Preaching ths Sunday: The Final Judgement

I am preaching this Sunday. The gospel reading (printed below) is Matthew 25:31-46. It is a great reading. In it, Jesus uses an image that was common in his day of final judgment. The picture of the king separating the sheep from the goats was not new or newsworthy. It was rather the criteria for judgment. Two things are noteworthy. First, it is not observance of the Torah or Temple worship, or even membership in a chosen group that is the criteria for judgment. Rather, have you fed the hungry, clothed the naked, etc.

There is another aspect that is more subtle. It has to do with a lack of calculation, a lack of judgment, if you will, on the part of the sheep. They feed the hungry, simply because they are hungry. I believe the sheep in the parable serve those around them as a way of life. Whereas the goats in the parable withhold service because of who it is that is hungry. If they had known it was the king that was in need, why certainly they would have fed him. "When did we see you hungry," they ask the king.

For the sheep, there is no distinction. I believe the deeper meaning of this parable is connected to this looking at others without making distinctions of who should be loved and who shouldn't.
Here's the text:

Matthew 25:31-46
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. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

34Then 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; 35for 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, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

37Then 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? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And 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,* you did it to me.”

41Then 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; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.”

44Then 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?” 45Then 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.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

Anglican Monastery Destroyed

A stunningly beautiful Episcopal Monastery that was home for seven monks and a spiritual retreat to many visitors and pilgrims was destroyed in the fires in Southern California. Please keep them, and all the victims of the fires, in your prayers. This is from a recent New York Times article:

Early last Friday, fire consumed most of the complex where the monks had chanted, studied the stars and welcomed guests from around the world. The next afternoon, they returned to survey the damage.

“We were very quiet,” Brother Joseph Brown recalled in a telephone interview Tuesday. “We just looked around. We were in shock.”

By the time the Tea Fire, in Santa Barbara County, was under control, all that remained of the 60-year-old monastery itself were a skeletal archway, a charred iron cross and a large Angelus bell.

Two small artist’s studios near the main building were intact. An icon of Christ that Brother Brown had been painting with pigments made from egg yolk and mineral powder was still on a desk. A cello sat a few feet away, unharmed. In the chaos of wind and fire, a sheriff’s deputy had moved another monk’s telescope outside, where it remained unscathed.

“In the midst of all this destruction,” Brother Brown, 46, said Tuesday, “miracles happened all over the place.”

“The feelings right now are difficult to describe,” he said. “One of the hazards of monasticism throughout the centuries is we become attached to what we have or where we are. This is simply a reminder that what we are called to is not our stuff. This is a cleansing by fire.”

Read the entire article HERE.

Diocesan Convention 2008

This past weekend I and other members of the Cathedral were in Redding for the annual convention of the Diocese of Northern California. I only took pictures at the end when we were having our closing Eucharist. The teenagers were having a parallel event (fun not business.) They joined us for this last service. I sat with them. Here are a few our my pictures.

YOU can make a big difference

From parishoner Virginia McNeely:

Did you know that with minimal effort you can help scores of individuals and numerous groups in our community?

We all belong to a number of formal and informal groups and clubs: gyms, book clubs, hiking groups, professional and social clubs, school groups, etc. Each of these groups has the potential to help others in the community, but they need someone to help them to see how. YOU can be that person!

For example, I am a member of Curves and of WeightWatchers, where I’ve shared news about the ministry of Trinity Cathedral with Jedediah Smith School’s BackSnack program. I had encouraged WeightWatchers members to give me their “target foods” (foods that are too tempting) when they cleaned their cupboards, so the leaders at Sierra 2 chose our BackSnack program to benefit from the drive where members gave one pound of food for each pound they lost. Having heard me talk about Jed Smith School, my Curves location owner has had peanut butter drives and has also donated backpacks and clothing for the program. With truly minimal effort on my part, more than 200 pounds of food has gone to help the kids at Jed Smith School. In addition, people have heard about what great work Trinity does and know that this is a caring congregation that they might consider joining.

Take a few minutes to brainstorm what activities and groups you’re involved with. Art? Bread of Life can use art supplies for their community program. Hiking, hunting, fishing? Collect jackets and sleeping bags for the homeless at Loaves and Fishes when your friends upgrade. Reading? The choir is having a book drive; the BackSnack project can use children’s books; the Friends of the Library are always collecting books to raise funds. Scouts or a social or work group? Collect food for River City Community Services by asking participants to bring canned goods to meetings or social events.

As baptized Christians we all show thanks for how good God has been to us by giving of our time, talent and treasure. Think of how you can help others to focus their giving and join you in your ministries. With a little effort you can make a big difference!

Election at Trinity

Election day was very exciting for us at Trinity Cathedral. As a polling place we had a steady stream of folks passing through. Regardless of political persuasion, people seemed upbeat and eager to participate in our democratic process. The election night dinner was great. We had folks who voted earlier in the day who came back for dinner. I had conversations with a lot of people who were grateful for our hospitality. I feel like we are becoming a better known, positive influence in our neighborhood. It has been a great week to be a member of Trinity Cathedral.

Bishop Beisner's comments after the election

Dear Friends in Christ:

At last, it is over. I can hardly remember what life was like before this recent presidential election campaign. It seemed as if it had been going on forever, and would never end. But it has ended, and the ending is truly historic. Tuesday night, with its multiple media announcements of a decision, moving speeches by each of the two candidates, and televised scenes of great celebration, has already taken its place in our memories as another of those “Where were you when...?” moments.

As usual, the people of our Diocese covered the entire spectrum in their electoral choices. We are at one and the same time very Red and very Blue. I hope that every one of us feels that we have been good Christian stewards and voted well on all that was before us on our ballots. I say that not with regard to the color-coding of the actual choices we made, but in reference to our voting in an informed and prayerful manner, with Christ’s Kingdom in view. God acts in human history to accomplish God’s mission. Did we help or hinder that movement? We are accountable to God for our use of the gift of our citizenship.

Pastorally, this will be a time for us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep over the various outcomes of the election. With regard to Proposition 8, I was clear with you where I stood and why, and so it won’t surprise you that I am very saddened by its passage. Whatever your own decision with regard to that particular ballot measure, I ask that we all be especially mindful of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, who have just experienced a deeply hurtful loss. This is a time to show true compassion.

Finally: the politicians are fond of saying it as a way of signing off; for Christians, it should always be nothing less than an earnest prayer: God bless America. With it should also come the admonition: Bless God, America.

In Christ,

+Barry

Election Dinner

Prior to moving to California, I lived in Idaho. Idaho is very different from California in many ways. It is a state that is mostly public lands. The population of the entire state is about 1 1/2 million, which is about the same as the population of Sacramento County. It is also a state that is, for the most, part politically monochromatic. Almost all elected officials are from the Republican party and the state always votes for the Republican presidential candidate. Idaho has never been a political battleground. Which means the political parties really did not have to pay any attention to Idaho. Prior to my 12 years in Idaho, I lived 8 years in Hawaii, which was a monochromatically Democratic state. Consequently, for almost all of my adult life, I've lived in states that campaigns did not care about. Which means, prior to moving to California, I saw very, very few political advertisements. I remember watching the news and wishing I could see the ads that everybody was talking about.

Boy has that changed! Now I'm pretty tired of the political divisiveness and rancor. I wonder what damage we are doing to ourselves by this constant negativity. As a congregation we do not have to give into the voices of fear and judgementalism. We can be a different kind of community. We can model grace even when we disagree politically.

And we can do this is a concrete way this Tuesday. Because we are a polling place, many of our neighbors come here to vote. We will be offering them free dinner from 5pm to 8pm. This is an important and rare opportunity for us to model grace and hospitality at a time when poeple will be anxious and excited about the election. I hope you can help with this event. Volunteers are welcome to help from 1pm until about 9pm. I hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Brian Baker