Christ the King: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 and Matthew 25:31-46
The refrain in this sermon is taken from a song by The Porters Gate called "The earth shall know' which can be found here.
Excellent Danish TV has been one of my lockdown discoveries including the political drama, Borgen, which runs over three series. So far. Netflix is planning a forth.
The central character is the politician Birgitta Nyborg; the first woman Prime Minister. So yes, it’s about democracy, policy making, negotiations and election campaigns. But it is about far more than that. It intricately and intimately makes politics human; work, home life, relationships.
Writing in The Guardian, Sam Wollaston says: It is about journalism, women, values, having children, not having children. It is about you and me. Nyborg is a fabulous character: strong, ambitious, confident, but also genuine and honest.
There is ambition and rivalry; compromise and spin; but it also explores the nature of power. It’s dynamic and relational; it’s sometimes costly and damaging; but it doesn’t always preclude honesty, principles and character.
Every episode begins with a quote: from Machiavelli or Churchill, Lenin or Shakespeare. One line, from the pacifist thinker Bertrand Russell, says: much that passes as idealism is disguised love of power. Such an observation challenges our motivations and commitments; but the in the following episode, the quote was from Matthew’s Gospel takes us to the power of love: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
This is not mere idealism: they’re words spoken by the one who unveils the love of power; and embodies the power of love.
As we keep this feast of Christ the King, this is a challenging place to start. The risk of the work of reconciliation is that it begins by trying to understand the enemy; by seeking to establish some common ground.
Love is about the exercise of justice and mercy: to strands, bound together.
An image from an American tapestry found here
We’ve heard so much in the press this weekend about power gone wrong: about breaches of codes; and party whips. But today redirects our attention to the fruit of power used well. Power that seeks to heal the land and meet the need; power that sets others free.
Today we are reminded that every exercise of human power will be held to account under Christ’s kinship, which stands in contrast to world aspirations of status and markers of power.
Miriam spoke powerfully about the nature of God’s judgement last week; and today we learn that it is the practice of mercy that is the measure of that judgement.
In our first reading, Ezekiel addresses the powerful with a vivid critique.
The flock has been scattered as the fat sheep push and butt against the leaner ones. The poorest and most vulnerable of God’s people have not been protected or cared for by their rulers.
There will be judgement. The strong will be feed with justice.
It’s an interesting phrase: suggesting a change in diet.
Being fed with a portion of God’s desire for human beings.
A diet of justice is reflected in the practice of mercy.
In Ezekiel, we see God’s desire to search and seek and rescue the lost; to feed and water; to bind up and strengthen.
Their shepherd who will be both judge and show mercy is Son of David and Son of God: Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.
Today we hear his teaching on judgement in the face of oppression and injustice.
This teaching is rooted in his own identification with Isaiah: Heal the land; meet the need; set the captives free
This teaching is the source of our hope.
Borgen makes politics human; but here, Jesus reveals God’s justice and mercy in the intimacy of human lives.
An image from a sixth-century mosaic in Ravenna found here
Sheep and goats: In the parable he tells, everyone is surprised by the judgement: the sheep didn’t realise that when they fed the hungry, there were feeding the king; the goats didn’t realise that when they neglected the sick, they were neglecting their Lord too.
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty.
Shelter the homeless.
Clothe the naked.
Visit the sick.
Visit those in prison.
It is a matter of justice that we show mercy; that those who have, care for those in need.
There is no consideration here of social approval or status, of reward or of receiving a blessing.
Did you show compassion?
Yes, it is about who we are called to assist; the wounded we are called to respond to.
It is also about who we are called to be; as Luke puts it in his Gospel, it’s the call to be a neighbour.
Heal the land
Meet the need
Set the captives free
The light and hope of such mercy has its origin in the mercy God shows to us in Jesus Christ.
Jesus told this parable of sheep and goats just before he was anointed by an unknown woman. She pours oil on his head - marking him out as king. Yet as the perfume fills the room, we’re reminded that this king will love so radically and deeply that he will suffer and die.
Our King is one who judges the power of exploitation, selfishness, dishonesty and abuse; from the cross justice reigns.
Our King is one who shows mercy not simply as judge, but as the one who is present in the midst of suffering and need; from the empty tomb, mercy reigns.
To show mercy is a willingness to enter into the life of another, irrespective of the pain or chaos; showing mercy means coming alongside in the intimacy of human life.
These practices of mercy are about meeting the need - bringing healing and freedom.
Christ on the Tube
Part of an amazing series by Antonia Rolls (website)
Jesus on Tube: To live in this way is to be always ready for the judgment - no excuses, this is a warning.
Where do we see Jesus on the Tube? In the food bank queue? In this community of Barnet, can we work with others to bring hope to Hendon?
How we spend our money and use our time; the partnerships we form and the needs we respond to: all this is an expression of mercy. It is to give without hesitation; to give in love; to support works of mercy.
To heal the land, meet the need and set captives free.
One Jesuit writer James Keenan writes: When we understand that our sins our forgiven by God’s mercy, then like all good Christians before us, we are called to initiate God and practise mercy for our neighbour in need, especially the most forgotten and those most shamed and most likely to be excluded.
As we meditate on the one who is the source of our hope - our crucified, risen and ascended Lord - we pray that we might be faithful in showing mercy: with confidence, courage and creativity.
Heal the land
Meet the need
Set the captives free.
© Julie Gittoes 2020
