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I really never knew how other people worshiped…what other people did on Sunday morning.
In some of the towns I lived in, we would have Greek and Russian Orthodox Christians worshipping with us…and from time to time, I was exposed to how they worship…but it really was not very different than what we did on Sunday mornings.
So, I lived a sheltered life…I was ignorant to the dealings of other Churches…I was ignorant of their experience of Christianity.
And because of my ignorance, the summer of my twelfth year on this earth…I got a big surprise…I lost my innocence so to say.
During the summer of 1984, a movie titled Footloose was released into the movie theaters.
For those of you who missed the movie- it starred Kevin Bacon and John Lithgow. The movie was based in a small conservative farming community and revolved around a bunch of High School students, a minister and his daughter, and a young student who moved to the community from some urban area.
The idea of the movie was that the Minister had so convinced the community that dancing was evil, that dancing itself was against the law.
The minister preached during the movie the idea that dancing led to damnation and was therefore evil…was of Satan.
And I, with all my sheltered devotions and life within the Episcopal Church, was shocked…was appalled that the movie would portray the Christian faith in such an absurd manner.
Who would ever believe…who could ever think that any Christian would ever forbid dancing? The idea was bizarre…was offensive and so far fetched that the movie lost all credibility for me…or so I thought.
As I began to ask questions…As I began to look around my own community…I began to, for the first time…realize that not all Christians are the same.
I was amazed and astonished to find out that the whole dancing thing was not made up whole cloth from the minds of the movie people…that there were in fact Christian communities who equated dancing with damnation.
In fact, when I began looking around and asking questions…I found out all sorts of forbidden things that could lead to damnation…
And I wondered, where in the world did all of these things come from…and why hadn’t I heard of them?
I read the Bible, I went to Church…why hadn’t I been told of the dangers of dancing?
I asked my parish priest, Fr. Hudson about all of this and he replied, “Anglicans focus more on winning Heaven than on avoiding Hell. Death is conquered, Christ is King.”
I really didn’t understand all of that for many years…is it not the same thing to work to win Heaven and to avoid Hell?
It turns out that it perhaps is…but it is, at its heart, a very different understanding of what it is to be a Christian.
Anyway, I looked and I looked throughout the Bible to try and find out how and why the movie Footloose was not based on the wild and unfettered imagination of Hollywood and why it had truth within it.
And the only place I could find that listed the conditions for the Final Judgment was in this morning’s Gospel passage…and these are, in fact, the only conditions that Our Lord speaks of concerning Judgment and condemnation.
The last two weeks, our Gospel readings have led up to this point. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins- wherein we are bid to have our lamps burning and oil for them- meaning we are to exercise charity and acts of compassion and mercy.
Then last week, the Parable of the Talents- we are bid to use the spiritual gifts God has given us to act in the place of Christ until He returns.
All of that is summed up this morning…and in that summation we get the conditions for judgment:
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
So there you have it, the conditions for Judgment as given by Our Lord. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, comfort the sick and visit those in prison.
In other words, have compassion on everyone one you run into…and to the best of your ability provide for their needs.
This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday…it is the day we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ…the day we remember and proclaim whom it is we serve…who is our Ruler and Governor…who we pledge our undying loyalty unto.
We, gathered here this morning, are members of His Kingdom…and He has assigned us our duty.
Part of that duty is to rejoice with Him…to dance and to make merry…to celebrate His being the King of the Universe. There is an element of joy that should always go before us in whatever we do.
And there is also the duty of compassion. For this is what will be the condition of our judgment.
Did we take care of God’s creation…did we care for…did we provide for the needs of the least of humanity?
So, if you a concerned about winning Heaven and avoiding Hell, this is the place to start…compassion…live a life of compassion and take care of the least of humanity.
Let us not make a false idol out of a thing like dancing…let us not condemn others for their actions.
Rather let us rejoice in the fact that we are servants in the Kingdom of God…that Jesus loves us…and let us care for those in need. Let us be a people of mercy…let us be a people of compassion.
11/23/2008
Sermon- Christ the King
by Fr. Jeff
“Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;”
I am a cradle Episcopalian. I was born, baptized, confirmed…I was raised within the arms of the Episcopal Church. I never went to any other Churches…except perhaps the occasional Boy Scout Sunday at one of the downtown churches.I really never knew how other people worshiped…what other people did on Sunday morning.
In some of the towns I lived in, we would have Greek and Russian Orthodox Christians worshipping with us…and from time to time, I was exposed to how they worship…but it really was not very different than what we did on Sunday mornings.
So, I lived a sheltered life…I was ignorant to the dealings of other Churches…I was ignorant of their experience of Christianity.
And because of my ignorance, the summer of my twelfth year on this earth…I got a big surprise…I lost my innocence so to say.
During the summer of 1984, a movie titled Footloose was released into the movie theaters.
For those of you who missed the movie- it starred Kevin Bacon and John Lithgow. The movie was based in a small conservative farming community and revolved around a bunch of High School students, a minister and his daughter, and a young student who moved to the community from some urban area.
The idea of the movie was that the Minister had so convinced the community that dancing was evil, that dancing itself was against the law.
The minister preached during the movie the idea that dancing led to damnation and was therefore evil…was of Satan.
And I, with all my sheltered devotions and life within the Episcopal Church, was shocked…was appalled that the movie would portray the Christian faith in such an absurd manner.
Who would ever believe…who could ever think that any Christian would ever forbid dancing? The idea was bizarre…was offensive and so far fetched that the movie lost all credibility for me…or so I thought.
As I began to ask questions…As I began to look around my own community…I began to, for the first time…realize that not all Christians are the same.
I was amazed and astonished to find out that the whole dancing thing was not made up whole cloth from the minds of the movie people…that there were in fact Christian communities who equated dancing with damnation.
In fact, when I began looking around and asking questions…I found out all sorts of forbidden things that could lead to damnation…
And I wondered, where in the world did all of these things come from…and why hadn’t I heard of them?
I read the Bible, I went to Church…why hadn’t I been told of the dangers of dancing?
I asked my parish priest, Fr. Hudson about all of this and he replied, “Anglicans focus more on winning Heaven than on avoiding Hell. Death is conquered, Christ is King.”
I really didn’t understand all of that for many years…is it not the same thing to work to win Heaven and to avoid Hell?
It turns out that it perhaps is…but it is, at its heart, a very different understanding of what it is to be a Christian.
Anyway, I looked and I looked throughout the Bible to try and find out how and why the movie Footloose was not based on the wild and unfettered imagination of Hollywood and why it had truth within it.
And the only place I could find that listed the conditions for the Final Judgment was in this morning’s Gospel passage…and these are, in fact, the only conditions that Our Lord speaks of concerning Judgment and condemnation.
The last two weeks, our Gospel readings have led up to this point. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins- wherein we are bid to have our lamps burning and oil for them- meaning we are to exercise charity and acts of compassion and mercy.
Then last week, the Parable of the Talents- we are bid to use the spiritual gifts God has given us to act in the place of Christ until He returns.
All of that is summed up this morning…and in that summation we get the conditions for judgment:
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
So there you have it, the conditions for Judgment as given by Our Lord. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, comfort the sick and visit those in prison.
In other words, have compassion on everyone one you run into…and to the best of your ability provide for their needs.
This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday…it is the day we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ…the day we remember and proclaim whom it is we serve…who is our Ruler and Governor…who we pledge our undying loyalty unto.
We, gathered here this morning, are members of His Kingdom…and He has assigned us our duty.
Part of that duty is to rejoice with Him…to dance and to make merry…to celebrate His being the King of the Universe. There is an element of joy that should always go before us in whatever we do.
And there is also the duty of compassion. For this is what will be the condition of our judgment.
Did we take care of God’s creation…did we care for…did we provide for the needs of the least of humanity?
So, if you a concerned about winning Heaven and avoiding Hell, this is the place to start…compassion…live a life of compassion and take care of the least of humanity.
Let us not make a false idol out of a thing like dancing…let us not condemn others for their actions.
Rather let us rejoice in the fact that we are servants in the Kingdom of God…that Jesus loves us…and let us care for those in need. Let us be a people of mercy…let us be a people of compassion.
