Giving Like God Gives
a sermon based on Matthew 25:31-46
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

This sermon is in part indebted to Rev. Randy Quinn’s sermon entitled: “When We See” published on DPS, esp. the concept of “giving without judging the beggar.”

I am always amazed at how the human brain works.  We read a passage like this one from Matthew 25 and all we can think of is “what must I do to be in the group that goes to heaven?”  Or actually the more pressing question is: “what must I do to avoid being in the group that goes to hell?”

We are not used to thinking about our sweet Jesus in terms of a judge. It’ interesting, throughout all four gospels Jesus is portrayed as the loving, caring healer and teacher who worked with disciples that denied and betrayed him; He is the One who died for humanity and even asked God to forgive those who put him on the cross as they did not know what they were doing.

He was the meek and patient servant of Isaiah 51, the sheep that was slaughtered and gave himself willingly  and even when he chided others he did it to teach them, like the Pharisees or the temple traders.

Jesus is the one who preaches the unconditional love and acceptance of God of all of his children.  His death is the atonement for all of humankind—none excluded.

But when we come to Matthew 25, Jesus talks about himself as being the divine Judge on Judgment Day.  This, of course, is going to be in the future; at his second coming. 

Today’s passage reminds us that while the gospel is about the good news, it’s also something that challenges us. And it is intended to challenge us!

The subject for today is unmistaken:  Share With Those In Need

It is clear from this passage as is from the rest of the gospels that Jesus Christ was and is concerned about the poor.  He preached the good news to whom? the poor.  He came to save the least, last and the lost. He came to heal the sick and to give strength to the weak.

Who are the poor of the gospel?  I did a little research to find out what the current poverty income levels are:

World developing countries – average income of the poor is $1.08 per day.

According to a UN declaration that resulted from the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, absolute poverty is "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services."

America:  2009 - $10,830 / $14,570 poverty level

There are probably not many among us that are poor, not many of us fall into the category “below the poverty level”—neither according to the world-wide standard, nor even according to the standard of our country—which is one of the richest in the world.

So, most of us this morning are rich compared to the rest of the world (perhaps we’re around the average for Americans, but from a world-wide perspective, we are rich); thought when you woke up this morning, I bet you may not think: “thank God, I’m rich.” But you are; and I am…..rich.

Look, I’m not going to sugar-coat this:  it’s a fact that we belong to a category of people that are not usually on Jesus’ ministry short list.  In fact, Jesus expects a lot from us.  We are the ones that must share responsibly.  We remember how Jesus once told the rich young ruler to give away his riches and then come and follow Jesus.  To whom was he supposed to give his riches?  To the poor.

So then the only way we, the rich, can be part of the good news is by sharing what we have, by helping the less fortunate, the poor, the destitute people of the world.  Not sharing is not an option according to Matthew 25; it would place us squarely in the group of the goats—those that go to hell according to Jesus.

So then, the question is how are we supposed to share according to Jesus?

The obvious answer from the text is that we’re supposed to engage in 5 actions:

Feed
Quench thirst
Invite
Clothe others
Visit

But who exactly are the least of Jesus’ brothers we are to share with?

Believe it or not the answer to this question is very obvious in the text too.  But this is exactly the point with which we are struggling.

Because we feel we have to limit what we give or else we might be in trouble. So we come up with this scheme of who might be worthy and deserving of our help.   It cannot just be people who live off the system with no intent to ever change to the better.  Certainly not people that just turn our money into alcohol or other drugs.

Surely, we think, Jesus cannot mean just anybody; surely his least brothers and sisters must be Christian folks, believers.  And certainly we’re not including people of other religions or creeds on our charitable list—least of all our recently declared enemies, the Muslims?

I am as guilty of this as much as the next person.  As you can imagine, I have had many people ask for my help or for the help of the church.  Can you guess what my first question is: “Is this person legit?” Are they really in need or are they scam artists.

There is always a story, a quite elaborate story often, and I listen, but I listen critically to determine if this person is worthy of our charitable help.

As I was preparing this sermon, I was growing increasingly nervous and upset at myself. I remember turning away so many that have come to the church’s doors for help.  Over the years, I have “learned” how to turn people away. Just as skilled as some of the scam artists are, I have become quite skilled in turning people away while making it sound like I’m still doing something.

One of my favorite turn-away lines was: “We give all our charitable moneys to the Christian Help Ministry and we do this so that people like yourself can receive help there.  So go in peace to CHM and you let me know if they won’t help you.  I will call down there myself. After all, we are a member church of CHM.

What a self-righteous thing to say!

What does Jesus say in Matthew 25?

Feed …. the hungry.
Quench thirst … of the thirsty.
Invite … the stranger.
Clothe …  the naked.
Visit … inmates/the sick.  

No other qualifications are given. We are supposed to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the inmates and those who are ill. Period.

Jesus’ challenge to us is obvious; he wants us to see people from God’s perspective and help them indiscriminately.

Well, we may think, what proof do we have that he means just anybody who’s hungry, thirsty, naked, or sick?

Because Jesus himself demonstrated it to us. He helped people indiscriminately. He turned nobody away, not even Roman soldiers or Canaanites or the “hated” Samaritans.

And this is in accordance with Jesus’ “job description” (if you will) according to John 3: 16:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And we do believe that Jesus did not just die for some, but that He died for all people, right? “While we were still sinners he died for us, that proves God love toward us.”

Jesus invites his listeners to open their eyes and see people in the way God sees them. No-one is off God’s radar, no-one is unworthy of his grace—not even those who use God and scam God’s servants.

Christ’s least brothers are any people that come to you for help, anybody who is in need in your community or in the world. We are not to ask: “are they worthy of our help?” simply because God never asks this question.

Or consider Jesus’ command to invite the stranger.  The thing about the stranger is that we don’t know anything about him or her. We don’t know whether they’re worthy to be invited, what religion they hold to or anything else. We are simply called to invite them. Talking about radical hospitality.

There are Christian communities that have make a covenant with God to practice radical hospitality. The Order of the Benedictines, for instance, vowed o treat any stranger as special guest; they treat any stranger as though s/he were Christ himself.

A story is told of one Benedictine monk who was awakened by the sound of someone knocking at his door. When he opened the door, he saw a man whom he had seen dozens of times. Each time the man came and asked for a meal and a place to sleep. And each time the Benedictine monk followed the Benedictine rule of hospitality, serving him a bowl of soup and showing him where to find a bed with clean sheets.

As he realized who the man was on this particular night, the Benedictine said, “Jesus Christ, not you again.”

No sooner had he said these words, he stopped and suddenly realized that he had indeed uttered words of truth: the stranger in front of him was indeed Jesus Christ according to Matthew 25.

When we are no longer concerned about who deserves our help, who is deserving of our help that we truly begin to serve God—the God who so loved the world that he gave his only son to all people, good and bad.

It is then, and only then that our response will come from the heart. It is only then that we truly experience the joy that lies in giving generously as God gives generously.

Only when we stop judging the beggar will we begin to respond to his needs in a Christ-like way. Only then will helping others become natural and automatic to our nature, so much so that on that day when Jesus summons us, we too will respond: Lord, when did I see you hungry or naked?

And Jesus will answer: what you have done to all these of my least brothers you have done unto me.  “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

Amen.