Fulfillment Sunday November 26, 2023 Holy Wisdom Monastery
Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24; Ephesians 1:15-23 ; Matthew 25: 31-46 Patti La Cross
The timing and poignancy of this morning’s first reading from Ezekiel is profound.
The tiny strip of land that is Israel and Gaza holds so much hope and pain, so
much promise and contention over centuries.
Ezekiel reminds us that when Israel’s leaders turn away from the people, God
steps in on the people’s behalf to feed them. Justice means that God holds the
oppressors accountable for persecuting their people. At the same time, God’s
justice enables the oppressed to recover their basic needs as well as dignity and
freedom. Justice and healing never stay separated.
May it be true, and may we hold all who suffer fear, violence, imprisonment
and grief in our prayer this morning.
Today we observe Fulfillment Sunday, with the Missouri Synod Lutherans and
some others. What has been historically called Christ’s Empire, we call God’s
Home, our shared Home. We welcome people to come together in this place, to
witness our oneness through Jesus, our Brother, in worship, companionship, and
support.
The very next line after today’s gospel states: “Jesus had now finished all he
wanted to say.” Chapter 26 then moves into the passover and his passion. This
month we’ve heard parables of Bridesmaids, of Talents, and today, the single
Gospel image of the Judgment.
What might we take from this unique, pivotal, if scathing story of the judgment
that awaits us?
For one, the Reign, or Home of God, is demanding! Jesus does not mince words
in spelling out what is necessary to have a place in it. Any previous
understanding of “a good life”, even “a good Christian” is challenged by his call to
us. We’re to detach from our comfort to be available to serve the stranger and the
distressed.
Preacher Carlton Pearson, who died last week, did that. Raised in the Black
Pentecostal Church, Pearson had long drawn huge multiracial crowds as an
Evangelical Pastor in largely segregated Tulsa. When he learned of the horrible
violence in Rwanda, it prompted his conversion to a more inclusive theology.
Then the Evangelicals declared him a heretic.
Pearson grew to understand that God embraced all people: not only across
races, but gender and sexual identities, and faiths. He saw Muslims, Hindus and
Buddhists among the beloved: Asked why, he replied “Because of the
unconditional love of God and the redemptive work of the cross, which is already
accomplished”.
When the church he had founded in 1981 emptied, Pearson lobbied for
Congress to pass protections against hate crimes targeting gay people.
The story of Carlton Pearson reminds me that the power of the Holy Spirit
continues to knock the unexpecting from our high horses, prompts us to
reconsider our call, and can lead us closer into the unpredictably unfolding
presence of God’s Home.
We are to not only be available “on call” but seeking, keeping our eyes out for
those sick, struggling, alone; our ear to the ground for where justice is denied.
We are to be like the shepherds of Ezekiel and Matthew – seeking and protecting.
Jesus sends us out in his Spirit to feed, clothe, and befriend, to advocate.
Secondly, There is nothing here about belief or doctrine, righteousness or not.
Baptism is not required. Beyond the broad sweep of Christianity, Christ embraces
the full oikouménē gē, ‘inhabited world’, from East to West, South to North. “All
the nations” will be gathered before him.
And All the Nations’ people: Jews, Palestinian Christians and the Nation of Islam
all in their crowded and crumbling land; Hindus, Sihks, Buddhists and all the
practices of the world: Each to be judged only by their compassion.
That critical phrase “all the nations” also underscores that this is the work of not
only individuals, but communities and nations. Our personal and national
histories are being judged by our care for one another. No reference to success
or failure, life experience or criminal record.
Our personal and communal efforts of charity must also be reflected in how we
participate in local, state and national efforts, political and otherwise, to reduce
need and oppression, to redirect the money we invest to the common good.
All of this is our witness to the Risen Jesus, continuing his loving presence, and
leading us more deeply into the Home prepared for us all.
Thirdly, The distinctive phrase “least of these” in Matthew refers to the believers,
whom here Jesus calls his own family. This Gospel was forged during a time
when followers of Jesus were highly vulnerable to persecution. Matthew alone
teaches that All who care for these disciples will be among the blessed, and
welcomed into God’s home.
The Jews did not build jails, depending on house arrest as needed, so the call to
visit prisoners is a striking detail of how life changed under Roman occupation .
In Matthew’s time – maybe 40 yrs after the death of Jesus – the arrest and
imprisonment of early Christians was common enough that supporting them
became a necessary virtue.
The number and conditions of prisoners in our state, the wellbeing of pregnant
women and children, even the violence in our dense housing for the poor, all
these reflect the spiritual health of our state’s faith communities. We cannot afford
to ignore them.
Finally, God waits wIth all who are in need, for our mercy and love, judging
accordingly.
And here, some edited thoughts from Jesuit John MacKenzie:
“For the writer of Matthew, faith in Jesus is the first movement of humans toward
God. Yet the point of this scene of Judgment is that faith is not the whole
movement; but should transform the disciple. We are judged by things we are not
used to considering duties to God and duties to fellow humans…
It says nothing of other duties besides the corporal works of mercy; because
Jesus identifies with those to whom service is given or refused, he and they are
one.
Thus, acts of either kindness or neglect toward the “least of these” are acts
directed at God; …The more we open ourselves up to the disenfranchised, the
more we experience communion with God.
In the final analysis, he wrote: “it is Love that determines good or bad; if love is
active, our failure to reach perfect morality in other ways will be rare, And it will
be forgiven!”
Let us pray …
In gratitude for all who have risked or lost their personal freedom, even
their lives, in witness for justice and peace; especially now those in Russia, Israel
and Gaza, we pray….
In gratitude for all whose decades of support for the imprisoned –
ministerial, educational, for jobs and reentry into community. Early on through
MEP, and MUM, in Circles of Support, the Odyssey program. In advocacy
through MOSES, and others demanding systemic change. May these efforts
succeed, and our prisons shrink, We pray……
In gratitude for all whose charity provides food, clothing, and dignity, for
those volunteering with St. Vincent de Paul, Luke House, River Pantry,
WayForward (formerly MOM), Vera Court, and countless others,
and for the Latinx Hispanic Christmas Sharing of this Assembly. We pray….
For those who are ill, those who suffer anxiety and depression, addiction
and poverty, We pray………
For all those in our book of intentions, and those whose names we lift up
now in prayer………… For all of these, we pray….
O God of Mercy and Love, please accept these prayers we raise in trust
and hope. We have only our needs, our thanksgiving, and our praise to offer you,
for all we have is from you, Our Creator, Our Brother and Savior Jesus, in your
Holy Spirit. Hold us All, your world’s people. in love, and guide us on the way to peace, we pray, Amen!