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Invited to His Kingdom
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the church calendar.
Next week is the start of Advent, which begins the new church calendar year. Advent means waiting. So the year starts with waiting.
The year ends with Christ reigning as the king. What we waited for has come.
Today’s passage talks about what it will be like when Christ reigns as the king. It’s a story about this kingdom and who gets invited:
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34)
Those invited into this kingdom are those who have lived with compassion. Those who fed the hungry; clothed the naked; welcomed the stranger; took care of the sick.
What’s interesting is, these people didn’t even realize they lived compassionate lives. They all asked: “when was it?” Being compassionate was just who they were.
The kingdom that we rejoice in is a compassionate kingdom. It is where compassion is the way of life. No one gets left behind. No one is left alone.
It is a beautiful image. We all want to live in this kind of world. We all agree that compassion is good.
But the everyday life we live and experience often seems so different.
Forgetting Those in Need
To get home, I often have to make a left turn from Eglinton Avenue onto Martin Grove Road. It is a very busy intersection.
At all hours, there are so many cars in that left turn lane. There are cars coming from the 401. From the 427. From Eglinton Avenue.
All of them trying to squeeze onto that left turn lane. Sometimes you can’t even get into it because there are so many cars.
The whole time, my mission is to get in that lane and make that left turn.
There’s an advanced left turn green light. When it comes on, the race is on to make that left turn.
When I’m there in the evening, there’s often someone on the island by that left turn lane asking for money.
The thing is, I don’t carry around any cash. I either give an apologetic look, or I just look away because I feel bad.
That lasts just a moment, because once that advanced light turns green, the race is on to make that left turn.
Once the intersection is in the rear view mirror, I forget about that person.
This experience at the intersection depicts much of our life today. We are too busy going to our next destination. Fighting to get into our lane.
So busy that we don’t see the person in need.
I don’t remember what the person looks like. I do not know that person’s name. I do not know that person’s story. I do not know what sort of struggles they’re going through.
In reality, it is as though that person doesn’t exist. I saw that person, but I didn’t really see that person.
In the story of the Good Samaritan, a man was beaten and robbed and left half dead. A priest came across him and passed him by. A Levite then came across him and passed him by.
They knew the Jewish laws very well. They knew they should help a stranger in need. There are many theories as to why they passed him by.
I wonder if it was because they were just too busy. Too busy going to the synagogue or to attend to their important religious duties.
To get to our destination, we can’t see everything. We need to NOT see many things.
Especially those who are in need. They just get in the way. They only slow us down.
The only way to block them out is to become indifferent. To feel nothing toward them.
We Lack Our Humanity
The playwright, George Bernard Shaw, said this:
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity. (George Bernard Shaw)
Our indifference tells them that they don’t exist. The worst sin is to essentially erase their existence. It says that their existence doesn’t matter.
Indifference not only affects those who are ignored. It affects the ones ignoring.
Indifference robs us of our humanity.
To be human is to be a connected creature. As the African proverb says: “I am because you are”.
Connection with others is what gives joy to life. Indifference takes away that possibility of connection. Indifference robs us of the joy that comes from connecting with others.
In our modern life, we are busy going from one place to another, but we don’t see each other. The needs and suffering of others remain invisible from our indifference.
That indifference dehumanizes us. Without realizing it, we float through a dehumanized existence.
How can we retain our humanity in this dehumanizing world?
Mother Teresa’s Faithfulness
Today’s passage is most famously associated with Mother Teresa. She lived out this passage.
She fed the hungry. Clothed the naked. Cared for the sick. She lived among the poorest of the poor.
She served those whom everyone else had abandoned and discarded. She inspired millions of people around the world.
After she died, her private letters were published. They revealed a person who had many doubts. She felt the absence of God. She struggled with faith.
And yet, her work of serving the poor never stopped. She was consistent and faithful in her work right to the end of her life.
What kept her going?
Despite her own doubts and struggles, she saw the face of Jesus in every person she encountered. That was what kept her going.
In each person, she saw the divine image of God. Each person contained a trace of God’s wonderful touch.
Changed by the Face of God
Not all of us can give up everything to serve the poor. Not all of us can escape this busy life.
But all of us can learn to see the face of God in others.
That, I believe, is the secret of resisting the indifference and numbness that our busyness inflicts upon us. See the face of God in others.
In church, we worship God. We praise God. We honour God. We express love, gratitude and appreciation. We sing beautiful songs to God.
See the presence of that same God in each person you encounter. It will change how you see people.
Just like we do to God, you will want to show them honour, respect and dignity.
You will begin to see less of their flaws and more of their beauty. It will change your attitude toward them.
You will become more gracious. More forgiving. More compassionate.
See the face of God in others and it will change you. It will make previously invisible people visible to you. Especially the least among us.
You will see people whom the world ignores and considers unimportant. You will see them as important, because you see God in them.
You will be moved to compassion. To suffer with them. Your eyes and your heart will be awakened.
See the face of God in others and it will awaken your spirit to the presence of God. If you see God in the face of others, then God is everywhere.
Every encounter is an opening and possibility for a new revelation from God. Maybe you will be prompted to act. Maybe a new calling will reveal itself to you.
You will be more connected with others. More connected with God. More connected with life.
Seeing the face of God in others is the antidote for this dehumanizing world. It is the way to awaken compassion in our hearts. It is the way to keep our hearts alive in the busy, competitive world we live in.
Everyday, our prayer should be: God, today, help me to see your face in each person I encounter.
That should be our prayer every day. In each encounter. Then you will see God.
The Kingdom of God
In the beginning of the year, the prayer is “your kingdom come, your will be done.” But on the last Sunday of the year, on Christ the King Sunday, we rejoice that the kingdom has come.
Jesus said this:
The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you. (Luke 17:20-21)
When compassion is our way of life, the kingdom of God is among us. When we see the face of God in each other, the kingdom of God is among us.
Turn to your neighbour and say this: “Brother/sister, in you is the image of God. I see God’s face in you. God bless you.”
Each and everyday, in every encounter, see the face of God in others. The kingdom of God is among you.
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