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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

For those in need

In one of his most challenging parables, Jesus speaks frankly about judgement and his association with those in most need (Matthew 25:45).

Context

• In this week’s Gospel, Epistle and Old Testament readings we have the interwoven themes of judgement and future hope. In the Gospel and Epistle, both of these are centred on Christ the King. In Matthew, the parable of the judgement of the nations is the last recorded story of Jesus and is delivered in Jerusalem very shortly before his passion. As such it demands our attention. There is good news and there is stark warning. What is the basis of the judgement that Jesus speaks of? It is neither doctrinal purity or a confession of faith but rather the evidence or otherwise of devotion to the King expressed in care for those most in need. This is profoundly practical.
• On 17 November the BBC celebrated Children in Need, always a wonderful example of ‘sheep-like’ behaviour, of generous care to those most in need.
• It has been said that the true worth of a community or country should be judged by how it cares for those who are most vulnerable. This week the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has delivered his Autumn Statement which has implications for those in most need.
• The ethics of war are complicated but reading Matthew 25 alongside the pronouncements from the United Nations about the plight of those who have no food or drink or shelter in Gaza is a sobering and challenging thing to do.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

• The structure of the parable of the judgment of the nations lends itself to a sermon or talk in three parts:

  • Part one celebrating ‘sheep-like’ stories from within your church, local community or wider world. This could be done via brief interviews or testimonies followed by prayers for those featured. If the appropriate IT facilities are available good copyright-free photos could also be part of this celebration.

  • Part two could ask questions about situations where the needs of the hungry, thirsty, etc are being abused or ignored. Again, appropriate visual images could be particularly powerful here. To avoid a sense of helplessness, encourage appropriate prayer and simple actions that can be done to help ‘the least of these’ that Jesus identifies as members of his family (Matthew 25:40).

  • A short part three could be an encouragement/challenge to look for and recognise Christ the King in those in need that we will encounter in our life and work in the coming week.

• For visual learners there is an opportunity to collectively create a collage picture of Christ the King using photos from newspapers and magazines of those with whom Jesus identifies. This could then form a centrepiece for prayer.

 

Questions for discussion

• Invite people to share stories of ‘sheep-like’ people they know. What do they do? What part (if any) does their faith consciously play in this? How might their example inspire us?
• In what ways are the plights of those in most need being ignored?
• How do we recognise Christ in the form of those in most need?
• What might you be being called to do as a church to serve Christ in the form of the needy in your local community? If you struggle to think what could be done why not arrange a meeting with your local councillors or MP or charities to explore what you could do.
• If you were the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what would you have made a priority in your Autumn Statement and why?

Andrew Roberts is a husband, father, Methodist minister and the author of Holy Habits. He was once the lead model in ‘Clergy on the Catwalk’ and won the ‘Faster Pastor’ stock car race for members of the clergy.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Do your actions reveal the real you?

This is a challenging passage! I think that sometimes the challenge with reading passages like this one – especially if we read it alongside seeing the news – is that we can read the second half of the parable and become immobilised, feel inadequate and end up doing nothing. How on earth can we practically feed the hungry in so many different parts of the world that we see on the news?

It’s easy to forget that Jesus and his disciples didn’t have social media, the internet, television…not even newspapers. Their ‘world’ was so often those people they saw around them; those they met on their day-to-day travels. Their work colleagues; family; their literal next door and across-the-road neighbours. We can feel so overwhelmed and immobilised by what we see on the news that we might miss the homeless guy sat outside our local supermarket; or Tony at church who lost his mum over the weekend; or our next-door neighbour who was pregnant, and has suddenly appeared half asleep and in need of a coffee, with a baby in a pushchair seemingly out of nowhere!

As Advent fast approaches, I wonder if we can decide to take up noticing those in need around us. Maybe keep a stash of (fairtrade) chocolate bars in our coat pocket to give to the person asking for money outside Asda; or club together with friends to buy flowers for Tony, or a Costa voucher for the first time mum and dad next door. As Mother Teresa reportedly said, ‘Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things, with great love.’

Jonathan Buckley is Youth Coordinator for Sheffield Methodist Circuit

 

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