Living in the End Times: Lords
Christ’s Lordship is Exercised in Love
Matthew 25:31-46
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. November 22nd, 2020
In this world there are many lords and many Gods. But only one true Lord and one true God. There are many lords and many gods who will try and ensnare us. They are like vampires, sucking the life out of us. But there is only one true Lord and one True God who gives us life. We are worshipping creatures, we are always searching for a Lord, we need a God to put at the center of our lives. St. Augustine once said, “our hearts are restless Lord until we find our rest in you.” We will cling to the false gods if we do not know the real one.
I’m not talking about different religions as much as I’m talking about the real concrete things that can rule our every day lives. I knew one person who went through some hard times. He had been married more than once, and his wife had recently died tragically and suddenly. Around the same time he was having his own medical issues. He hadn’t managed his diabetes well and was having trouble with his big toe. It all added up to a great deal of resentment and anger. I remember one day I went over to visit, and he stopped the conversation so he could run out and berate a boy walking home from school for pulling a dandelion on the tree lawn and throwing it onto the sidewalk. His wrath consumed him. And it wasn’t much longer before he succumbed to an infection. It was one of the sadder moments in my ministry because I felt like there was more that I could do, but I didn’t know what. He followed his wrath and resentment like it was his Lord, he nursed it, brought it to health, and submitted to it.
Or, to give another example of what I mean, I have talked to many people who expressed regret that they spent so much time on their jobs and not enough caring for those they love. This is a touchier subject, because it’s not simply a matter of one person following their lord. As if we choose to have employment and could do otherwise. But we as a society have come to serve efficiency, productivity, and profit to the point where we make ourselves lay aside other things we say matter.
Our fears, our doubts, our anger, can all become lords or gods to us. So can jobs, money, or sports teams. They are agents of sin, rough taskmasters who rule over us and like vampires suck us dry. In these last days there are many such gods, many such lords. Part of life in the end times is renouncing false gods and proclaiming the one true God who alone gives life. Sharing the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus tells a parable about judgment. He says when the Son of Man comes in glory with all the angels he will gather the nations before him and separate them to his right and his left, like a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. And he will say to those on his right, “come, you that 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” But the righteous will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food?” And so on. And the King will reply “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.” And also he will turn to those on his left, and tell them to depart to the eternal fire, because though they saw Jesus hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and in prison they did nothing for him.
I think it’s important to note no one thought they were serving Jesus when they served his poor sisters and brothers. Or, no one thought they were abandoning Jesus when they abandoned his poor sisters and brothers. Instead, it is Jesus who identifies with the least of these and he counts what we do to care for the least, as what we do to care for the King.
If we are to be servants of Christ, as we may serve any other god or Lord, then we must be about serving our brothers and sisters. When Jesus speaks of “the least of these, members of my family” he is referring to our fellow Christians. Not that we are called to be insular and abandon the least who are not Christian, but I think it’s oftentimes harder to care for those closest to us than it is to care for those farthest away. We know the warts of those closest to us. We may think they got what they deserved. When we show love to our brothers and sisters we may better show love to all we come across.
To follow the Lordship of Jesus, then, is to love personally. And to love at a personal cost. It’s not enough for us to try and do good for those far away. If we are to serve our Lord, we serve our Lord through what we do for the least in our midst. What we do for the least in our midst Jesus will count as what we did for him. And we will truly be servants of our King and Lord.
That is how his rule is exercised, and that is what service to the King looks like. It is love. Personal love. Forgiving love. Merciful love. Love at a cost. Love that forms bonds. And in these end times Jesus has given us time to practice this love, in all its messiness and difficulty. In all its joys and abundant blessings. We are given opportunity to be partakers of his Kingdom, as we extend the grace of love. The grace that flows from God.