Meeting Jesus

by Pastor Kathy Barlow-Westmoreland

This week's focus scripture is Matthew 25:31-46.

This teaching from Jesus can be troubling at many levels. In the face of grace, that unearned, undeserved gift of God that promises to all who accept the gift that nothing can separate you from the love of God, this seems to contradict that with a judgment with no opportunity for repentance. It seems to indicate that there is such a thing as having to earn one’s salvation. And it seems that our only measure of salvation is how we have treated the least among us.

But to leave it there, is to somehow shortchange Jesus and his work of salvation. This is a chapter on preparation. This teaching occurs just before Judas betrays him and the whole narrative of the cross begins to unfold. The overriding message of Chapter 25 is an invitation to live the salvation life. From the warnings about being misled by false Messiahs to the parables of the bridesmaids and the talents, Jesus is preparing them for their post resurrection and ascension life. How will they work to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth (besides praying for it to happen).

For Jesus, salvation was not just by and by when you die and the Kingdom was not just about a triumphal return. “Now is the day of salvation”, we are told. Our salvation starts today, and it is defined by a certain kind of life- a life lived in community, but more than that, a life lived as family. This text if you listed carefully is not just about judgment. It is Jesus’ invitation to be in relationship – with him. Whatever you did for my brothers and sisters, however humble, you did for me. For Jesus, it was about how we were going to live as family.

And so there are sheep, who did all the loving, compassionate things, clueless that Christ was there. And then there were the goats. And what was the goats’ sin that was so heinous? Did they taunt the hungry? Did they torture the prisoner? Did they kill or cheat? What did they do that would cause such outrage? Nothing. They did nothing. Their salvation life was not lived out in their everyday existence.
And the goats are dumbfounded- when did we see you? If we had, we certainly would have done something! All we ever saw were strangers, trailer trash, deadbeats, people who used the emergency room as a doctor’s office…you were never among any of them, we would have known, we would have helped you, Jesus.

Jesus has invited us and everyone to be in relationship with him, and to be family of welcome and acceptance. And by our presence here, most, if not all of us, profess a love for Jesus as our Savior. And part of the salvation life is about the kind of community we build here and how we love the Christ we see on one another. But it is also about how we seek to make family or build community wherever we find ourselves.

As part of our sabbatical travels, we stayed intentionally in places family owned and operated. In Ireland we stayed in a bed and breakfast owned by a delightful couple, Tim and Eileen Collins, and in a future week I will share more about them. And as I shared last week, while in Tuscany we stay on a family farm. But we were not the only ones who stayed there that week. We were one of four family units who stayed the whole week. All American, which Isabella told me was unusual, but yet different in many ways. On that first morning when we gathered in the sun porch to hear about what activities were offered that week, we made basic introductions but it was mere chance (or providence if you ask me) that brought us together. Because we did have some shared space, a courtyard, the sun porch, the grounds, the laundry, we were a community of sorts. Also we would be doing some activities together- a couple of meals, including learning to make pasta, the evening grappa time with Luciano, but we would also be doing things as individual families, or perhaps just with parts of each other’s families.

Among the four families, there was a family with two grandmothers, parents and two small children; a couple with two daughters of elementary school age; a couple with two teenage children, a boy and a girl, and us- the middle age mom and young adult children. It was interesting how all the stages of life were covered among us. What we shared was a desire to learn about the life and culture of the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany. And by the end of the week, indeed a community had been formed- even a rhythm of life, with mornings of coffee or tea outside, afternoon with wine and sharing our different experiences. And when we sat at table together for shared meals, it was like family. At the end of the week we knew the chances of seeing one another were slim. Not all communities are meant to last forever. But because we accepted each other, cared for each other, shared with each other, we glimpsed the Christ in each of these faces. None of us had come with the intention to enter into community with our neighbors on the farm, but by becoming a family of sorts for the week, it enriched our experience greatly.

From that experience, I have thought of all the times we have the opportunity to draw others into community or family. And it is all in how we receive them. The waitress at Frisch’s. The clerk at Target. The people in line with us at the post office and or the grocery. How do we invite them into relationship with us? How do we build community with them? Can we see Christ in the person pumping gas into their car next to us?

This is about more than just inviting them to church, although, that is certainly part of it. It is creating relationships, even briefly, that allow us to receive the Christ that is present in them, whether we can see it or not.

And it shouldn’t matter whether they are acting in a Christlike way. It is those of least status, those others would not touch, those whose lives are falling apart at the seams, those whom we know nothing about really, where we are to look for our beloved Savior. You see, it is not about how we behave here, when we believe God is most attentive to our behavior. It is about how we act when think God is not around. It is what we say to or about someone that judges them rather than acting in compassion. It what we don’t do, for whatever reason or what we don’t say that will be part of the fabric of our salvation life.
One of the books I read last summer was called “An Altar in the World”, a geography of faith, by Barbara Brown Taylor. Now, I must admit, I like her sermons and her writing, so when I first purchased this book, I did not realize how much it would resonate with my sabbatical reflections on hospitality. Taylor talks about the practice of paying attention, as a way to draw people into relationship, of having reverence for the Christ that is in them.

She talks about how human beings can do things that keep us from seeing Christ in them- those irritating things like hugging our bumper at rush hour, or putting cans of bean on top of our mushrooms or talking on their cell phones when we are waiting to pay them for our gas. A remedy for her lack of reverence for them is to pay closer attention to them- even when they are in my way. The boy bagging the groceries doesn’t know the first thing about mushrooms. He is working so hard to impress the pretty young cashier that it is not wonder he doesn’t see her, the customer. But she sees him and for a moment sees him with his own problems, his own growing pains. By paying attention the boy is no longer an obstacle, but a person.

And it can be that simple. Take the time to pay attention to those around us. See them as humans, made in the image of the Creator, in whom Christ dwells. See them as those with their own hurts and stories, their own struggles. Once we start paying attention, there is no need to label them or judge them or exclude them. There is only the need to include, invite, relate to them. And in so doing we are including, inviting, relating, loving the Lord we profess to love each week we are here. It is our love for Christ made real in relationships and in community and in family. For the least of these, it seems it is the least we can do, and yet it is best we can do. Amen.

St. John's Westminster Union Church
1085 Neeb Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45233
(513) 347-4613