Giving Thanks for Others

Christ the King – November 26, 2023

Readings:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 95:1-7a
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46

This past week we celebrated Thanksgiving. Even so, it may be that giving thanks was the least of the things we did. This may be shown by how many people call it “turkey day,” or who plan to sit around and watch sports all day. And then there is the day after – a sign of our consumerism. I am not saying these things are bad, I am, however, wondering how many people really look at their lives and truly give thanks for what they have. I suppose I may be missing something here since I really don’t like turkey, find watching football to be quite boring, and have never liked to shop. But, if your family is like mine, you gathered together around a meal that took an unusual amount of time and effort to prepare. Hopefully you began that meal with a prayer of thanks to the one who gave it all to you and those who spent the time to prepare it. Maybe you all pitched in together to prepare the meal. That would be what Paul would have suggested. Never mind the old saying, “Too many cooks spoil the pot.”

That is what Paul is getting at when he tells the Ephesians that he always gives thanks for them. They have proved that to be called by God is to proclaim Jesus to those around them. They did so without thought of themselves. It is not to the Ephesians that Paul gives thanks but to God for them. He recognized that it is only because of God that one even exists. Even more important to Paul is that we live together as a people. The people we ask to share our Thanksgiving should be the centerpiece of the whole day. Not the food, or what is on television, or our shopping list. The other texts that we read today emphasize this. While they are about the parousia (the return of Jesus) they talk about being judged by how we treat others.

Ezekiel tells us that those who exploit others, who become fat, will be harshly judged. He was talking to those in Israel who did not share what they had with others. Instead of recognizing that what they had was God’s and that God was calling them out to share their gifts, they used them for their own pleasure and gain. Jesus is telling us almost the same thing while raising the bar. By emphasizing that those who will be saved will not even know when they have answered God’s call. He is telling us that sharing our gifts with others should be so natural that we don’t even think about what we’re doing. That is in contrast to those who are selfish, who are so focused upon their own desires. They won’t even recognize an opportunity to share their gifts when it comes along.

Every time that I read this story in Matthew it reminds me of another story. A story about a pastor who after reading this text divided his congregation, telling some of them that they were sheep and the others that they were goats. The story goes on to say that he was not a pastor in that church much longer. I do not know if this story is even true, but I do know as you do, if we were divided up between the sheep and the goats, we would all be goats. There are so many times that we have not done what God calls us to do and many times have done those things we are told not to do that on our own we would be lost. God knows that. That is why God sent Jesus to us. You who once were goats now have been made sheep by the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Being so loved and cared for – as Jesus has done by his own life, death, and resurrection, we are able to give thanks for the people around us. Not only that, we are able to share with them all that God has given us. In the midst of this troubled and troubling world we are called by God to show a different way to live. Instead of anger and selfishness, we are called to selfless love. Instead of destruction and war we are called to work for justice and peace. Yes, impossible tasks for us goats, but as God’s sheep led by the great shepherd, we can give thanks for others as they touch our lives and we give them a taste of the living water of Jesus: salvation.