Christ Our Kin!

Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who 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 drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
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 no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25: 31-46.

Often times, when a family chooses to uses Matthew 25 as the Funeral Gospel reading for their beloved mother or father, I point out to them that their parent has lived out this Gospel. As soon as we're born good parents welcome us strange and new creatures into their lives. Good parents feed and clothe us whether we appreciate it or not. When we're ill or in trouble they are beside us and still care for us when we're broken. It makes sense to me that good parents will hear the voice of the King Jesus say to them, "come and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you". They lived this Gospel well.

I've heard from others wiser than me that the Kingdom of Heaven is about "kinship" not "kingship". Jesus turns what we think, and what modern "kings" think as important on its ear. Rather than getting on top by accumulating wealth, possessions, power, or control of people, Jesus sets before us a different way to get to the top of the heap. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called these people "the least, the last, and the lost". It is only by noticing and caring for the hungry, poor, ill, unwelcomed, and outcast that we are able to know, love and serve Him in this world. The Gospel tells us that He IS the least of the world. So, in the end we will be judged by how we treat all people, great and least, as our kin. Rather than to try to rule over, control, amass more than, or be better than those we find ourselves sharing the world with, we are to see and treat all others as our family. Jesus and they are our kin.

It is convenient to sidestep and ignore our hungry and alienated sisters and brothers. We'd rather not bother many times. They distract us from what we "should" be or "rather" be doing. Yet they are our best, and perhaps only, chance to see and care for Christ in the here and now. They are not a sideshow on the stage of our life's plans. As Christ sees us and them, they are the purpose for our lives. Making sure that all of our sisters and brothers on God's Earth are fed, clothed, welcomed and well is the purpose of all of our lives in Christ's estimation.

Let us take little steps, or big ones if possible, to treat all as our kin to show that Christ is our King.

peace,
Fr. Chuck