© Rev. Lance Carrithers, all rights reserved.  Permission required to copy any portion of this message by any means. Email for permission: lance@firstchurchdc.com

To Be the Church

Matthew 25:31-46

           The story speaks for itself, so I’ll be brief.   Jesus has separated those who will enter the kingdom from those who will not.  Those who will enter, the “sheep” are at his right.  The goats, on his left, will be shut out, sent to the eternal fires.

            And the sorting is conducted on one basic test.

            Those who did versus those who did not take care of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the prisoner, the sick.   Those who did, the sheep, on the Lord’s right, are commended.  As you did so for the least of these, you did so for me.  And they enter the kingdom.

            Those who did not, are scolded.  As you failed to do so for the least of these, you failed me.  And they are sent away.

            Pretty plain.   There’s no much to explain here.  There’s not much to make commentary on.    We’re finally not left with anything to learn here.   It’s time to do it.   This isn’t a story that takes much effort to understand, it just takes effort to do!

            What does it mean to be a church, after all?   What’s the reason we’re here? 

            We often talk about church as something we “go to.”   “Are you going to church today?”   “Nah, I don’t feel like going to church today.”   “How was church?”  

             We talk about church the way we’d talk about a concert, a play or a rodeo.   “Going to the depot?”  “Nah, I don’t think we’ll get to this one.”   “How was the musical?”  

            Is church simply something we go to?   To take in the way we take in a spring vocal concert?   Is church about whether or not we find the “show” entertaining, engaging or worth going back again?

            Interesting, there’s no place in the New Testament where Jesus tells those who follow him, “go and create a service with music, preaching, and a children’s story.”  Nor did he say, “those who gather an hour each week and put something in when the brass plates circulate will enter the kingdom of God.”

            No—church is about being the body of Christ.  And to be the body of Christ requires a commitment to do what Jesus instructed.   

            To be the body of Christ, the church is to care for the least and the last.  The hungry, the thirsty, the downtrodden, the sick and the imprisoned.   As we do so for these, we do so for Jesus himself.  
            To be the church is to be:   Church isn’t something we go to in the end.  It is something we choose whether or not we are going to be a part of.   Are you part of the body?  Do you belong to the body?  If so, the implications are clear.

            There’s people who need help—food, clothing, shelter.   That’s what MAM Care center lives out.  There’s people who need help—and they are there.   Being the church.     And yet, there’s no weekly worship service there that I know of.

            The reason we’re here?   To hear again Jesus’ word for us.  To accept the challenge to live for that word.   To commit once again to being the body of Christ together.   To be restored in our own faith, encouraged by the hymns, and strengthened by the prayers.  To be re-constituted at the table.  Not as an end…but so that we are prepared to go into the world, where there are hungry, thirsty, sick, lonely, people, strangers and prisoners.   That we might encounter these, and help them encounter the Christ. 

            We are all invited to Christ’s table, all who call upon Jesus as Lord of all, all who seek to serve the Christ by serving others.

            As we prepare to come once again to Christ’s table, let us sing the first and fourth verses of   “I Come with Joy.”    

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