Saturday, May 28, 2016

"Compassion"

             This Sunday, May 29th, I continue my sermon series which examines the question, “How are we to live as a Resurrection People in this interim period?  By “interim period,” I mean that long period of time between Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter morning and the parousia, or end-time, when God’s Kingdom will be fully established.  On the one hand, Christians believe that Christ’s Resurrection was a cosmic tipping point in God’s plan of love and reconciliation for the universe.  And yet, on the other hand, we live in a time where God’s Reign is far from fully established. 
So, as an interim people, how does God intend for us to live?  We are exploring the attitudes, life-style, and practices which define what it means to live as a Resurrection People in the interim.  We began by looking at two key attitudes of a Resurrection People, hope and joy. Then, we explored God’s Call to live in a community of faith, where we are safe, loved, and supported by this community.  Last Sunday, we examined justice, which is one of several practices that Christ calls upon us to pursue as a Resurrection People.
This week, we will reflect on a second practice:  compassion.  Our scriptural guide for reflecting on compassion will be Matthew 25: 31-46.  This passage is sometimes referred to as “The Great Judgment” passage because it is the only passage in the New Testament that explicitly discusses a final judgment. 
In these verses, Jesus provides detailed criteria, laying out what one must do for salvation.  Jesus describes the final judgment as the process of a Judge separating sheep from goats.  In this case, it is far better to be a sheep because they will be invited “‘to inherit the kingdom prepared…from the foundation of the world’” and eternal life.  By contrast, the goats will be sent “away into eternal punishment.”
The criteria for separating the sheep from the goats concerns whether we have cared for our fellow neighbors.  Jesus says, “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.” (vv. 35-36)
I have always appreciated this passage of scripture.  For me, it’s as though Jesus has provided a study-guide for the final exam.  Perhaps you remember study-guides from your school days.  They were guides, sometimes with practice questions, designed to help students focus their studying exclusively on the material that would be covered by the final exam.  So, in essence, in this passage Jesus is telling us that what is important for our salvation is service—that is, helping others.  I suppose that this is the ultimate study-guide of all time.  J
Biblical scholars have pointed out that all of the criteria named by Jesus in the parable have to do with “right practice” (orthopraxy), as opposed to “right belief” (orthodoxy).  It’s interesting.  For literally centuries, Christian theologians have been engaged in bitter arguments about highly nuanced understandings of orthodoxy.  (In the “Great Schism of 1054,” the Eastern and Western sections of the Church split in large part because of a disagreement over a single preposition in one sentence of a creed.)  Yet, as important as it is to struggle with the theological implications of our faith, this passage suggests that the final judgment is all about orthopraxy.  It is all about how well we live out our Christian faith through service to others.
Once I was teaching a Bible study, when one of the participants confessed that she did not really like this passage of scripture.  For her, this passage seemed “guild-inducing and manipulative.”  She asked, “How many works of compassion and generosity are enough to be saved?”[1] 
            I think that it’s important to look at this question from a broader perspective.  Living as a Resurrection People should not be about guilt, manipulation, or bare minimums.  Instead, as we have seen, Resurrection People should approach life with an attitude of joy and hope in response to God’s love for us.  Through faith in Christ, we experience God’s love pouring down and filling us to overflowing.  Out of this overflowing love, we respond with love and concern for our neighbors who are suffering—just as the sheep in the passage.  We can’t help but respond in this way because we are so filled with God’s love.  All of this is through faith. 
            John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed that there were two avenues for spiritual growth.  The first route he called, “works of piety.”  By works of piety he meant attending worship, prayer, Bible study, and especially receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  The second route he called, “works of mercy.”  By works of mercy he meant the works of the sheep in Matthew 25; feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick, etc.  While Wesley believed that both types of works were vitally important, he believed that works of mercy were primary. 
Wesley makes an important point.   Part of being a Resurrection People means accepting God’s invitation to become “created co-creators,” working with God to establish God’s Reign throughout this planet by becoming agents of justice, compassion, and environmental stewardship.  So, as a Resurrection People, we have compassion for those who are suffering, and we reach out to care for them in response to God’s overflowing love for us.  We love the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the stranger, the naked, and the sick, because God first loved us.
Come, join us this Sunday, May 29th, at Christ United Methodist Church, as we think about the importance of compassion as a critical dimension of working with God as created co-creators to establish God’s Kingdom here on planet Earth.  Christ United Methodist Church is located at 4530 A Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Our classic worship services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday mornings. 
Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.



[1] (We also wondered:  If Paul is correct when he says in his letter to the Romans that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” then what does that mean for the goats headed to “eternal punishment”?  Does that mean that even in eternal punishment the goats will still experience God’s love—and by implication some sort of relationship with God?  This is a fascinating question which I cannot pursue during my message on Sunday.)
 

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