Reflection for 26th November 2023Christ the KingEzekiel 34.11-16,20-24, Ephesians 1.15-23, Matthew 25.31-46On Sunday, in the church calendar, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. The passage from Matthew is one of real hope, for it speaks about Christ being our King as He has been given all the power in heaven and earth in order to be ruler of all. Christ is already ruler of all and taking note of all our suffering and struggles with living out the faith He has given us. I feel that we really need to hear afresh this message of hope in these times of wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes and social unrest.In chapter twenty-five from Matthew, Jesus spoke of what will happen upon His return. As ruler and judge of all, Christ the King will welcome those whose lives faithfully acknowledge and trust in Him into the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Whereas those who have rejected God’s love “will go away to eternal punishment”. This is what Jesus is referring to by the separation of sheep from goats.For a long time, I wondered why did the sheep need separating from the goats? I really didn’t like the idea of goats being inherently evil! But over the years I learned that the sheep and goats in Palestine do look very much the same. In fact, according to Tom Wright, the only way to tell is by their tails as sheep’s tails hang down but goat tails stick up! And they need separating at night because goats are less hardy than sheep and so need keeping warm. And so, the illustration of the sheep and goats is not because goats are evil and sheep are good. But to show that it’s very difficult for us to judge the difference between whole-hearted followers of Christ, and those who are just ‘going through the motions’ because going to church is something they’ve just always done, but otherwise they lead lives unaffected by Jesus’ teachings. However, there is danger in judging others on their level of faith and, as we are broken human beings, it is not our place to do so. When we judge others, we open ourselves to false feelings of superiority and conceit. Such pride deceives us thinking we can decide who is in or out of the church, who belongs or doesn’t belong. Or even worse, who is good and who is evil in our sight. The truth is no one is worthy of belonging to God’s church through their own merit unless they turn away from their sin (way of life contrary to God’s way) and accept Jesus as Lord of their lives. Sadly, judging others, and often in a negative way, comes naturally to us. It’s part of our fallen nature. However much we try not to, there will always come a moment when we catch ourselves passing a derogatory judgement over another, perhaps about their driving style, dress sense or the choice of groceries in their basket. Such thoughts form barriers to seeing Jesus in the faces of the people we meet or worse still, cultivate a godlike persona judging the other of being unworthy of our help and support. Then how stinging will it be to hear Jesus tell us: “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.”This is why we leave spiritual judgement to God and rely on His Spirit for strength in helping and supporting those who cross our path. Then, how good it is to hear Christ say, “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.” It’s quite easy to become fixated upon the story’s telling of the final judgement and perhaps putting that thought away into some dim and distant future, but the real hope is Christ is already among us, at work within and through us, ruling the world as our King and Saviour. And He’s here, waiting to be asked to enter our lives afresh. So, everyday lets us say, come Holy Spirit come, pour out your living water in us today. Help us to see the face of Jesus in all we meet. Let us every day be reminded that Christ is King, our Lord and Saviour. Our hope in both dark and happy times.Blessings and prayers, Emma
