; complaining, looking for a good show, making church about what I want without regard for what is important for the Body as a whole…church hopping because I didn’t get my way!
In our Scripture Passage for this morning, Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.
He says that “many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’”
This should startle us a bit or at least make us think.
I think it can be easy to become an arrogant, or, how can I say this?...
…a self-important, holier than Thou Christian.
It can be easy to get caught up in all we think we know…
…in how beautiful our sanctuary is…
…in how much we spend on our light show and praise band…
…in how many so-called cool and good looking folks flock to our services…
…in how much money we are able to take in…
…in how much money we are able to make personally and how big our homes are and how expensive a car we drive…
…and get a big-head and forget what this whole thing is really supposed to be about.
What did Jesus say?
It is the humble, the least and the last who will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
It is those who do what is loving and right--out of true compassion, mercy, grace and unconditional love who will be doing the Father’s will…
…Not those who are simply doing things to get a reward or an extra jewel in their crown.
In Luke’s Gospel Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
I wonder how many of the beautiful people living outside the Community Kitchen know God and the heart of God much better than I?
I wonder how many are closer to the Kingdom of God than me?
Probably most.
Again, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to find out what the will of the Father will is.
I have found no better place in Scripture to answer this question than the Great Judgement Scene in Matthew Chapter 25:31-45.
It is a parable to be sure…but it is also Truth.
For it shows us what God’s will is for us and what is important in the eyes of God.
It shows us what we are to be doing as followers of Christ…
…what we are to be focusing on.
It jolts us back to REALITY.
In it, Jesus likens the final judgement to be like a shepherd separating sheep from goats.
The sheep will be put on his right and the goats on his left.
Then, says Jesus, “The King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on he left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not cloth me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
We get to know Jesus and Jesus gets to know us through taking care of one another in real and tangible ways.
Jesus is in such solidarity—in such love with humankind that when we reach out in love and care to another human being—we reach out and care for Him.
Notice what this passage does not say about the final judgement?
It does not say that those entering the Kingdom got all their theology just right…
…it does not say that those entering the Kingdom were on the right side of the aisle when came to the hot-button moral and social issues churches are arguing about these days—who is in; who is out?
…it does not say how sinful or non-sinful the sheep were.
It simply says what they did or did not do for other human beings in need.
Did they love God and love neighbor?
And that’s it.
That’s what it is all about.
We can’t love God without loving neighbor.
We the church get so very off course.
We have turf wars.
We become mean, arrogant.
We treat those who don’t think like us like dirt.
We judge.
We condemn.
We close the Kingdom of God in people’s faces.
We leave the world with a bad taste in their mouth about Jesus and His followers.
This is the Second Sunday in Lent.
And Lent is a special time of year, it is the 40 days before Easter, when we are to especially focus on our mortality, our sinfulness, our need for a Savior.
It is a time to repent.
It is a time to turn around and be changed.
Do you know who benefits most from volunteering at the Community Kitchen?
Do you know who benefits the most from helping with the Red Bank Community Food Pantry?
Do you know who benefits the most from loving the kids at Safe House?
We do.
And that is because we serve Christ by serving others.
We meet Christ when we feed Him, provide Him with a warm place to sleep, welcome Him when He is a stranger.
We meet Jesus in the face of the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the imprisoned, the mentally ill, the sad, the lonely, the marginalized, the outcastes…
I don’t always do this very well.
How about you?
I don’t always welcome the stranger or wash the feet of my brothers and sisters.
I often put my needs and wants above the needs and wants of others.
And so, it is Lent and it is time to time to prepare for the Resurrection.
It is time to face our truths.
It is time to repent.
It is time to change.
Let’s now look to the Screen or our Hymnals on page 12 and confess our sins before God and one another.
This is usually confined only for when we have Communion, but it is especially appropriate at this time of year…
