Going about God’s Business
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. {32}All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, {33}and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. {34}Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ’Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world..."
(Mat 25:31-35)
The feast of Christ the King forms the culmination of the Church’s year. We recognise that Jesus has a special place in our lives even though each of us will express that relationship differently. The readings this morning leads us to see that proclaiming Christ as King will indeed make a difference to the way we live our lives. If we think of royalty with some disdain we might have some sympathy for the 19th century Scandinavian preacher who in the vestry one Sunday morning heard that the King would be present at worship. Understandably rattled he ditched his well prepared sermon and spoke on and on about the Christian virtues of their King. Even though the King said nothing after the service the preacher could not help but wonder if he would receive some reward for his loyal support. Sure enough some time later a very large crate was delivered to the Church. Immediately the priest concluded that his reward had arrived. He prized open the crate to find inside a life sized crucifix. He could hardly contain his disappointment we’ve got lots of crucifixes already he thought. As he looked inside the crate he saw a letter under the royal seal. Exitedly he opened it. The letter contained the kings instructions as to the placement of the crucifix in the Church. It was to go on the western wall of the Church so that the preacher would always be reminded of which king he should be speaking.
It is about Christ the King I speak today, but I also speak of what it means to make that proclamation. The Israelites drew heavily on the image of the shepherd for model of royal leadership. Kingship, or leadership, and shepherding were brought into close relationship by David. David’s experience as a shepherd stood him in good stead as he faced the giant Goliath. It was understandable that king Saul thought it a joke to send a boy after Goliath but David said to him:
"Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." 1 Samuel 17. 34-36
David the shepherd, with all of his documented faults, becomes the king that Israel would celebrate during the following centuries. For many David would become the primary image of their saviour or Messiah. Even though Ezekiel writes about 400 years after David it seems that he is looking forward to David’s reign. Such was the impact of David on the prophetic consciousness. Ezekiel takes up the shepherd motif. We heard a snippet this morning as our Old Testament reading. In the beginning of chapter 34 Ezekiel speaks out against unworthy leaders who had their own interests at heart to the detriment of those they were supposed to be leading.
(Ezek 34:2 NRSV) Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them--to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.
This is a scathing review of the way the leaders of Israel had lost sight of true nature of their calling. If we think that such simple images from the land are not relevant to our time and place I will share with you some pastoral advice I was given the other night by someone who runs sheep. "My flock," he said to me, "is a lot like yours. If I push them too hard I’ll ware out the sheep and myself as well, but if I lead them gently they will do what ever I want!" You can see that sheep and shepherd analogies have their limits!
So our Lord makes use of the image of the sheep and the goats as a illustration of the end times. We might be able to proclaim Christ the King with great enthusiasm but we also need to be watchful that our lives match our proclamation. This final Sunday of the Church’s year provides us with a natural time for reassessment of our expression of Christian faith. true then to the advice I received I want to offer some ways of leading gently rather than pushing with any sort of force so that we all may find belonging and meaning in Christ.
The Gospel reading provides a foundational image for our reflection. The division between the sheep and the goats is made along lines of those who saw Christ in the needy, the sick, the prisoner. there are those whose expression of Christian fath has been to take such a parable as literally as they possibly can. Some manage great feats of kindness in the midst of busy lives. On 11th November, Remembrance Day, the Church remembered a Saint by the name Martin.
Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier and a Christian. One cold winter day, as he was entering a city, a beggar stopped him and asked for alms. Martin had no money; but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold, and Martin gave what he had. He took off his soldier’s coat, worn and frayed as it was; he cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar man. That night he had a dream. In it he saw the heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus in the midst of them; and Jesus was wearing half of a Roman soldier’s cloak. One of the angels said to him, "Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?" And Jesus answered softly, "My servant Martin gave it to me."
(William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: Westminster,
1975, 326. esermons.com)
There are some an interesting hints on how we should apply this gospel to our lives. First, like the Good Samaritan of the Gospel story, Martin is going about his business as he happens upon the beggar. That is to say he is not going about the place do-gooding as if in fear that any cinque in the Christian armour might lead to being included with the goats rather sheep. Second, Martin gives what he can of his resources. He gives half of his coat - a great sacrifice indeed, but he does not go overboard. He does not fall into the trap of idolising the poor as though all of Christian faith can be expressed by a simplistic application of the parable of the sheep and the goats. Lastly, Martin does not hang around patronising the beggar he continues about his business probably without giving his act of kindness a second thought until he receives that great affirmation of his ministry in the dream. Like Martin of Tours we are challenged to make this parable part of our lives.
Marin’s life was typified by going about his business. First as a soldier, then as a pioneer of the monastic movement and then as Bishop of Tours. He lived in a little cell near his Cathedral for most of his 25 years as Bishop of the diocese. We as a parish have been getting about our business also in the midst of whatever opportunity for acts of kindness come our way. The planning meeting last Sunday was evidence of that. The leadership team of the Parish want to thank every one who gave of their time to be there and contribute. We got through the whole year in just over two hours! Next week we will begin to circulate our Parish calendar for the year beginning Advent 1, 1st December. We will have before us a series of dates and times and events that will need the contribution of us all as a parish, but we want the year ahead to be enjoyable, we intend to work within what it is possible for us to achieve. The last thing we want is for anyone to feel overburdened.
It is a good time to mention that our parish, like Martin of Tours is innovative. Martin, as I said, was a pioneer among the Christians of his day. He and Hillary of Poitiers were the first monks in Gaul (Spain). They predated the great monastic movements influenced by Augustine and Benedict.
In taking on a clergy couple as leaders this parish is involved in pioneering work. I’m not making any claims that our situation is unique, or that we were the first, but we are amongst the pioneers. That means we have no established maps or models, no recipes that we can all look to so that the cake comes out perfectly baked. No matter how easy going any of us maybe we need plans and guidelines if we are to work together successfully. What happens in situations where these guidelines do not exist? I think we fill in the blanks with our expectations and presuppositions. I know I’ve done this on all sorts of levels: in sharing leadership in dealing with parishioners, colleagues and the diocesan structure.
We are called to go about the business given to us by God and in the midst of that to act kindly to others. While we may be challenged by the parable of the sheep and goats we should not be fearful. We have particular challenges in the year ahead: there is still much that will surprise, concern and maybe even frighten us. I pray we have confidence that, just as we know our Lord and want to know him more deeply, he too knows and loves us.
