Myron

Several weeks ago I heard a sermon based upon Matthew 26:31-46, the separation of the sheep and the goats. The speaker treated the passage as parable. It appears at the end of a fairly long teaching to the disciples after asking Jesus about when He will return. Frankly, I am not inclined to view it as parable. There are parables in the proceeding discourse - The Ten Virgins and the Talents - that speak of watchful readiness for His return but I am inclined to see this passage as visionary prophecy. There is no "... it will be like..." statement of introduction that sets the stage for parable. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him..." sets the passage apart from the proceeding parables.

Some may argue this a minor point but I don't believe it minor at all. I believe Jesus is giving the 12 a glimpse of what is to come and some concrete ideas of what "watchful readiness" looks like in His Kingdom. Treating the passage as parable lets us off the hook allowing us to define more comfortably the issues of justice He lays out for us. I see this as a very uncomfortable passage.

I was reminded of my friend Myron. I knew him about 35 years ago when we lived in Minnesota. Through no fault of our own we nearly became homeless. Myron, his wife Joan and their two teenage daughters invited us to live with them for a few weeks in their basement. If memory serves me, my daughter was three and my son was a year old.

Myron had been captured by this passage. Again, if memory serves me, he was unemployed, he had time on his hands and the passage ate at him. Economically our nation was in a deep recession and he saw many were out of work, fearful and hopeless. He felt compelled to do something.

Sitting at his kitchen table, smoking cigarettes and drinking Diet Pepsi he started making phone calls. Myron had the gift of gab and a tenacious yet humble boldness. He called those he knew were well off and asked for donations of food to give to those in need. Word got out about what he was up to and he started getting calls from those in deep need. This little endeavor started there at his kitchen table grew to become Manna Lifeline. He headed up this non-profit for the rest of his life. Myron is home now with our elder brother and Lord Jesus.

Myron read the passage literally and discomfort at what he read caused him to take concrete action to address injustice. I believe this passage ought to cause holy discomfort that will shake us out of our complacency.

If one reads the passage carefully we can see some of what is important in God's Kingdom; hunger, thirst, loneliness, nakedness, sickness and those imprisoned, issues of justice. In every age proceeding Jesus' time on earth and every age since these issues have always been with us. Responding to these issues of justice takes on a non-optional imperative in light of how Jesus expresses Himself as recorded by Matthew.

Honestly, I am uncomfortable with my own complacency. I've not done all I could.

That day in church the bulletin carried a card asking for a response to the passage. Part of the card asked for an affirmative response to Jesus' call to accept Him as Lord and Savior. Amen!

The other part asked for a response to action in bulleted areas of ministry at the church: Administrative (ie Office Help/Phones/Typing), Hospitality (ie Greeter/Usher/Parking Posse), Physical Labor (ie Chair Set-Up/Gardening/Campus Clean-Up), Technical (ie Sound/AV/Lighting), Events (ie Decorating/Hospitality/Cooking/Clean-Up), Nursery/Children/Youth/LifeGroup Leader/Host, Visitation, and the ubiquitous Other.

As I sit writing and looking at the card I did not use, I am saddened and grieved. These are legitimate needs to be met by an organization that strives to be relevant to our present culture, but the point was missed entirely. Jesus' concern for justice in a very unjust culture was watered down, set aside, dismissed. Responding was made easy in a way that unsettles me.

I read the passage again and I let the words work discomfort that hopefully will cause action. Action on my part that is more in alignment with the issues important to Jesus.

Myron, I miss you. Thank you for taking these inspired words and doing what you could. Well done, my friend!