The Judgment of the Nations
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at
his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 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, 36 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.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,g you did it to me.’ 41 Then
he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart
from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then
they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take
care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Today the Lectionary puts our focus on how Christians are to act.
How seldom we heed these words.
Time for those who profess to follow the Son of Man
To do what he commands.
To those who say it only matters how we act as individuals
I say heed the words of God.
Judgment is for the nations
As well as the individual.
Christ's command
Was to love God
And love our neighbor.
Our neighbor is not only the person next door.
Our neighbor is the one who has been set upon by evil:
Evil in the form of robbers,
Evil in the form of hunger,
Evil in the form of thirst,
Evil in the form of deportation,
Evil in the form of lack of shoes and clothes,
Evil in the form of sickness,
Evil in the form of imprisonment.
We ignore the unfortunate at the cost
Of God's eternal opprobrium.
We must embrace compassion
As an individual,
As a nation,
And care for the least in the family of God.
