11-23-14: Words to Live By

Words to Live by

Matthew 25: 31-46 (NIV)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put 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; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

What's your favorite Bible verse?

This Sunday is the last Sunday of the year. No, not the calendar year, 2014. We've still got a little over a month to go there. But of the Church year. To the Church, this is the end of the year. By and large, on Sundays you've heard stories from Matthew's Gospel this year. Starting next week, when Advent begins, we'll be hearing more of our Gospel stories from Mark.

Liturgically, the Church calls this Sunday "Christ the King" Sunday, a day to honor and celebrate that Jesus is our King, our Lord over all that we are and all that we do.

And on a day that we are called upon to remember that, Jesus gives us these last words of advice, in this morning's Gospel passage.

Feed the hungry, and give the thirsty a drink. Welcome the stranger and clothe the naked. Visit the sick, and visit the prisoner.

The last two weeks Jesus has been teaching his disciples what they need to do while he's gone, and what he expects to see when he comes back. This week's Gospel message is the conclusion of those teachings. And really, it's all you need to know to be a good person and a faithful disciple of Christ, summed up in just a few sentences:

Feed the hungry, and give the thirsty a drink. Welcome the stranger and clothe the naked. Visit the sick and visit the prisoner.

If you do those things, you are following Christ. In fact, you're serving him, because Jesus has taught us that he stands in total solidarity with the people who need his mercy. When we serve them, we serve him.

It's a great mission statement, and perfectly sums up how you should treat other people and what your world would look like if we really all did respect the sovereignty of Jesus.

And it's one of my favorite Bible verses.

What are your favorite Bible verses?

I took that question to several friends and family members this week, and really wasn't surprised by the answers.

I heard John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

A friend of mine reminded me of the verses of God calling Moses to lead the Hebrews out of slavery. She was particularly touched by Moses protesting that he couldn't confront Pharaoh because he had a stuttering problem, to which God responds:

The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (‭Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭11-12‬ NIV)

The same friend also loved reading about a Jesus' gentle humility in the Garden of Gethsemene:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭39‬ NIV)

Another friend of mine liked to read about Joshua's very simple declaration of his faith:

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ b NIV)

But for a lot of us, our favorite verses are the ones that comfort us in trying times, like this one from the book of Jeremiah:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ NIV)

Or the incredibly familiar words of Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ KJV)

Or these words from Matthew's Gospel:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25-26‬ NIV)

Or these words from the prophet Isaiah:

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭7-8‬ NIV)

Or King Solomon's reassurance of the order of the world that we read in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ KJV)

Although you may be more familiar with the nice bouncy '60s song with those lyrics.

And some of us love the verses that teach us something we didn't know, and even challenge us to a more mature form of discipleship. I think of several spots in the Sermon on the Mount:

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭44‬ NIV)

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭20-21, 24‬ NIV)

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬ NIV)

Though, of course, I might not even be able to guess some of your favorite Bible verses, because sometimes you find your favorite verse for very personal reasons.

I really like this one, from the beginning of Jeremiah's story, when he questions how a person as young as him could do everything God asked him to do:

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1‬:‭7-8‬ NIV)

And I love this verse, from the prophet Micah, which beautifully articulate what I strive to do in my ministry:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (‭Micah‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬ NIV)

What is your favorite Bible verse?

Yours might be among the ones I read this morning. Yours might be one that will come up on a Sunday, soon. Yours might be one that you have bookmarked in your own Bible. Yours might be one we hardly ever read in a worship service. Yours might be one I'd never guess.

You might not have a favorite verse. You might just really like the whole Bible.

If that's you, you're in rather good company. Because when the words of our Scripture first came to be they didn't actually see paper for several generations. Rather, they were memorized, and repeated, and passed down between friends, and from parents to children, so no one would forget them.

Our forefathers and -mothers in the faith wanted us to have everything we find in these words: familiarity, comfort, reassurance, hope, support, and even challenge.

Whatever your favorite verse of the Bible is, know that that's one special way that God speaks to you, that God nudges you to discipleship.

And, more than anything, know that honoring Christ as our King means making his words words that we live by, and using them to strive all the more to be like him.

Amen.