Who’s the Judge? The Shepherd? The King?

After music group, in our small group tonight, we read through the readings for this coming Sunday (The Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ the King) and had some good discussion around the Gospel in particular. It (Mt 25:31-46) is a doozie!:

Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."

Our discussion centered around the Christian commission to give to the marginalized and less fortunate - to be Christ's presence to the Christ in them.

We talked a lot about the questions and the feelings that well up when a panhandler asks for money... Is this person really in need? Is this for a dinner, or for the next dose of the drug of the day? Is this for the bus pass, or for the next swig of booze?

We talked about the guilt when you walk by someone in need with the doubt in your mind, without helping them... sometimes without acknowledging them.

We talked about the frustration when you give to someone in need, only to have them show a lack of appreciation - to throw your gift back at you if it's "not enough" or "not what I wanted."

Here's what struck me the most in the discussion:
It's not up to us to have to make the judgement about whether our giving was for a worthy request or not. God - Christ - the King - knows our heart. And He knows their heart. And the judgement of the motives and the giving and the withholding will be done by Him - not by us - at the end.

I make that judgement a lot - I have to, as I travel, and am in other, big, cities a lot. I'll walk past one person acting as though I don't have any cash. I'll give some to another who "seems" more in need, or more "legitimate", or whatever. Is that right? Not really. I shouldn't be making that judgement. I should be giving out of the great abundance God has blessed me with. I should be leaving it to the Good Shepherd who knows both the giver's heart and the receiver's heart.

The feast of Christ the King has been my favorite Sunday of the Church year since I returned to the faith a few years ago. I love the imagery of "the end", right before we being a new year with the anticipation of Advent - preparing for Christ's coming at Christmas. I love the imagery of the "end times", the reminders of particular and general judgement, the reminder of Christ's Kingship and dominion over all.  What I love the most, though, is the reminder that Christ is really BOTH the powerful temporal King that we expect in this life AND the quiet, gentle, loving shepherd that we need both now and in the next life.

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