Ezekiel 34:11-17
1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Matthew 25:31-46
Psalm 95:1-7
Imagine yourself in a huge cathedral. Perhaps some of you have been abroad or you've been to our National Cathedral in Washington, DC (which by the way is operated by the Episcopal Church). Imagine though that you received an invitation from the Queen of England to attend her coronation as Queen in 1952. You are representing the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. If you weren't around then, think about an invitation to Princess Diana's wedding.
Think if your excitement and anxiety/ fears as you know that this is a very high honor for you and you certainly want to dress and follow all the proper rules of etiquette.
You spend weeks in preparation for this event-you buy just the right dress and just the right morning coat, tuxedo, gloves and other articles of clothing required for this very special occasion. You purchase your airline tickets and before you know it, you leave America for England.
The magical day arrives and you are driven to Westminster Cathedral in a chauffeured limousine. You are escorted to your seat amidst the ringing of bells and trumpet playing.
The coronation is a beautiful ceremony filled with all the pageantry and pomp that the British can muster for this unique Royal occasion. You are dazzled by the uniforms, coaches, costumes, imagery, jewels and ceremonials of the moment! At the key point in the ceremony, the Queen is crowned monarch of the British Isles and the United Kingdom and Head of the church of England!
In today's Gospel, Matthew talks about the time when Jesus will come in His glory, "and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory."
Our King, Jesus, though, is not a King in the worldly sense as the Queen is the Queen of England! Jesus, the Christ, is our Shepherd King. He is our brother, sister and mentor. Jesus tends the frailest, weakest sheep of his flock. This king is the one who does justice to the weak and the poor whom he protects against the powerful. God is the perfect king who acts with compassion, mercy and tenderness.
And if Jesus is our King, not in the worldly sense, but if he is really present in our hearts, we will see him in all the people we meet and all the people around us in our daily lives. Jesus never really left you and me.
Then where is he-you might ask? What does Jesus look like today? And how can we reach to help him? The people he describes in the Gospel seem so far away from you and me in Paynesville, MN (Sauk Centre, MN)-the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. It's not that we are unwilling to love Jesus in all these poor and unfortunate people. Rather it is that we don't have to face these issues everyday and it's easy to forget the "invisible" in our society.
Crime, thirst, hunger and nakedness rarely touch us. They aren't a part of our ordinary lives. Whom do you know in prison? Whom do you know who is starving to death? Whom do you know who is naked?
We don't live in the big cities of America where there are thousands of homeless people. We don't live in India where the poor live and die on the streets.
We do what we can-we contribute to Episcopal Community Services, we donate to the local food shelf and we contribute to other charities to help the "down and out."
What more can we do? There are many more things you and I can do and the first is to ensure that there will be an Episcopal presence in Paynesville (and Sauk Centre)-that after we have all gone-after we have died and passed on-that our legacy will be to leave our parish intact for future generations to be fed by Christ's love through our Episcopal view/practice and living out of Christianity. It's all about the future and the people who will come after us! It's not about us!
You and I need to really open our eyes and look around carefully to see where Jesus is in our communities. And then finding Him, have we loved and cared for those in need?
What about the person who came to church a number of times and simply stopped coming? Have you called him or her to see if he/she is alright? What about the pregnant teenager who lives next door and whose parents have practically abandoned her? What about fellow Seniors of other denominations whom we know who are ignored and disenchanted with their own church? Have you invited them to St. Stephen's (or Good Sam)? What about the hungry in Paynesville (or Sauk Centre)? What about really being open to the poor and the needy who might visit our churches? Could we help once a month with a meal or help "deliver meals on wheels" or with some similar program? What about the poor family living a block over from you? Have you visited them and looked into helping them in some way. What about your alcoholic relative or friend? Have you reached out to help him or her? (Pause)
The coronation was a "once in a lifetime" experience. You came back from England with many pictures and memories that will last a lifetime. Queen Elizabeth's reign will end someday and she will die, too. Jesus in today's Gospel is offering us an eternity of coronations-an eternity of love and caring from his own very Heart. All you and I have to do is to love those least like us with His love and compassion and welcome them into our midst.
Christ gives us the promise of eternal life and joy in God's everlasting presence. The Queen's coronation gave us some magical fun and highs for a finite period of time. Won't you accept and commit yourself this morning to Jesus Christ as your personal King/brother/sister and Savior? Won't you put on this symbolic Royal Crown of Glory and share in Christ's eternal priesthood?
The choice is yours and mine. What's it going to be for you?
Amen.