Matthew 25:31-46
Listening to this Gospel, anybody feeling overwhelmed? Jesus is talking about how the righteous who will go into eternal life are those who fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, took care of the sick, visited the oppressed. But if you look around the world today, if you watch the news or even if you just drive through the streets, you realize just how many hungry people there are right now, how many sick, how many poor, how many suffering from injustices and violence of all kinds. It's overwhelming. It seems like the world is being overrun by polarization, food insecurity, increasing unemployment, increasing need for social supports even as they are being cut, increasing global violence, really, just increasing injustice.
And here is Jesus, saying that he is coming to judge everyone on the basis of whether we helped or not. And I'm overwhelmed, and I'm exhausted. It's not that I'm not helping, I'm doing the best I can, but it just seems like such a small drop in the very large ocean, and I don't know if it's enough. and I know that yes, we can talk about the grace of Jesus and that we will be counted as righteous by virtue of our baptism, but at the same time, there is this yawning chasm of suffering in the world, there are these massive structures of injustice, and it doesn't sit well with my soul to look at that and say, "oh well, it's okay, I'm baptized and Jesus loves me." And so I'm exhausted.
Have you heard of this thing called compassion fatigue? According to the Canadian Medical Association, "compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others or for their emotional pain, resulting from the desire to help relieve the suffering of others. It is also known as vicarious or secondary trauma, referencing the way that other people’s trauma can become their own." The CMA talks about it in the context of medical professionals, but I think it applies to all people who yearn for the world to be a better place, and particularly to Christians who want to follow Jesus in helping those who need help and in overcoming oppression in the world. According to the CMA, the flags for compassion fatigue are feeling helpless in the face of suffering, feeling overwhelmed or alternately feeling emotionally disconnected and not caring, increased anxiety, sadness, or irritability. In other words, what many of us are feeling when we watch the news or learn more instances of suffering.
Now the CMA offers tips for recovering from compassion fatigue, including good self-care and getting rest, and engaging in mindfulness. But there's one in particular that fits with today, and that's that "if you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to think about what you do have control over and what you can change."
And here we come back to Jesus' words in Matthew. "And the king said, 'truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." The least of these... What does that mean?
Well, about fifty years after the Gospel of Matthew was written, a Jewish collection of rabbinic sayings was developing, called Pirkei Avot, or Chapters of the Fathers. And it has some striking similarities to what we find in Matthew - for example, in Matthew, Jesus says, "Where two or three are gathered, I will be there." while in Pirkei Avot it says that where two are gathered to study Torah, the Shekinah (or Spirit of God) is there." So that's interesting.
But for today, there is a passage that says, "You are not obligated to complete the task, but you are not exempt from it. If you have studied the Torah greatly (and here that means studied it and performed its commandments, which are connected to feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, visiting those who are imprisoned, acts of justice) If you have done these things, you will be given a great reward ... and know that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come."
You are not obligated to complete the task, but you are not exempt from it. And know that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come.
"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. ... And .. the righteous will go into eternal life."
Huh.
It would appear that Jesus is not actually telling us that we need to feed all the people of the world, that we need to help all the sick, that we need to tear down entire structures of injustice, that we need to care for the whole world. Jesus is not demanding of us something that we cannot accomplish. Jesus is not setting us up to fail. Jesus is, rather, offering reassurance that the small things that you are doing, the least of your acts, are still enough to mark you as a sheep, rather than a goat. That small donation you make at the last minute the food bank - that counts. That's enough. That prayer of your heart that goes up when you children sitting amongst rubble - that counts. That's enough. That handful of change you give to the person asking at the curb - that counts. That's enough.
And it's enough because it is all that Christ asks us to do. Christ does not ask us actually to tear down systems of injustice. Jesus never told the disciples to overthrow the Roman Empire. That is not our work. That is the work of the King; that is the work of Christ the King. Christ the King is working through our small acts and through his Incarnation, death, and resurrection, to overthrow the powers and principalities and structures and systems that bring suffering and violence and oppression and death. Our small acts of support are not going to do that, and we are not called to do that.
It sounds strange to say this, but I also think there is grace in what I am going to say: if you are exhausted from trying to battle the injustices of the world, it may be because you are trying too hard to do something you are not called to do. Or maybe I should say, perhaps I am exhausted because I am trying too hard to do something nobody is called to do. We are not called to be the King, we are not called to overthrow the powers of evil. We are not called to replace Christ.
Instead, we are called to support Christ's work, in small ways that we can manage and that will not make us sick with concern for the world. You know, it's interesting in this Gospel reading that Jesus isn't actually doubting whether or not people will care for the least among them. He doesn't say "if" you do it for the least of me, he says, "just as you did it." He recognizes that his followers, that we, that you, are actually caring for the least in your midst. Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the world's need, to paraphrase the rabbis. You are not responsible for fixing the world, only for your small deeds. And just as you do these small deeds for the least, you do it for Jesus, our rabbi. "And know that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come."
God is bringing about the world to come, we're going to start celebrating that next week in Advent. God has already, through Christ, begun to bring about that world, where violence and evil and oppression do not rule, but where the King of love and peace and justice does, and where you will find yourself welcomed and blessed by the Father. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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