Last Pentecost/Christ the King Sunday/Year A/Nov 22, 2020

Ephesians 1:15-23; Psalm 100; Matthew 25: 31-46

The thoughts I would like to share with you this morning are a continuation of the message I shared with you last week…and they will include words of invitation to carry with you in the days ahead as we come to the end of a season according to our church calendar, the long season after the day of Pentecost, and the end and last day of our liturgical year, Christ the King Sunday….As with any endings, there will be a new beginning…. And next week, we will turn our hearts towards a new season, and a new year, full of hope and possibilities that we can envision together….and work together to bring to fruition, when we choose to invest in the way of love, with God and one another …and as we strive to be united in Christ, in the interest of others…

This was the theme of the diocesan convention this past fall, I’ve mentioned it and shared it often, since then…United in Christ in the Interest of others…inspired by a scripture verse from Philippians 2:4…“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

Today, that scripture, comes together in my mind and heart, illuminating the good news proclaimed by Jesus in the hearing of today’s gospel reading…. Throughout this past week, what kept rising to the surface for me, being held right in front of my eyes, and in my face, where I could not possibly miss it – was the invitation to Notice… to simply begin again today, by noticing the other…look at their faces, look into their eyes…look more deeply, into their hearts, through the eyes and love of Jesus….strive to see Jesus, in them…and in doing so, get a glimpse of this kingdom that Jesus is inviting us to envision and be a part of…a kingdom whose foundation is built upon loving God and one another, a kingdom where we are united in Christ, in the interest of others…for the purpose of healing and being reconciled to God and one another, for the joy of all God’s beloved children, and to free us from the hatred and division that is tearing us all down in the process, and has been shattering the relationships between God’s beloved people, more and more with each passing day.

Jesus wants us to notice what love can do… Notice what the love of Jesus can do, through us, in the interest of others.

Jesus said, 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.’

Jesus is inviting us to NOTICE….

Notice what the love of Jesus can do, through us, in the interest of others.

Notice the hungry and the thirsty in our communities…notice the strangers, the ones who are often overlooked…notice those who are sick and suffering and imprisoned by the effects of isolation and loneliness….notice those whom we disagree with, notice the ones who are angry and fearful right now, notice the ones whose voices have been silenced for too long…..notice the children of God…in the diverse faces of God’s children, everywhere…

Notice them…and learn to love them, and reach out to them, with kindness, and compassion, and mercy; Notice them, and learn from them, by listening to them, and walking with them; look for the face of Jesus in them, and serve Jesus, love Jesus, by serving them, loving them, with the same dignity and respect and love that has been shown to us, through Jesus and others, throughout our privileged lives.

That is where our hearts and our love for one another, begins to merge together, uniting us in Christ, when we notice Jesus and God’s everlasting love, in one another….and it is this love that compels us and invites us to respond with our whole selves, by investing in the way of love, in the interest and well-being of others….for all of God’s beloved children.

Jesus wants us to notice what love can do… Notice what the love of Jesus can do, through us, in the interest of others.

Children, of all ages…but especially young children and older children, are growing up in such an unsteady world right now…they are paying attention…they are paying close attention to the adults in this world, especially now, when everyone’s lives have been disrupted in this time of the pandemic…They are noticing what we are saying, and not saying; what we are doing, and not doing; and they are always noticing how we are treating one another and loving one another …They are looking to us, and depending on us, the adults…to show them what the love of Jesus can do, through us, in the interest of others…

At the end of this day, at the end of this season, at the end of this liturgical year….let us ask ourselves, what we want for our children, our grand-children, our nieces, our nephews, for all children…what do we want them to notice in us, and carry forward with them, in the coming days, and in the coming years….

I, for one….want my grandchildren, and all children to notice what the love of Jesus can do, through the love and actions of all of us working together, united in Christ, in the interest of others…

I want them to know that I am praying for them….praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all glory, may give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation as they come to know Jesus, so that, with the eyes of their hearts enlightened, they may know what is the hope to which God has called them….(Ephesians 1:15-23)

I want them to be able to raise their outstretched arms and hands high to the heavens, rejoicing and give thanks at the end of a day, knowing and believing that indeed, there is a God who notices them, and call them, Beloved…

I want them to know and believe what the love of Jesus can do, working through them, in the interest of others….

I want them to be able to look around at us, and in their communities now, and see how it is that together, with God, and one another, we can build a more just and loving world….when we invest in the way of love, united in Christ, in the interest of others….

Today….and throughout the coming days….notice what the love of Jesus can do, through us, in the interest of others……and accept the invitation to invest your whole selves in the way of love.

At conclusion of sermon: Piano/How Great Thou Art

Rev Julie Platson

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska