Each year we celebrate the feast of Christ the King as the last Sunday in the Church’s liturgical year. The gospel we listen to on this feast rotates on a three yearly cycle. Last year we heard St Luke’s gospel account of Jesus on the cross, with one of the thieves crucified beside him asking Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. Here was Jesus the King and the cross was his throne. Next year we will hear from St John’s gospel and see Jesus before Pilate. Pilate asks him if he is a king, and Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world. Once again, we see the kingship of Jesus associated with his passion and death. The gospel this year from St Matthew is a different scene. We have the judgement scene where the sheep and the goats are separated. This gospel presents Christ the king as a judge, sitting in judgement. In separating the sheep from the goats he is welcoming people into his kingdom.
The striking thing about this gospel account is what it tells us about what we need to do to find a place in the kingdom of God. In some ways it is very easy: you need to give food to the hungry; give the thirsty something to drink; welcome the stranger; clothe the naked; care for the sick; and visit the prisoners. But as we listened to the gospel you probably noticed that none of the people being judged had much sense of what they were doing. Both those on the right and those on the left, say to the Son of Man, “When did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison?” The response is simple: when you reached out to one of the least of these people you reached out to me. This is the great insight of today’s gospel passage; this is the thing we are meant to learn. We encounter Jesus in others. This is the key to understanding his kingdom and appreciating what it means to celebrate Christ as king.
My guess is that if you sit people around in discussion groups and ask them what do you have to do to inherit the kingdom of God they would come up with a different answer to what we heard in this gospel. They might say “keep the commandments”, or “say your prayers”, or “live a moral life”, or “keep your heart pure”. Yes, these are all important things. But they’re not mentioned in today’s gospel. I wonder why.
I think the answer is that when we speak about each of these things we can easily be focused on ourselves; we can be tempted to become a little self-righteous. The big difference between this attitude and actions Jesus is looking for is that all the things mentioned in the gospel today draw our attention away from ourselves and on to others. These activities have traditionally been referred to as the works of mercy. As we see them described in the gospel there is a close link between mercy and charity. Both mercy and charity are selfless acts. They give without counting the cost; they give without seeking any reward.
Throughout Christian history the church has been noted for its works of mercy. The church was concerned for the education and welfare of poor children. The church provided hospitals for the sick. Think of the word “hospital” in English: it is linked to hospitality. The church provided shelters and refuges for the homeless and the needy, for the stateless and refugees. Of course, in the last hundred years or so governments have become involved in these works of mercy, and effectively taken control of them. It goes by the name of welfare. No one speaks today of these activities as works of mercy. Perhaps this is because governments need to set criteria for assistance, which means that not everyone is assisted. Even the word charity has changed its meaning so that it is seen as something cold, uncaring and anonymous.
In modern times the church often struggles to work out how it will contribute to this aspect of the social fabric of our national life. Churches have had to decide whether they will administer government assistance to the needy on the terms set by the government. This is a difficult decision for the churches because their motives are very different from the motives of a government that is by definition secular. The motive of the church for all that it does is the kingdom of God. There can be no categorising of people into the deserving and the undeserving poor. The question of Christ the King rings out loudly: When I was ... did you..? But I think the response of the sheep and the goats also pricks our conscience: Lord, when did we see you...? And he replies: When you did this to one of the least of my children...
Today’s feast celebrates the kingdom of God – a kingdom that has dawned in the world and is already visible in Jesus. We are invited into it, so that we might become like him. But what has already been realised in Jesus is still coming to be in us. It is not easy to live this gospel; it is not easy to make the choices that it demands. It takes a life-time to arrive at that point; it takes until the judgement. But we make progress little-by-little, step-by-step. Let’s get to know Christ the king, and take those little steps into the kingdom.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
