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Sermon November 22, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Last Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 29, Year A, Track 2
http://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp29_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/November_22_Eucharist
Video: https://youtu.be/fKsvcJvNWlM
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.” Matthew 25:40
Did you ever think about the numbers of people who have accomplished great things and we may not know their names? Often when something wonderful happens, there are so many unnamed others who contributed to making it happen.
One of the highlights of my life was meeting Dr. Dorothy I. Height. Now, in many places, she is well known. She was the leader of the National Council of Negro Women or NCNW for more than 50 years.
In case you are not familiar with the Council, it is “an ‘organization of organizations’ (comprised of 300 campus and community-based sections and 32 national women’s organizations) that enlightens, inspires and connects more than 2,000,000 women and men. Its mission is to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. NCNW was founded in 1935 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an influential educator and activist….” https://ncnw.org/ncnw/mission
Dr. Height was well known in many ways, but her work wasn’t always known. For instance, at the famous 1963 March on Washington by civil rights leaders, Dr. Height was one of a few women on the dais. She was often the only woman in the room during the planning of the march.
As you can imagine, there were some tensions in the room when it came to the details of the march. I heard Dr. Height explain that often she and Whitney Young, Jr., from the National Urban League, did a lot of work to bring things together. You see, they were both social workers, Dr. Height explained. They had a special way of listening and working with the others involved. And they did not care who got the credit. The most important thing was that the march happened.
In this well-known Gospel today, Jesus speaks about judgment day. Those who served Christ will have eternal life. Those who did not serve Christ will be punished eternally. The interesting thing is that while Jesus had the groups separated into those who served and those who did not serve, neither group knew how they did or did not serve Christ. Both groups were confused.
The group accused of not serving Christ did not recall a time when they had been specifically asked to serve him and had denied that service. The group accused of serving Christ also did not recall a time when they were asked to serve him and did so.
Both groups are living out particular assumptions they make about what it means to follow Jesus, though.
Those people who are the “goats,” seem like decent people. Yet, when they see suffering or a need, they do not or cannot think how to serve the other person. Of course, if Jesus asked, they would serve Jesus, they think. They cannot see Jesus in each person. They do not seek Jesus in each person. They are locked in a narrow and even unhealthy judgment of their neighbor and, I would say, of themselves.
The “sheep” or those who had served Christ, lived their lives in tremendous service to their neighbors and community. Whenever they saw a need, they just went about answering it. They did not expect a reward. They did not look for recognition. They did not ask whether the people needing help were worthy. They saw the needs of God’s creation and did what they could to care, love, serve, comfort and build up creation. It was second nature to them. They never thought twice about what they were doing.
The “sheep” group totally understood the part in our baptismal promise/covenant found on page 305 in the Book of Common Prayer, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons loving your neighbor as yourself?”
Christ is in all persons…every single one. And yes, it is easier to see Christ in some people more readily than in others. We are asked to seek and to serve Christ that is in the person. It is very specific. What’s hard, I suggest, is that people have that spark of Christ in them and can also do some horrible things or act in horrible ways. People/we are not Christ, and there is Christ in us. Holding the both/and about our neighbors and ourselves can be challenging.
Jesus is also reminding us that when we see each other or when we see God’s creation, we are seeing Christ; we are seeing God. They are right here with us…right here and right now.
One of the great blessings of our Christian community is the ability to work together to seek and serve Christ in every person. We have the opportunity to see Christ in each other and to strengthen each other and build each other up. We work together to seek and serve Christ in our neighbors and ourselves. You help me and I help you and together we help the community inside and outside of the walls of this church.
Let us continue to work together to serve Christ!
Amen
