For Sunday, November
15, 2020, Readings: Judges
4:1-7, Psalm 123, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:14-30
I
myself will be the shepherd of my sheep...I will seek the lost, and I will
bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen
the weak...I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at the weak animals with
your horns...I will save my flock and they will no longer be ravaged...I will
judge between sheep and sheep. [Ezekiel 34:15a, 16,20b-22]
Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our Salvation...For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. [Psalm 95: 1, 7a]
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ...may give you a
spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes
of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called
you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what
is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe... [Ephesians 1:17-19a]
When the Son of Man comes into his glory...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...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...but the righteous [will go] into eternal life." [Matthew 25:31a, 32, 40, 46b]
In this Sunday of Christ the King, the Final Sunday in the
Season after Pentecost, or The Season of the Kingdom in
some places, we look at the Christ of Wisdom, of Eternity, of Majesty, and
Jesus, of human form. The kingly Christ is now, has always been, will forever
be but the Divine-Human Incarnation, the manifestation of the love of God
that is Jesus is more than 2,000 years old. Jesus~ the human face of God ~ came
and will come again as God's own divine self on Earth. It is more than
difficult to comprehend, even as we continue to try, and forever as
inexplicable and unsolvable as eternal mysteries always are.
Ezekiel’s
message is speaking to the faithless shepherds, those governors of Israel who
oppressed their flocks. With inexcusable mishandling of power, governing for
the benefit of rulers, they failed in their handling of God’s Divine Plan which
is government ~ shepherding ~ for the sake of the governed. A true shepherd is
one who strengthens and protects the flock, tends the injured and the sick, calls
back all who have strayed. The Shepherds are accountable for the safety and
well-being of their flocks. In this passage, God the Almighty, assumes the role
of Israel’s shepherd. Ezekiel’s message is of both hope and warning.
Paul is extolling the faith of the
Ephesians and encouraging them so that with the eyes of your heart
enlightened, and praying that they [and now we] come to know Christ more
deeply, we will all know the hope to which we are called, and the spiritual
riches of his glorious inheritance, the fullness of him who fills all in
all.
Matthew’s Gospel account, which has no
parallel in the other three Gospels, is a view of the Great Judgment. As disciples,
Matthew has been telling us all through his Gospel that the Law is only a starting
point, we are to exceed those expectations by cultivating and manifesting an
inner attitude of love for God in everything that we do. We are to be that love
in all that we think and do, so that in all that we think and do our motives,
our deepest intentions, are expressed as genuine service in Christ’s name,
without any sense of merit or self-importance. There are many nice people doing
good things but if their inner purpose is personal gain or acclaim, however
small, they may be heading into the goat pen. And of course, it’s not so easy
to be so pure of heart.
As
we strive to be good sheep, our everyday lives, with their ups and downs on a
variety of fronts, keep us fairly distracted and not always conscious of what
and why we do as we do. It is often challenging, and perhaps distasteful, when
confronted with particular issues and people that may repel us. Yet we are called
to remember to look for Christ in strangers, the sick, the imprisoned, and the
poor, as well as in those who seem better off in life than we are, and those
who, in our less than best moments, we simply disparage as goats.
Some days, some seasons, some years,
it's much easier to be a goat and rest in the more comfy Jesus ~ the sweet Baby
of the Christmas glitter, pretty packages, and sparkling decorations, and,
ignoring the other “reason for the season,” the resurrected Jesus in the bright
colors of Easter flowers, dyed eggs, and candy.
But,
as we are at the end of one liturgical season and beginning another, it is time
to consider again our actions as members of the Body of Christ, and follow
Jesus with intention and consciousness ~ the Jesus who is our Messiah, the Rock of our
Salvation, Christ the King of Glory.
The writer of Ephesians prays for our
wisdom, our enlightenment, and for us to know the glory of God’s immeasurable
greatness. Let us not discard divine mystery for a false reality, but rouse
ourselves from the haze of distraction, indifference, and complacency. Let us,
as the blessed inheritors of the Kingdom, turn toward the inconvenient call of
Christ. After all, if we believe that our very existence on this fragile island
planet is truly a gift from God, what is there to lose if we live it through
Christ? All that truly matters is not glitter, but, in Christ, it will shine
forever.
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ Christ
Jesus, King of Glory, awaken us again to the wonder of God’s fullness in You, the
beacon of our faith. Gather us as Your sheep into our divine blessings, for
being Your love in the world, and for tending to and beckoning the goats of
this life to turn and join us in Your eternal flock.
Jesus,
Face of God
RESPONSE: Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ
Jesus, King of Glory, guide our conscious intent in our own actions to assure
that we and the leaders of governments on this Planet, locally and globally,
seek the lost, bind up the injured, feed the hungry, and all for their own
sake, in justice with mercy. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
Jesus,
Face of God
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ
Jesus, King of Glory, grant comfort and healing for all who suffer in body, mind, or
spirit, and for those who give them care. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions
Jesus, Face of God
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ Jesus, King of Glory, embrace all grieving hearts as You joyously bless those now entering Your gracious and forever kingdom. We pray especially for… add your own petitions
Jesus,
Face of God
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ
Jesus, King of Glory, we
pause in this moment to offer You our
other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions
RESPONSE: Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
Jesus, Face of God
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ Jesus, King of Glory, embrace all grieving hearts as You joyously bless those now entering Your gracious and forever kingdom. We pray especially for… add your own petitions
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
~ Christ Jesus, King of Glory, inscribe special blessings upon the souls of those anointed to lead us in Your Church, as we journey together through the gifts and trials of this mortal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
Enlighten the eyes of our hearts
The Celebrant adds: Son of
Man, the Incarnation of Love, even as we each are at once sheep and goat, You
extend the blessing of Your welcoming and forgiving hands. Strengthen us in our
weakness that we may one day rise into Your holy and sacred Kingdom. We offer
our praise to You as Jesus, our Redeemer Christ; to the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom
Guide; and to our Glorious Creator, who together and before time, live and
reign as one God, then, now, and into forever. Amen.
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