Message
by: Pastor Carol Kniseley /
Title: Christ the King
Personally,
I like goats. Always have. In fact one of the nicknames we have for our
dog is ‘Bailey-goat’ because ever sense he was a pup, he has had a fondness for
putting his nose into places where it does not belong…namely, the trash
cans. The dog will eat
anything…including socks, lifesavers, books…you name it, he will eat it if given
the chance. If you were to ask me,
it’s in his genes to do such things.
Leading me to surmise, that the chief problem that I see pertaining to
goats…is that they simply are not sheep.
And according to today’s Gospel lesson, that is reason for concern.
If
we take the time to carefully read today’s story, we will soon discover that
both groups (the sheep and the goats) were totally baffled by the verdicts they
received. It is not by coincidence
that Matthew records that both responded with the exact same question: “Lord, when was it that we saw you?” Implying that the sheep did not know
what they had done right…anymore that the goats knew what they had done wrong. Both were merely going about their daily
routines, doing what came natural to them,
when apparently they encountered Jesus.
The only problem being that more often than not…neither one knew that it
was him.
Amazing,
isn’t it? To think that Jesus can show
up on our door step one day…much like the characters who portrayed God in the
TV show, Joan of Arcadia…dressed as a teenager with spiked hair, or as a
janitor in his late 60’s…it really doesn’t matter whom he portrays. The only question is…how will we relate
to the person God has chosen to be at that very moment in our lives? Enter a friend of mine, whom I will call
Max, because quite frankly…I can no longer remember his real name.
Max
showed up at church one day for one of our midweek services, having spent the
night before at the local homeless shelter located just across the street. After all, the word had gotten out that
every Wednesday night for the next couple of weeks
soup would be served in the Fellowship Hall…and everyone was welcome to
attend. Whether they knew it or
not…whether they even cared or not…it was the season of Lent, and for the
homeless folks, like Max, a free meal was always worth the walk.
Max
was a big guy…towering some 6’ 4” tall and he must have weighed close to 250
pounds. He reminded me of a big brown
teddy bear of sorts, because everywhere he went, he always wore a shaggy brown
coat that dropped down about half way between his ankles and his knees. He never took the coat off…no matter what
the temperature was…making some folks look at him in a little bit different
light.
What
we didn’t know at that time was that Max carried with him at all times
everything he owned right within the pockets he had sewn into his big brown
coat. The reason I knew this was
because the last time I saw him, he handed me something that I shall never
forget. He said he appreciated the
way that I had taken the time to simply talk to him and let him know that he
was welcome to join us for our Lenten services. It was then that he reached inside of his
coat pocket…and pulled out what appeared to be a small picture frame.
What
the picture said…spoke volumes to me.
It was as if Jesus himself had come…and graced us with his presence all
those weeks…only to disappear just one week before his Passion. He wanted me to know that somehow I had
treated him more like a sheep than a goat, and that had meant the world to
him. I suppose what Max was really
trying to say, was that somewhere along the way…even I had somehow managed to
be used by God. If
only for a day.
Matthew knows all too well that on any given day, you
and I can behave as perfect sheep…doing those things that we know God would
approve of, taking the time to feed the hungry…visit with the sick…even welcome
a stranger in to our midst. But
then again, on any other day, we can just as easily turn into goats…sticking
our noses into everyone else’s business, including the trash, without any
regard for anyone else. It’s as if our
wiring becomes faulty and before we know it…Jesus may be standing right in
front of us…and we can’t even recognize him for who he is.
The
thing is, we are
called to look at each other…and see
Christ, who promises to be there when our eyes meet. The goats were not condemned for doing bad
things, but instead for doing nothing.
They simply “did not see” any
relationship between their lives and the lives of those who were in need. The truth is…there is a relationship, and
it is up to each one of us to decide what we will do, or will not do, about it. Right or wrong, it helps me to remember
that we are not alone. The sheep and
the goats in today’s story both spoke in unison. “When was it that we saw you?” they say,
reminding us that we are all part of
a community, and that sometimes we can
do things together that we can not do
alone.
It
seems to me, that even at it’s best…the church is made
up of both sheep and goats. We can welcome others into our fold,
pressing our limits, and widening our circle of embrace. We can do this because we are one
flock…tended and fed by the one Good Shepherd…who is, I suspect, also quite
fond of the goats as well. When I
stop and think about it, Max reminds me a lot about Bailey-goat. Both seem to be wired a little bit
differently…causing each to exhibit behavior that in some circles would
certainly raise a few eyebrows. And
yet, I know that God simply does not look the other way.
Nor does he expect us to do the same. Instead, I believe, he calls us to risk being in relationship even when the relationship is unlikely, momentary, and at times…even sad. We are called to look at each other…and see Christ. So when the time does come to sort us out, those are the eyes that will meet our eyes…and all of a sudden we will know that we have seen those eyes before. They will be the eyes of the one we’ve seen in a million different faces. His name? Christ the King. Or Max. They’re really one in the same. Amen