Ephesians 1: 15-23 (Good News Translation)
Matthew 25: 31-45 (Common English Bible)
It is a fact that most people are more likely to take action on behalf of people they know, then people thousands of miles away. This is called the “proximity factor,” the closer someone is, the closer the impact of the action, the more likely one is to act. This passage from Matthew 25 responds to this ethical issue of expanding the definition of “neighbor,” while raising practicable questions about the impact of charity.
For the newly formed Jesus Communities awaiting the imminent return of Christ, the passage makes itself clear. The Incarnation of Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, no longer walks among them. But his presence will still be felt in a new way. Whenever we help someone, we are helping Jesus.
Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Workers Movement in the early 20th century was founded on the ideas within Matthew 25. Dorothy Day and other members of Catholic Workers took this chapter of Matthew very seriously, dedicating their lives to this practice. For many this establishes God’s preference for the poor, a concept that gained popularity within the Liberation Theology movement during the 1960s and ‘70s. Just think how church councils could’ve been over the centuries if they had taken seriously the causes of poverty instead of creating fancy church buildings.
The response of charity by another does not really change their status, it only offers temporary relief. Charity meets immediate needs, but does not solve the root causes of poverty. Global poverty, entrenched homelessness, mass incarceration and the lack of health care are linked to systematic causes.
The passage from Matthew 25 does not blame the individuals for their suffering. Instead, Jesus calls others to respond to the problem. This can be done by petitioning political leaders, peaceful protest, boycotts and other ways to challenge systemic poverty. That is part of being a Matthew 25 Church Community which I’m glad the SPC is a part of. Social change is a combination of individual and systemic change.
This parable in Matthew chapter 25 could be considered the most important one that Jesus ever spoke, and its lesson is crystal clear, God will judge in accordance with our reaction to human need. God’s judgment will not be based on how successful one had been, or famous and the accomplishments one has made. People will be judged on the help given to those in need. And this goes deeper than private charity. What kind of political leaders do Christians really support? Is it political candidates who want to assist the poor, or those who want to
make their lives more difficult?
When we think of the final judgment, imagine this scene of judgment at the International Court Of Judgment located in The Hague in the Netherlands. Justice is one of the most profound longings of the human species. Central to Judaism, Christianity and other well-known religions, is the passionate longing for justice that comes directly from God. The belief is that God will do justice on a worldwide scale, in a way the International Court could only dream of. The world will finally be set to do good. Instead of nations and people being judged if they’re the members of the correct religion, the litmus test will be how did you help your neighbor in need, local or thousands of miles away.
The kingdom of God is not a location or a state of emotion. The kingdom is manifest when people visit the sick in hospitals, in nursing homes and prisons. And it's present when educators teach life-skills to those with disabilities. God holds us accountable to challenge those systems that maintain the oppression of all those who need water, food and health-care.
On this Christ the King Sunday, theologian Marcus Borg once said, “it represents what life would be like on earth if God was king and the rulers of the earth were not.” I know there would be no wars, no hunger and no ravanging of the environment for greed and there would be true justice for all.
When we study Paul’s epistle to the Ephesian Church, it’s easy to understand why modern people have a hard time to identify with his mindset. Paul lived at a time when people still believed in a three-tier universe. There was Heaven somewhere beyond the skies, an earth below it and a place of death beneath the earth, later elevated as the ultimate boogieland. Today we know the universe is vast, even with possible many dimensions and no one is being punished under the ground by God.
In 2023 in contrast to 58 AD when Ephesians was written, shows us a list that is different but not totally different during the 1st century AD. Pandemics raged in the ancient world just like today and also inflation. And like today, the rich prospered and the poor suffered.
In this kind of world, the Cosmic triumph of Christ does have its relevance. If Christ has triumphed over all the negative spiritual authorities, their rule ends. Christ the King Sunday continues to be important because rulers of all kinds continue to assert their own will over the teachings of Jesus. Christ the King is a criticism of all earthly rulers. It is the solid truth that faith and action through Christ will win over the powers of corrupt governments.
Almost all stories about “the end” of this present world are meant to clarify the importance of our lives and decisions here and now, and eternal life or eternal punishment are about as important as it could be. But, let’s look at it another way. Many of the great Christian scholars of the first three centuries AD, were universalists, everyone will be eventually saved, but maybe some faster than others. The famous Bible scholar Origen of Alexandria (185-251AD) compared the fire about punishment as a symbol of refining something defective into perfection. Compare it to a blacksmith pounding defective metal on an anvil above a fire. I would also say it would be educational learning for those defective beings. Like it says in the gospel of John, “In my Father’s House there are many dwelling places.” Maybe these “dwelling places” are schools just like many Germans and Japanese after WWII had to attend about the evil of fascism they succumbed to. Neither the fire, anvil or goats and sheep are literal, but metaphors used to describe this parable.
In this background, Jesus is talking to his disciples, offering one more lesson before he faces a Roman cross. The importance of this teaching isn’t to frighten them, it’s to focus them on what is most important, to encourage them to serve and emphasize the least of these and get a glimpse of God’s dawning reign of love and justice. A kingdom not of domination, but of stewardship, not ridicule, but kindness, not cruelty but instead compassion.
For the Followers of the New Exodus, as Matthew pictured Jesus, and with the vision of the true promised land in all its beauty, the Church Universal waits and prays with hope and justice as the Season of Advent will soon begin.
AMEN
