Long time Lutheran pastor Janet H. Hunt says of our Gospel text for today, “I know the images offered in today's Gospel lesson speak of a final judgment where 'goats' and 'sheep' are separated one from another. I know this. And yet I find it most helpful to hear this as encouragement even now to see and experience and respond to this world in new ways. Indeed, I hear Jesus' words today reminding me that I simply don't know when I will encounter the face of Christ next: thus making nearly all ground holy ground. And in the end, maybe that is precisely what these words are meant to do.”
How many of you have completed all of your Christmas shopping? I’ve noticed a trend, people seem to be buying fewer gifts but the gifts we do buy seem to be of higher value, with higher costs. My late mother liked to buy a lot of presents for a lot of people. She loved a bargain and would start her Christmas shopping on Boxing Day, finishing up with the last of items on Labour Day. Because she bought her presents so early it became a bit of a joke in our family that when we were helping bring groceries in the house and spotted something we had told our mother that we loved that item was likely a Christmas gift. And if you ever told my mother that you liked something you could expect to receive that item, albeit on sale, from now till eternity.
There was one year when the Christmas gifts became a source of tension between my mother and me. I had seen what she had purchased for my Christmas present and I knew where she hid the gifts. In the fall the weather was getting cold and one of the clients I served as a volunteer at Hope Cottage was wearing a thin windbreaker. I already had several winter coats and knew Eddie could use the coat my mother had bought me at Sears more than me. So one afternoon I climbed the ladder to the attic and removed the winter coat. I took it that night to Hope Cottage and gave it to Eddie. He loved it! I remember how he smiled even to this day. It made my Christmas, giving him that coat. You see my mother is partly to blame for my deception. She is the one who inspired me to volunteer at Hope Cottage, she would always take all of our leftover food from the holidays down to Brunswick Street and have me carry it in.
That is not how she saw it. My mother was not impressed when she discovered the coat was missing. “I bought that for you, you had no right to take it!” She was not impressed with my logic or how I tied my actions to her efforts to teach us boys about the needs of others. I apologized. Later, when I opened my presents on Christmas Day there was a wrapped present for Eddie too. Mom had gone out and bought him a vest, a hat and homemade mittens. I guess she forgave me.
I share that story because it illustrates in some small measure what Christmas has become for many families, a time of buying presents for each other. There is a higher priority given to family than those who could use that coat or mittens or hat. That’s odd because we’re Christians and our story goes something like this; there was no room in the Inn so the Christ-child was born in the manger and later still Magi from the East came with expensive gifts for the One they saw as a King. And further, when this King is remembered on this particular Sunday that most churches today refer to as “Reign of Christ Sunday” we proclaim the well-known Gospel text:
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
The Christ-Child, the King, may receive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh but what he really wants is for the hungry to be fed, the thirsty to be given a drink, the stranger to be visited, the naked to be clothed, the sick to be taken care of and the prisoner to be visited. How did we get from there to the place where we are buying each other their eighth winter coat?
Many of you know that we just celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, that day when Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg. But what you may not know is that the early Church Reformers held fast to the strong belief that we are loved not for what we do or who we are or where we came from but rather we are loved unconditionally through the grace of God. In other words God’s love for us came first and our response follows that love. We don’t offer our love for God or each other to earn God’s love, we love God and others because we are so filled with love we need to express it.
So filled with this need to express our love for God, who loved us first, we find ourselves one month away from the season that brings out the most generous spirit in us all. Where and how will your love be expressed? One thing I don’t want to do is make yet another demand on you. Giving out of obligation and guilt does not produce much love. There is little joy when one’s teeth are clenched, one’s hands are rigid and one’s spirit is anything but lifted to the Creator. We’ve all been there when we have resources and with a heavy sigh conclude, “Well I guess I had better share this with the poor.” If it isn’t in your heart to give, don’t.
But, let me share with you something I have learned. I am thankful every day for the love that gave me birth, thankful for the love that gave me life, and thankful for the love that gave me the gifts to stand in front of you and preach. I earned none of these. These gifts were all free and grace-filled and for them I am bursting with gratitude. That’s why every Christmas I look for ways to express that love. I will not be buying Lucy or Kim another winter coat. Some years I give to the Mission and Service Fund, my money used to help persons in need here in Canada or somewhere around the world. Some years I donate to the Brunswick Street Mission. And some years I have invited a lonely person to our family feast or surprise a person who eats but one meal a day with hearty and healthy meal or I give a winter coat to someone I know finds the winter a cold time of year. I don’t give money.
How will you express your deep love? Our Gospel text gives us more than a few clues. Be creative, be generous and above all be joy-filled. I would be remiss if I did not remind you that the Salvation Army has given us a list of children to buy for this Christmas, no names, just age and gender. That might be a good place to start.
And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
I find it most helpful to hear this as encouragement… Indeed, I hear Jesus' words today reminding me that I simply don't know when I will encounter the face of Christ next: thus making nearly all ground holy ground. And in the end, maybe that is precisely what these words are meant to do.”
Amen.