“Blessed to Be a Blessing”
Matthew 25:31-45
I think it is easy to overlook or simply forget just how radical the teachings of Jesus Christ are.
When asked how to enter the Kingdom of God, He instructed a rich young ruler to give away all his money, take up his cross and then come follow Him.
He told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who seek to do us harm.
He instructed us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.
He said that the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who takes the lowest position.
And He led by example by washing His disciples’ feet—even the feet of Judas who was about to go out and betray Him into the hands of those who would nail Him to a Cross.
When an expert in the law asked Him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He affirmed that we are to Love the God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves—that’s what is all boils down to.
And when asked for an example Jesus told a story about a hated Samaritan who helped a Jewish man who had been robbed and left to die in the ditch.
After having been passed by two priests who didn’t help him, the Samaritan, who had a different religion did help.
And Jesus said, “That guy…that Samaritan… was a neighbor to the man who had been in the ditch. Go and do likewise—be like him!”
This is radical stuff.
In a world where we condemn others just because they believe, think differently than we—Jesus tells us—it’s about what you “say you believe” it’s about what you do.
In a day when the religious rulers acted as “moral police” Jesus embraced those whom the religious establishment judged as evil and unclean.
As a matter of fact, one of the main reasons Jesus was killed was because He hung out with and loved the people others judged as the “wrong”—the tax collectors, prostitutes and “sinners”—which would include anyone who broke one of the 613 Laws in the Old Testament.
Yes, Jesus was a radical.
And I’m afraid the Christian Church in America wouldn’t want Him around.
And if He were the preacher—they’d fire Him.
Recently, I put the following on a public Facebook Page as an experiment to gauge the reaction.
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Then Jesus said unto the sick, “you better have insurance.”
Then Jesus said unto the stranger, “are you here legally?”
Then Jesus said to the hungry, “my taxes better not be paying for these loaves and fishes.”
Then Jesus said unto the poor, “This is your own fault.”
--Of course, the point of this is that these sayings are the exact opposite of what Jesus would say…
…but by the voting preferences and policies we often support it would appear to be the way many of us think.
The post got a lot likes, but also a lot of condemnation and ridicule by people who considered it UNChristian and anti-American.
One person wrote: “Your Church is going to lose a lot of members because of this post.”
It’s interesting that Jesus founded His Church ON these principles: To care for the sick, welcome the immigrant, feed the hungry and take care of the poor.
But this goes so against the grain of this world—and, thus it shines even more light on the fact that we are going to have to go against the way the world thinks if we are to follow Jesus and do the good in the world we are called to do.
In Matthew Chapter 7 ***Please Put on Screen***
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 Abba God who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers.”
So, this brings us to the question, “What exactly is the will of God in heaven?”
I think we find the will of God for our lives in Matthew 25:31-45, our Gospel Passage for this morning.
Jesus tells us that when He returns for the final judgement “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
The sheep are gathered on the right side of Christ—the side of approval and honor, and the goats on the left side—for condemnation.
And the criteria for judgement may be astonishing for some of us.
Jesus doesn’t ask about their creeds or their standing in the community.
He doesn’t ask what religion they are.
But instead: “What have you done for the poor family down the street?
Ever make visits to the local jail?”
The hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the physically afflicted, the oppressed, the poor…
…What have we done or not done for them?
The clear message is that God so intimately identifies with human beings that to care for another person is to care for Him.
To ignore the plight of another is to ignore Jesus Himself.
Throughout the Gospels Jesus is continually healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, touching the lepers, feeding the hungry, and showing love to the marginalized and cast-out.
Today is the time in the life of our church when we are given the opportunity to turn in our estimate of giving cards, which enables the Church to know whether we will be able to continue to carry out the many ministries we have been called to in into 2025.
And there is so much need right here in Oak Ridge.
This past week a group of us went to a fundraiser for TORCH: The Tennessee Out-Reach Center for Homeless which is located here in Oak Ridge and was born as a ministry of this Church.
The speaker was a young college student who is working for TORCH.
She was helped by TORCH—personally: when she was 8 years old, and she and her family found themselves homeless due her parents’ issues with addiction.
TORCH provided them with housing and changed her life.
Today she is a vibrant, smiling, well-adjusted and well-spoken young lady.
She volunteers for our FREE Community Meal that we have every Wednesday evening, and when I first met her I was impressed by her intelligence and positive attitude.
I never would have guessed she had been through what she had.
But because of people like you she is and will be a great success in life.
First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge has so many ministries and missions that it carries out and supports through the money you give—things that would never get accomplished, people that would never have a chance if it weren’t for you.
Last week, my wife Clair said to me, First Oak Ridge gives money and is personally involved in every charity in this city.
Approximately 80 people are sleeping on the streets in Anderson County on any given night and 45% of those are right here in our little town.
Addiction runs rampant in our area, and through our First Recovery Ministry which the Church has just put into our budget—addicts are given a life-line through weekly meetings and a number of small groups.
The money you give to this church is food for the hungry, heat in the winter for those who must choose between food and utilities.
It is relief for those hit by disasters.
It is a safe, loving and affirming worshiping community for people who have been cast out of their families and houses of worship due to their sexual orientation.
It is a Preschool raising up the next generation.
It is an adult day program that meets the needs of those living with dementia and their caregivers…
…Loving on people, bringing them the dignity they deserve as beloved children of God!
It is a place with grief support groups, weekly meals for our Oak Ridge High School Students, and food for our elementary and middle school kids who don’t have enough to eat on the weekends when school meals are not available.
You also provide resources to pay the utility bills, back-rent, and gasoline for the most desperate in our community.
Last week when a man we were helping thanked me profusely saying he couldn’t believe we would do this for him I replied, “That is why the church is here.
We aren’t here to be served by the community but to serve the community.
If it were the other way around, we might as well not exist.
One of our members made the statement two weeks ago that he and his wife decided that instead of giving a little money to a whole bunch of different causes they would concentrate all their efforts on giving to First United Methodist Church because, and I quote: “First United Methodist Church supports all these causes anyway.”
The Biblical call for giving to God is called a tithe.
It is 10% of our income.
Clair and I have been tithing for years.
Now there was a time when we were able to give more than a tithe, but because of life circumstances we are back to a tithe.
If you currently tithe and are living comfortably, you might want to consider giving more than a tithe.
Or maybe you can’t tithe right now.
Start slowly with a goal to move toward a tithe.
Clair and I are blessed by knowing that we are doing what God calls us to do with the money that is—God’s after-all.
God has blessed us.
God has blessed us to be a blessing.
There are so many people living on the margins, in fear, in darkness and despair—without hope.
And it is God’s yearning that we, God’s Children, will live for one another.
With a parent and child, the bond can be so closely bound that the misfortune of one becomes the misfortune of the other, but the bond between Jesus Christ and humankind is even closer than this.
Our gladness or sadness not only effects Jesus: it is a part of Him.
He is troubled by our troubles, not from a distance, but in His very heart.
Therefore, when we help another, we are, in all reality, helping Jesus, and Jesus comes to know us and we come to know Jesus through this helping.
Remember in Matthew Chapter 7 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me: ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my God who is in heaven.”
We find the will of God here in Matthew Chapter 25:31-45.
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Claudia Burney Wrote the following:
“Jesus lives next door.
He’s an eight-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother.
The Son of Man looks like those starving Ethiopian children.
He only gets breakfast and lunch at school, when he makes it.
His mama is a crack whore.
Nobody knows where his daddy is.
I heard his mama lets her “Johns” do things to him.
Poor King of Kings.
Jesus is two houses down and has six children.
Now he’s pregnant with the seventh.
I don’t know if he hasn’t figured out what birth control is, or what, but how does he expect his husband to feed all those babies on that salary?
And you know with all those kids the Lord of Lords can’t work.
That means hardworking taxpayers’ money has to go for Christ’s food stamps!
He needs to get fixed.
The Lord is a crazy man—paranoid schizophrenic.
If he doesn’t take his medication, he walks up and down the street cussing and spitting on everybody he passes.
He’s homeless.
Nobody knows where his family is—if he’s got one.
Digs out of the trash cans for food.
Somebody ought to get him off the street.
Jesus is nothing but a nuisance.
I’m starting to see the Son of God everywhere I go.
He’s always crying or begging or looking pitiful.
Why doesn’t he pull himself up by his bootstraps?
This is America!
Makes me mad.
He’s ruining the neighborhood.
Somebody ought to do something about him.
Somebody.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ we are “somebody.”
We are the Body of Christ on this earth, and we are to see Jesus in everyone we meet.
We are to treat everyone as if they were God themselves…
…as if they were the most important person in the world.
And…
…everyone is the most important person in the world…
…because every single one of us have been created in the image of God.
…every one of us has sacred worth.
So, let’s put our money where our mouths are?
We are called to change the world.
What have we got to lose.
We are blessed to be a blessing.
What a reason to exist!
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,
Help us to see You in the hungry, the thirsty the beggar, the homeless, the imprisoned, the sick, the immigrant, everyone.
And may we treat all people as if they were You, and in doing so, make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Amen.
