Our Choices Unite or Disunite Us.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 11; Matthew 25: 31 – 46
If ‘decision’ was a theme of last week’s readings, this week’s readings speak of the crisis – the moment of the ultimate judgement. A crisis demands decisions and the impending crisis requires preparation. At least the thoughtful and the wise prepare for the crisis moment. Both our readings this Sunday speak of a time of judgement: a time when we will be called to account.
Paul writes to the Christians in Thessalonica and talks to them about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is traditionally understood as a time of judgement. Paul warns that it will suddenly appear ‘like a thief in the night. Jesus too, speaks of the Day of the Lord when all the nations will be gathered. Many things are written about the Day of Judgement. I wish to make two points about the Day of Judgement.
Firstly, we cannot assume other than that there will be a time when we are assessed before God. To think that we can merrily live our lives as we wish and not be judged is to fool ourselves. To think we are held accountable for our lives is silly. And let us not conflate judgement with condemnation. The judgement, the assessment and the taking account, is nothing more than that. It is the conclusion of the assessment that is concerning.
Secondly, I want to say that in another sense our lives are continuously being assessed. Every turning point in the journey of life, every event that requires response is a moment of crisis – it requires judgement. Every time we make our decisions, whether big or small, we are assessed in one way or another. Even those decisions in the darkness of our personal space emerge in the light of our normal living in one way or another. And that is the point of both readings. They both point to the fact that the way we live our lives is the most telling evidence of our faith and values. This is a truth regardless of whether you believe in God or not. The way we live out our lives witnesses to what we ultimately value. It is so obvious. Observe another and you get a sense of their beliefs and values. It is quite clear that for some their family or children are the most important – actually for some family and children are more important than God. For others it is their personal enjoyments. For others it is concern for others. For others it is justice. And so it goes. Our life-style, life choices and commitments all proclaim to others what ultimately we value and believe.
Paul knew that God is just and therefore will judge us. Paul knew that God is holy and holiness will always cast light on the world revealing the dark shadows of our lives and uncovering the darkness in our lives. Paul wanted the Thessalonian Christians to be prepared. For him that preparation is firstly awareness that the Christian is a child of light and must walk in that light. Secondly the Christian should not be surprised that there will be a judgement day. In fact the Christian should be expecting to be accountable. And thirdly, what seems critical to Paul is that Christians live supporting, encouraging and building each other up in the faith. “Encourage one another and build each other up”, he writes. [1 Thess 5:11]
Paul knew the Jesus tradition recorded in Matthew’s account of the Gospel. Jesus warned his followers to expect his return but gave no date. They were to live expectantly of his return when justice would be done and this world brought to its fulfilment. It would be a time of crisis. It would be a time of decision. That is a key point of the parable of the ten young women waiting with their lamps to escort the bridegroom to the wedding ceremony. Five we are told were prepared and five were not. Their preparation and lack of it tells us something of their character and care for others. The five who asked the others for oil were unprepared. The door was not shut on them; they shut the door on themselves by carelessly not preparing for God’s future. We shut doors by our lack of care, by our lack of faith and our paucity of hope.
For Christ Jesus, the deciding factor in determining who were faithful followers would be their love. Love is the key to understanding the Christian Faith and the Jewish Faith. It is the hallmark of the Bible. The way you show your love for God is in the way you love your neighbour. As the Epistle of John says, if you don’t love your neighbour then you don’t love God. The sheep and goats are separated. That is the crisis of the Day of Judgment. We get so caught up in who the sheep and goats are. The point of the story is not the separation of sheep and goats suggesting that one animal type is better than another. The point is that these animals are metaphors for two types of human reaction to other humans. One type of human is imbued with compassion. The other type is saturated with self-love. Our destiny is shaped by our decisions. What we value determines what we become. The choices we make are vital to our well-being.
We understand what loving our neighbour means. But we don’t talk much, if at all, about ‘building up each other’. This is a powerful theme of Paul’s. He sees that our survival rests on the strength of the Church community. It is together that we will survive the persecution. It is together that we will grow strong and prosper as a church. Christians need to encourage the growth of others. This is more than providing for Sunday School or attending Bible Studies. It is the mutual encouragement and strengthening we get from honest sharing of our faith with each other.
Nature offers us many lessons about life. Geese in flight provide a wonderful lesson on true fellowship.
As each goose flaps its wings it creates and ‘uplift’ for the birds that follow. By flying in a ‘V’ formation the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Lesson 1 is that people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because that are travelling on the trust of one another.
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. Lesson 2 is that if we have as much sense as a goose we would stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We would be willing to accept their help and give our help to them.
When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the front lead position. Lesson 3 is that it pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents and resources.
A scientific study published online in the publication, Nature, took advantage of an existing project to reintroduce endangered northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe. Scientists used a microlight plane to show hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried data loggers specially built for the exercise. The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats to catch the uplifting eddies of wind. When a bird flew directly behind another, the timing of the flapping reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body. “We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood says, considering that the feat requires careful flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbours.
This study showed that birds sync their wings, work together mindful of each other. They care about each other and it is good for the flock as a whole.
If we could only step away from our individualism and self-interest and realise that our self-interest is best served by putting others and God first. That is the paradox that we need to live by. Then we will move to a mature love, fellowship and faith. As geese sync their flying sensitive to those about them we need to sync our lives with those about us. For us it means we need to know each other.
Is it possible that Christ Jesus may look at us and say, ‘You’ve cared for me, thank you’. And we will say, ‘When did we show our care for you, Lord’. And Jesus will say, ‘When you loved your fellow Christian!’
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 12/11/2017
pcwhitaker@icloud.com
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au
