Monday 10 March 2025 - The least of these

Monday 10 March 2025

Today is Monday the 10th of March, the feast of Saint John Ogilvie SJ, in the 1st week of Lent. Jon Guerra and Sandra McCracken with the Porter’s Gate sing, ‘The Kingdom of Jesus’. How does this song speak to you today? To what shall we compare the Kingdom of Jesus if not a seed? It's small, it's sown, it's tended and grown and it's stirred in you and me Its branches never break and its fruit never withers His Kingdom is not of this world or of any Kingdom whose ruler's face is on a penny He comes to make all things bright and put a new wine in us He's chosen the small things to outlast the great The meek and the merciful to shine through the hate Though it seems some days that Hell and its gates are prevailing Oh, say can you see the kingdom within us Is the Kingdom of Jesus? To what shall we compare the spirit of the hour if not a sword? It frees us, unites us, enslaves and divides us and violence, help us Lord His Kingdom is not of this world or of any Kingdom whose ruler's face is on a penny He comes to make all things bright and put a new wine in us He's chosen the small things to outlast the great The meek and the merciful to shine through the hate Though it seems some days that Hell and its gates are prevailing Oh say can't you see we have one allegiance? It's to the Kingdom of Jesus He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world He who is in us is greater and He's overcome the world Oh His Kingdom is not one of slander or rage but one that is ruled by the Lamb who was slain And is worthy of wisdom and honour and glory and strength No pain, no division, no public disgrace Will compare with seeing the smile on His face As He welcomes the poor as children with places at the table Not a death, nor threat, nor power can ever separate us From the love of God forever in Christ Jesus Everything shall pass away but not the Word that's within us It's the Kingdom of Jesus Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 25:31-46 ‘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. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then 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; for 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then 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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And 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.” Then 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I 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.” Then 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?” Then 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.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ That sense of not knowing what it was one was doing right – or, indeed, wrong – is one of the most striking elements in this remarkable tableau. Where might you see this playing out in the world at the moment? What else struck you as you listened? The theme seems to be that Jesus is offering a panoramic view of the kind of world he longed to see, the kind which would bring glory to God and which he himself would therefore approve and applaud. Think back over your life so far, however long or short; where can you see glimpses of the kind of actions that would bring God glory? We would miss the point entirely if we were to read it as a list of ‘rules to be obeyed’. Jesus doesn’t envisage us keeping a list of these actions and carefully ticking them off as we do them. He wants us to be the sort of people who do these things, as we say, ‘naturally’ – though actually it will be a kind of ‘second nature’ – without stopping to think about them. As you hear the reading again, try and call to mind anyone you know like this… Matthew 25:31-46 ‘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. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then 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; for 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then 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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And 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.” Then 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I 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.” Then 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?” Then 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.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ This tableau thus stands, at the end of the last long discourse in Matthew’s gospel, as the final statement of something which has been there all through. The houses on the rock and on the sand, the wheat and the tares, the good fish and the bad, and now the sheep and the goats. Matthew has highlighted the fact that Jesus intended his followers to be utterly different, people who reflected God and his love in a whole new way into the world. Can you take this with you into the world in a whole new way today? You have given all to me To you, Lord, I return it Everything is Yours Do with it what You will Give me only Your love and Your grace That is enough for me Amen