Sun of Righteousness

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “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.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

- Matthew 25:31-46

Over the past several readings, Jesus has given us parables about how we as his followers are to live our lives in the state of expectation of his return. On Wednesday we were given the parable of the faithful and wise slave, who was contrasted with the abusive and corrupt slave, on Thursday the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids with their lamps of oil, and Friday the parable of the talents, with the important notion of the proper use and growth of the spiritual gifts we receive through grace. Today, however, we receive no parable. It is, instead, a vivid summing up of what that return is like - or will be like. We recall that we know neither the time nor the date of this return. Jesus himself stated that even the Son has no idea when this will be. So, the point is to pay attention to the parables of the past three days, in keeping with a focus on how we are to live our lives in this time of expectation and watchfulness.

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left." My study bible has an interesting note that re-orients us to the context of this talk at this juncture in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus' Cross is near. He has had his confrontation with the powers that be in Jerusalem, and his arrest will follow very shortly. So this vivid illustration of judgment and the end of the age - and the apocalyptic presentation of the Son of Man - is a great contrast to the powerless Messiah crucified that will soon follow. The note reads, "Since the Cross is now near for Him, Jesus raises up the hearer to the sight of the glory of the Son of Man, His judgment seat, and the whole world before Him. He shows the heavens opened and all the holy angels present to witness His judgment. For if the first coming of the Son of Man was in humility, to serve and to die, the second coming will be in glory as a King to judge all the nations." There is no doubt about this tremendous sight being described: the glory of the Lord, all the angels with him, the throne of glory, and all nations gathered before him. We are all to be separated as individuals, one from another by this King in all his glory, together with his angels and his throne. There is no one left out in this tremendous pageant of cosmic significance, not a single individual will be overlooked in his attention. From the highest to the lowest, the first to the last, all will be included in this Messiah's return. The Suffering Servant will be Judge.

"Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, '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.'" Perhaps these are the most powerful words in the gospel. We are to practice grace and mercy as God does: feed the hungry, refresh the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit those in prison. There is no getting around this: mercy is the quality most desired, and in mercy is the justice of the Lord. There are many ways to practice mercy. Every single day, in the strangers who pass, in the hungry and thirsty in any form, the naked and the prisoners who may be imprisoned or naked in so many ways, we are given opportunities for the practice of mercy and kindness, for good judgment. And there are these tremendous words: "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." How do we know who are the members of his family? I think Jesus has all along taught us about relatedness and relationship. We recall the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was the one who acted as neighbor who was the neighbor. If we live as his family - in relationship to these teachings, seeking to do the will of his Father - we are Jesus' mother and brother and sister. No one can judge this but the Son, and so we would be wise to take note to listen to our hearts for where mercy is needed from us. We need to cultivate spiritual sight and hearing for this discernment, and to know when we are called to this task. So take note of the parables, and keep watch and keep alert! Don't neglect the gifts of the spirit: the kind and generous heart, the mercy to receive grace, and the humility to accept the word in the heart. This is how we understand what is mercy and healing, where there is need, and most important of all, how best to fill it. And where we need to cultivate those gifts to produce more!

"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Then there are those who we fail to help when we are called to do so through this relationship and this extended family. Again, we cannot tell who are the "least of these." The age old teachings, from the earliest of our notions of religion, teach us about hospitality. St. Paul writes in letter to the Hebrews: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." We must cultivate our quality of discernment and wakefulness, to know when we are called and how we are called to help and to practice mercy. Our capabilities and our gifts depend upon our ability to remain awake to these opportunities, and especially to cultivate our capacity for this love and its expression in the world. If God is love, then surely to do God's will is to practice love. To develop our gifts or talents is to share the opportunities for that love as we respond to the word in our hearts - and also to practice discernment. If we fail to develop these gifts, as with the servant who did not give an increase on the talent given by the master, we fail to reflect God's will.

Now, we await the light of the birth of Christ once again in the days moving toward Christmas. In the Armenian church, there is a great focus on this Light, as the Sun of Righteousness or Sun of Justice. In the words of the prophet Malachi we read about the Judge who is to come: "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." The expected Messiah was to be the Sun of Righteousness or Sun of Justice, and Jesus' judgment, in his own words, a righteous judgment. We should think about mercy and justice, and Jesus' words here in this context. In this time of watchfulness we are given this great time of mercy -- to set our hearts in order, to prepare. In a beautiful Sunrise morning service, the Armenian monastic tradition developed hymns to the light, portraying the Holy Trinity as a Trinity of light that opened to us. We await to celebrate the light of the Son, born again in our midst, together with the hymn writer: "O righteous Sun, shine on us your light of mercy." We wish to be illumined by this Sun of righteousness, so that we share in his practice of mercy and good judgment. This is, perhaps, the greatest gift of all.