Matthew 25: 31-46

Luke 16: 19-31

It is appropriate to use this parable from Matthew 25 as a litany since it was likely used that way in the early church. When reading silently this passage, we might skip ahead as soon as we recognize it is that same list again, but reading it aloud works on one’s awareness when it is repeated four times almost like a chant. For the early church, it may have been memorized as essential instructions for believers. (Pheme Perkins. Hearing the Parable of Jesus. Ramsey, New York (Paulist Press, 1981. P. 160-1) This makes sense because the concerns of this parable were at the heart of Jesus’ teaching and actions.

As in most of the other parables, it is difficult for us to understand all the nuances that the original hearers would have easily caught. There was in Jesus’ culture a popular image of a final judgment where God or the Messiah would separate those who had not believed in God, or had done evil, from those who had been faithful and done good. The usual image was of a king sitting on a throne in all his glory, surrounded by angels, exactly as Jesus begins this parable. But then comes a twist. As I mentioned the first week of this series, Jesus substituted a common mustard seed bush for the mighty cedar as a symbol of the kingdom of God, which would be like using kudzu instead of the mighty redwood. It was a joke with a punch, replacing the grand traditional imagery with a more accessible and egalitarian one.

In much the same way, Jesus is having fun again, this time reducing the glorious scene of the final judgment to the mundane task of a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. His hearers are prepared to hear about the great reckoning that will take place before the heavenly throne complete with the heavenly court and the book of life and a wise judge to sort out the complications of each life. “But suddenly, there is no complicated reckoning to take place…. The task becomes as simple as sorting sheep from goats. Even a small child could tell the difference….In fact, a good sheep dog would be of considerably more help than the angelic hosts.” (Perkins, Pp, 159, 161)

Jesus is questioning popular images of the final judgment while at the same time challenging what the qualifications will be for inheriting “the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25: 34a) Instead of some complicated assessment of your theology and faith, it will be simple. The sorting will be according to these actions: “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.” (Matthew 25: 35-6)

If we dare listen to this parable, it is just as radical and shocking for us as it was to Jesus’ audience. If you were like me, you were brought up to believe that the difference between those who were going to heaven and those going to hell was whether you proclaimed your belief in Jesus as Lord and savior and then was baptized. But according to Jesus’ parable, the difference between those who are going to heaven and those going to hell is this: Did you feed the hungry, give food to the thirsty, see the strangers and welcome them in, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison? That’s it. “There is nothing grandiose or even very complex about this picture of judgment—nothing that requires detailed record keeping or attention to detailed precepts of the Law. Whether or not one has aided ‘one of the least of these’ will be as easy to determine as it is to teach a child to tell sheep and goats apart.” (Perkins, P. 162)

I don’t know about you, but I find this rather unsettling. I spend a lot of time reading and thinking and talking to others about my theology and beliefs and political views. I would like to be rewarded for my clear thinking. But with this parable, Jesus makes it clear that whatever else we might do, it is not possible to be indifferent and uninvolved with the plight of the suffering and downcast and still be in a good relationship with God. We might protest, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer us, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25: 37-40)

Now here’s something even more challenging: To be close to God, we not only have to be connected with the least of these, we have to do it in such a way that it becomes natural, a habit we hardly notice. In the parable, for those serving the poor, sick, and imprisoned, it had become a normal part of their lives. They were surprised they were being rewarded for it. Robert Coles tells a story about when he was in medical school, studying to be a psychiatrist, and proud of his status. He decided to volunteer to work with Dorothy Day, the famous Catholic social worker, in helping the poor. He arrived for his first meeting to discover Dorothy sitting at a table, deep in conversation with a very disheveled street person. She didn't notice Coles had come into the room until they had finished the conversation. Then she asked, "Do you want to speak to one of us?" Robert Coles was astounded by Dorothy Day's humility. She had identified so completely with what others might have considered "a nobody" as to remove all distinction between them. Robert Coles said it changed his life. He learned more in that moment than in his four years at Harvard.

When Dorothy Day passed away, I am pretty certain she was one of the sheep. I am less certain about myself. When I am approached by a homeless person, my first reaction is often, “Oh no, what do they want from me?” instead of, “Is that you, Jesus?’ Fortunately, I may still have time. Jesus told this parable as a wake-up call, a mid-term exam, an opportunity to get our priorities straight before it’s too late.

In case folks missed the point, Jesus had many other sayings and parables with the same emphasis. He once said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.” (Luke 16: 19-21)

Jesus’ audience would immediately have recognized both these figures in their society, as there was an enormous gulf between the haves and the have-nots in his time. In other words, it was a time like ours. The rich man belongs to the urban elite that controls wealth, power, and privilege. He can afford to dress in the most costly clothes, imported luxury items that display his great wealth as a form of conspicuous consumption. In stark contrast, Lazarus is destitute and starving. Covered with sores, he would have been seen as unclean and to be avoided. He was so helpless and pitiful that he had to compete for food with the street dogs and could not even defend himself from dogs that would come and lick his sores, making him even more degraded and unclean. In the popular theology of that time, such a disgusting person was assumed to be a sinner being punished by God.

On the other hand, the rich man’s wealth would have been seen as sign of God’s blessing. In other words, the popular theology of Jesus’ time was a lot like popular theology today. So what happens next in Jesus’ parable is a shocker, then and now! “The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.” (Luke 16: 22) His life of ease no doubt ended in a big, fine funeral. Lazarus, with no one to bury him, would have been thrown into a grave in some pauper’s field. But, instead, to the surprise of everyone hearing this story, Lazarus is flown off by angels to be with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.

If that were not shocking enough, the rich man goes straight to hell. “In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.

Then there begins this somewhat comic exchange: “He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.”

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 17-31)

Well, what can we conclude from this parable? Well, first of all, there goes the prosperity gospel straight to hell. The rich man’s wealth was not a blessing but a curse. This is not to say that wealth by itself is bad. After all, from every indication Abraham was a wealthy man during his time on earth. The problem with the man’s wealth was that it became a chasm between him and the poor. In our time the chasm can be seen between the gate of the White House and the homeless people in the park across the street on Pennsylvania Avenue. The chasm can be seen between the gates of the Capitol and the streets just beyond. Since 1997, Congress has given itself seven pay raises while denying America’s lowest paid workers even one raise. “Since 1997, the cost of a loaf of bread has gone from 86 cents to $1.04; and the cost of a gallon of gas has gone from $1.26 to $2.32 (and higher)… and the federal minimum wage has gone from $5.15 to $5.15.” At the same time, the rich have gotten richer as we borrow from our children’s future to increase their lives of luxury. According to Jesus’ parable, there will be hell to pay for this.

What would happen if our rich president and the rich members of Congress were to live for even a month at the salary earned by a full-time worker at minimum wage? Maybe they could cross that chasm before it’s too late.

Rosa Books, a law professor at the University of Virginia has another idea for crossing the chasm.

Here’s an idea for a reality TV show. Call it “Aliens.” The contestants will be drawn from the U.S. Congress.

To start, they’ll have their credit cards, cell phones, computer and cars confiscated. Next, they’ll be sent—with their families—to live in rural villages and urban shantytowns in poor countries. Each will be assigned a menial job in his new home, for which he will receive a dollar a day.

Most members of Congress won’t last more than a few episodes, of course. Their kids will quickly lose the baby fat that comes from a hearty American diet and instead gain the bloated tummies that characterize children with nutritional deficiencies. This development will frighten off the faint of heart.

The remaining contestants will be given the opportunity to compete in an even tougher game. They’ll be instructed to make their way to a distant country, but they won’t be provided with money, a passport or transportation. Hardships along the route will include fording flood-prone rivers, crossing dangerous deserts on foot and evading the armed gangs of smugglers and traffickers who will attempt to rob, rape, and kidnap them.

Contestants will then have to covertly cross a border into a country guarded by armed agents.

Those who make it will then have to find food, shelter and employment in a place where they don’t know the language and are in constant danger of being detected, detained, and deported. The only jobs available to them will be low-paying and often backbreaking labor.

What’s the prize, you ask? Any contestants who manage to survive a full season will be offered the opportunity to draft a new immigration reform bill for the United State.

If the parables are “mirrors to help us see ourselves more honestly,” (John Claypool) there are probably not any better mirrors for our society than the ones Jesus holds up with these two parables we heard today. There is a growing chasm in our culture On one side is the rich. Things look pretty good on that side. On the other side of the chasm is the hungry, the poor, the stranger, those in prison. It looks bleak over on that side. Except for the fact that God is on that side. Jesus is asking, which side of this chasm do we want to be on? Well, that’s about as easy as knowing the difference between a sheep and a goat.