Sermon for Sunday Nov. 23 Christ the King, MLC – Dennis
township NJ
Pr. Hartmut Fege, D.Min
Matthew 25:31-46
On the Occasion of MLC’s Annual Congregational Meeting
These lessons for the last three Sundays have gone steadily
down hill..
Maidens with no oil, the one talent steward thrown into the
outer darkness and today the Sheep go into “eternal life and goats to eternal
punishment”
What are we to make of all this?
In The second chapter of the book of James in the New
Testament we read:
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a
brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them,
‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their
bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no
works, is dead." (James 2: 14-17).
Faith without love of neighbor love is empty... dead,
kaputt!
Notice the Gospel does not say we are saved by
works but it does seem to link the two.
The Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier expressed
beautifully:
To worship rightly is to love each other. Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
(from "O
Brother Man").
He wrote those words during the civil war.
He endured mocking for his abolitionist views.
He was even pelted with eggs as he walked down the street.
In The 25th chapter of Matthew Jesus puts flesh on
the command to love God and neighbor and shows how they are indivisible.
Jesus was speaking about the final judgment.
"When the Son of Man comes…."
He was speaking about what will finally count.
He spoke about helping the poor, feeding the hungry,
clothing those who are naked, giving shelter to the homeless, visiting the
lonely and those who are in prison.
As so often is the case the disciples did not understand
what he was saying…
so once again, they asked him what he meant.
"Why is it so important that we do those
things?" Christ’s response... because,
“when you do it for the least of these, you do
it for me."
Jesus identified with those who are marginalized,
those on the outside, oppressed, hurting, lonely, hungry
and poor. When we help them…. We help Christ!
Can we can assume the opposite is true also…
When we ignore them, we ignore the Christ?
Let me make no bones about the challenges that are before
us...
Our Congregational Leadership team, i.e. Council, put
together a needs assessment for the coming year……..
it is called a budget.
We are being challenged.
We are being challenged by the costs of a full time
ministry...
A part time pastor won’t do, if we take discipleship
seriously.
If we are to grow we need to include more people in
the life of this congregation.
We are challenged by one of the most difficult financial
crisis since the great depression.
We are being challenged by the need to expand, to do better
and more at a time where there is less and people are doing without.
But a still bigger challenge is to be there for those who
hurt;
those whom Jesus called the least of these. If
you read the Gospel as I do,
I challenge you to make Family Promise the number
one priority for ministry for 2009! Family Promise is only a dream that soon
will become a reality. It is a program to meet the needs of homeless families in
Cape May Co. We are the only county in NJ that has no place for the homeless
women and children….
If we only pay the rent, the light and water and heating
bills and my salary
and
If our number one priority is to build a building
for worship, we are no more than a club that unites for prayer, praise and self
adulation!
Wasn’t it the prophet Amos 5:18 -24, in the OT reading a
few weeks ago, who warned us: I hate, despise your festivals, and take no
delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt
offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Take away
from me the noise of you’re your songs; I will not listen… BUT, let justice roll down like waters, and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Jesus calls us to be more.
He called us to love our neighbor,
and through loving our neighbor, love the Father whom Jesus
called “Abba.”
That kind of love allows us to fulfill the second great
commandment.
As I read the gospel, Jesus warns us about claiming to love
God when there are those who have no home, no place to sleep, and children who
have no food. To do that makes sham of worship and a mockery of God.
How do we love the Lord?
By loving our neighbor.
By loving our neighbor so much that we work for justice,
for peace, for an end to hurt, and poverty.
In loving our neighbor are we are willing to make personal
sacrifices to care for her ?
By loving so intently that in the eyes or the poor, we
behold the presence of our Lord....
“as much as you have done it to one of the
least of these........ “
This is the challenge and promise of the Gospel that I
would like to hold up to you, as we vote on the budget for next year… and as we
decide on how to proceed with a building plan.
Amen.
