The Last Sunday of the Kingdom - Christ the King

Over the last few weeks we have had readings about the KINGDOM OF GOD – what it means, how to spot it, and who exactly benefits from it. We were led peacefully through the stories that told us about life in first century Palestine, and at the end we could see that the poor, the outcast, the marginalized and oppressed would be those who help us to build the KINGDOM OF GOD – by showing us the nature of the CREATOR and His love for us.

Unfortunately, today, it has all gone wrong – it is a bit like reading the first few chapters of a book, then skipping to the last chapter (has anybody done that before) only to find that the book has taken quite a turn. If you can imagine the scene – Jesus has just told some parables, and he finishes with the story of the shepherd. A shepherd who, at night, separates out the sheep from the goats – this is the apocalyptic bit, in the great tradition of the prophets – revelations of heaven – that the children of Israel had been trying to fathom for hundreds of years. The Old Testament reading from the prophet Ezekiel stops short again in our lectionary, the prophet says at verse 20 “Now I myself shall judge between the fat sheep and the lean….I shall judge between one sheep and another”.

The Jewish expansion on this text (The Midrash) imagines someone being questioned by God, asking them “What are your life’s works?” If the answer is “I fed the hungry and thirsty, I clothed the naked, I brought up the orphan and gave alms” then the reply is “This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous may enter”; come on in.

However, the NEW TESTAMENT offers a twist, as it always does. The twist is that JESUS the SON OF GOD is walking around bold as brass on earth. And His reply to his followers (wishing to please Him) is this….if you do something for the least of people, you do it as if you were doing it for me”.

We have pressed the fast forward button this week in the readings, we are right at the end of the disc – we can see the mystery unfolding in front of our eyes.

Jesus has made a statement – and he is watching the faces of His followers, to see who has any understanding. This is the last lap, and he is waiting for them to join the dots and see the great cosmic picture.

It’s like Rolf Harris drawing a picture – the great jumble lines and colours could be anything really, until Rolf takes a brush and puts a dot in the middle, and there is it – a kangaroo riding a scooter.

Jesus has joined up the past, present and future and with a quick conclusion He has shown the people there (and dare I say – those present today) that He is the Messiah, and at the end of time he will be sorting out the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the good from the evil, the Godly from the Ungodly…we could go on all day – add your own phrase.

So faithful disciples, we have listened to the stories about the Kingdom of God, and we have asked ourselves the questions, but if we are not careful, we can ignore the most important question that is “how are we to learn from these stories”. This is the question that was in the forefront of the minds of the authors of the New Testament.

The unstoppable St. Paul prays for the new church at Ephesus that “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the spirit of wisdom and of unveiling in the knowledge of him, having eyes of your hearts enlightened, THAT YOU MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE TO WHICH HE HAS CALLED YOU”. This is certainly not a bad prayer at all – it hits the mark, dealing with the concerns of the new church – are they on the right path? Are they going in the right direction? Are they being faithful to the teachings of Christ?

In the Gospel, the disciples are losing their privileged position – they have been told that there will be more disciples – even some from the less respectable parts of society – criminals, tax collectors, and sinners of all sorts. They will be called to build the kingdom far and wide – and these people will embody the kingdom of GOD.

In a few weeks time we will be thinking of the little town of Bethlehem – the town Matthew refers to as insignificant. In this sense, all the poor and forgotten people are insignificant, like Bethlehem, yet from them, the LORD comes to us. That is why the text tells us that in serving the poor, we are serving the Christ of Our Faith. And in our solidarity with the poorest, we recognise the humble kingship of the Son of Man. There is NO OTHER WAY TO “inherit the Kingdom of Heaven”, that is the blessing of being face-to-face with God.

In a few weeks we will be remembering the child born in poverty, in a stable to a homeless refugee, and we will think of the journey he took to the cross. On this day, the Feast of Christ the King, we are called to ask ourselves the questions “what on earth does all that mean to me? Can we see what it is yet?”