Matthew 25: Last Sunday's Sermon

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The Readings

Old Testament

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. 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, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

The Gospel

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of 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, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 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.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘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.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘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 them, ‘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.”

The Sermon

 This is Christ the King Sunday. It is a fairly new event in the Christian calendar. It was created by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Some say the reason for its creation was that Pope Pius was concerned about increased secularism after the first world war. It was soon adopted by the other denominations and placed at the end of the church year. It is a reminder to us that Christ and his message of love and hope should rule our lives.

Our readings today reflect that message of serving God in all that we do and keeping ourselves mindful of the importance of caring for humanity. In Ezekiel we are told that God searches for his sheep and he will separate them from those who took advantage of those who were weak. He will save His flock from those who ravaged them.

In the Gospel reading, Matthew tells us in colorful language that the chosen will be placed at his right hand which in biblical times was considered a place of honor. Matthew 25 is remembered especially for the clear message that if you feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, visit the sick and those imprisoned you have done all of those things to him.

Jesus is telling us to feel empathy and love for all of God's people. Those people are us because we are part of humanity. Jesus also tells us there are consequences for not sharing our blessings with others. Some of the most generous people I know are people who have practically nothing. There is a lady who collects old Christmas cards during the Christmas season. She cuts off the side that has been written on and then writes a poem on the remaining side. She goes from place to place and hands out her personalized cards to people in our community. She also collects paper back books at garage sales and brings them to the food pantry as a free gift for the people who come there.

She lives in poverty but I believe God sees her as one of the wealthiest people on the planet. She is rich in her love for all of those around her. She experiences great joy in doing these things. Her joy will also be in heaven.

Amen

Talent: Last Sunday's Sermon

The Gospel
Matthew 25:14-30


Jesus said, “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

The Sermon

During our bible study we were on the topic of gifts and we kept interchanging it with the term talent from the reading in Matthew. The interesting thing is that today's definition of the word talent originates with this very reading.


In this parable, a man going on a journey distributes large sums of money to three slaves according to their ability. One gets five talents. Another two talents and the third gets one. The first two double their master's money and the third buries his in a hole because he is afraid of his master and does not trust him.


When the master returns, he praises and rewards the first two for wisely investing their talents. The third he admonishes and banishes for not putting his talent to good use.


Lets talk about talent and trust and faith.


This parable really does apply to us. Lets shift gears here a little bit and fit the term talent into its current definition. We all have God given talents. Some of us have a talent for communication. Some of us are very creative. Some of us are very organized. Some of us are problem solvers. You all know what you like to do and what you are good at. All of us are good at something.


God expects us to use our talents, our gifts just as the two people in this story did. I think it is important to note that the third slave did not trust his master and clearly was lacking in both love and loyalty to him. That maybe is the first step. Having trust and faith in God can only make us stronger and better able to use our gifts.


How can we best use our talents as children of God? What are we being called to do? Jesus clearly implies that we should be willing to take risks and to not give up.

There is a story about Thomas Edison:


Thomas Edison failed more than 1,000 times when trying to create the light bulb". (The story is often told as 5,000 or 10,000 times depending on the version.) When asked about it, Edison allegedly said, "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb." 

Wherever I go I always keep the thought in the back of my mind that I should tell people about our church family and invite them to join us. I have probably invited 100 people over the last few years. Of those 100 maybe two or three have joined us. Several of you are sitting in these pews. Does that mean I failed 97 times? No.. Each time I spoke of my faith, I impacted those people. Some might say that my gift is being able to handle rejection. Maybe. I would like all of you to reflect on your gifts and how they can be best used in service to God.

Islam in America

Dema Kazkaz, Hasina Waziri and Fred Steinbach before Sunday's presentation by Dema at St. Andrew's 

Church.

Dema Kazkaz was the guest presenter yesterday at St. Andrew's on the topic Islam in America.  Her presentation was very informative and helped to give us an accurate understanding of Islam itself and the experiences she has faced as a practicing Muslim in the United States.  The Lucas Countyan has a much more thorough description of her presentation to the 40+ people who attended http://lucascountyan.blogspot.com/

All Saints Day - The Sermon

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The Gospel

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The Sermon

November 1^st was All Saints Day and in the Episcopal Church we have the option of reading that Gospel passage on the following Sunday which is today. What I just read to you is the Sermon on the Mount. It is such an uplifting sermon that I felt it might just perk everyone up. I believe that sometimes we spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the things we do wrong. I mean the times when we make choices that our better natures would not approve of. We sin.

This is the longest recorded sermon by Jesus in the new testament and in it Jesus tells us we are blessed. Jesus reminds us that there are so many good things that good people do.

Let me go through them:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. This is one of the most talked about of the beatitudes. What does it mean to be poor in spirit. One interpretation has it that we cannot reach God's Kingdom on our own because we are simply not good enough. Another is that the term 'poor in spirit' actually in ancient times meant those living in poverty. Anyone who has been poor knows that hope is sometimes all that keeps you going. A kingdom in heaven is that hope.
2. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. We have all had loss in our lives and we can take comfort in these words by Jesus
3. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. The world is not won by conquest and domination. True inheritance of the earth comes through humility.
4. Blessed are those who hunger for rightness for they will be filled. When we stand up for what is right and true we will find comfort in our beliefs.
5. Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy. There is a saying 'you get what you give'.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. We are all works in progress and I can safely say that I am not pure but I am headed in the right direction.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. God wants us to find peace. When we are at peace with ourselves, it will be seen and experienced by others.
8. Blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Have you noticed in this reading that Jesus frequently mentions the kingdom of heaven? I believe the kingdom of heaven is inside each of us. We just need to open ourselves up to it. When I think of each of you I see blessings in you all. You have mourned someone because you loved them. Many of you are humble. You stand up for what is right. Some of you have been persecuted in your lives. The kingdom of God is in your grasp. Jesus has promised it to you.

Does this mean that because you are blessed you will no longer face hard times? That you will never get sick. Of course not. A blessing is not like a vaccination. We will all have times that try our souls. Know that God is watching out for you. You are marked as one of God's own.

Amen