Year A Proper 29 - Reign of Christ 20 November 2011
Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100 Ephesians 1: 15-23 Matthew 25: 31-46
The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you being doing about it?
Our first reading from Ezekiel reminds us of the love of God and how, like a shepherd, he will gather us when we’ve been scattered. We are reminded that God has a special love and care for the weak, but there is a word of judgment to the sleek and strong.
Ezekiel 34:15-16 "I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”
At the time of Ezekiel the nation of Israel was scattered and broken. The reason for them being in such a state was because the majority had not steadfastly kept to God’s ways. They were a nation who liked to mix with the other nations and take a bit of religion from each and mix it with their own. In today’s culture we’d applaud them for being so embracing and open-minded. There were always an annoying minority though, who refused to be politically correct. These seemed to be judgemental because they proclaimed an ‘exclusive” kind of religion where certain actions were called “sin” and they refused to compromise with the nations around about whose god really was god.
The God of the Israelite nation had sent prophet after prophet to warn the people that these “politically correct” and “socially sensitive” ways were “sin”, but the majority of the people mistreated and persecuted these prophets. Is it any different today?
Due to the vast sin and the refusal to listen to the prophets, God inspired nations to come against the Israelites and in the fall out, the nation was scattered and broken.
There is a lot I haven’t yet said, but I hope you are reading in between the lines and seeing how much the church has in common with that ancient Israelite nation. We, the church, are God’s chosen people, but in many cases we are compromising. There are many, who belong to the church, who have taken on “other gods”.... strange beliefs.... because they are listening to new age philosophies from friends – philosophies that suit them and make them feel good. For example, I receive emails with a beautiful prayer – it is said to have special power if you send it to 12 more people. The power of prayer is only as powerful as the one to whom you are praying. Pray to God and there truly is infinite power, but it is according to his will and not something that you can manipulate by sending it to X amount of people.
There are a number of social issues that we feel pressure to bow to, but if we do so we are bowing to an idol. It is the Idol of a self made god, made in man’s image. It is sin. Let me list these: abortion, homosexuality, adultery. I am so tired of tip-toeing around these issues because I might offend someone. Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t exclude people because of these sins.... and neither does God (Remember Jesus episode with the woman caught in adultery? He didn’t condemn her, told her to go and sin no more). We all sin!!! I have only listed these things that society has put pressure on the church to rename these as not being sin. I sin and you sin. That is why Jesus came to save us..... we cannot, by ourselves, attain the standard of perfection, but as God’s people we need to acknowledge our sin and if we re-name these things then we are the strong who are leading the weak astray and sending them to their own destruction.
We discover, as we look at our Gospel reading, that the strong have a responsibility to care for the weak. Traditionally this has been read and understood as our social responsibility to the poor and those in third world countries. The Church has been a leader in social justice and fighting for the rights of those who can’t fight for themselves. It is this Christian principal that we see in our defence forces. Unfortunately, many people who’ve grown up without this principal of caring for those less fortunate don’t understand and think if it is someone else’s problem then we should just let them have it.
If we look again at the reading we will see that there is more to the reading than social justice.
Matthew 25:37-40 ““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.’
I notice that there is a relationship between the “King” and the “brothers and sisters”.
There is a dangerous tendency in our church families to think that those we need to care for are exclusively those outside the church or those perceived as different. A story that I heard once was of a problem between two ladies who were attending a church activity. One had a disability and the other did not. The people immediately went into social justice mode and looked after the lady with the disability and ignored the other lady.
We often assume if someone is like us that they need no extra support. We often think that if someone is at church then they are “okay!” We need to be aware of those around us, because these are the brothers and sisters of Christ and he wants us to be looking out for them.
I’d like to take this a step further; from church family to church family there are groups who are weak and groups who are strong. The Church has become scattered and fragmented. The strong still have a responsibility to care for the weak..... I’m not sure how this can happen, but I am sure that God does expect us to understand this concept and be looking for ways to care for one another. I know that some church leaders get together for prayer and the building of those relationships is a one small way that caring can take place.
In our churches, the same principal can be used. It is the getting together and praying in small groups where we can begin to properly care for one another. Our needs may not be for food and shelter.... but we maybe thirsty for spiritual nourishment, and our love gone cold, may need the cloak of someone’s love to warm.
Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians about his prayer for them. It is the way he, as one who was strong, gave to those brothers and sisters of Christ who were weaker than he. He imparted God’s truths and showed that he cared for them as if they were family. As an evangelist St. Paul might have thought, “okay they are Christians now, my job is done”, but instead he understood that he was also called to continue caring for God’s people.
Ephesians 1:15- 23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
And so, I’ll leave you with the question I began with. The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you be doing about it?
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