Can you hear me now? This phrase was made famous by a cell phone company several years ago; it really took off and is part of our vocabulary.
In today’s Gospel Jesus asks a similar question: Do you see me now? Do you notice me now?
They asked: “Lord, when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?
When was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? “
Jesus responds, “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.”
Each time you saw them, you saw me.
Each time you noticed them, you noticed me.
Each time you helped them, you loved me.
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?
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.
You don’t see me now, do you? You don’t notice me here, do you?
What we do unto others, we do unto our Savior.
What we do unto others, we do unto God.
In our Baptismal Covenant we promise to seek and serve Christ in all whom we encounter. Seeking and serving Christ requires looking, seeing and noticing.
Do you see God now? Do you notice Jesus there? Right there…. you know, the guy walking down the street, ranting to himself.
The very unpleasant woman on the other end of the customer service phone
The child you have nurtured who has turned her back on you.
The spouse you loved and cherished who has left you.
The angry, spiteful neighbor….
God is there, Jesus is there. Do you see God in them, do we notice Jesus standing among them?
How we treat others is how we treat God.
On this Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of our church year, we look at what has been and what will be—we reflect on the life of Jesus on earth, we remember his death and resurrection as we await his coming again---we’re reminded that we’re graded, we’re evaluated, we’re judged by how much we saw, how often we noticed, God in the other.
Because each and every time we notice another person--really notice them… really look in their eyes, really listen to what they have to say…every time we do that we make more room for God, through Christ, in this world.
And each and every time we forget, we ignore another person, every time we fail to hear what they say, we are closing ourselves, and the world around us, to God’s never ending effort to break through and into our everything.
The Apocalypse—the end of time---is a time when the barriers between this world and the next will be broken down, when the nations of this world fall away and we unite—all of us---under our one true King, our true Ruler, God as presented to us through Jesus Christ.
And every single time we notice God in another, each time we really see Jesus, seeking and serving him in all whom we encounter, we are bringing that time ever closer.
The apocalypse, contrary to what our readings seem to suggest is not an event. It is a process. The end of time is simply the end of time as we know it and the beginning of time as it has always been. The Coming of the Day of the Lord. The end of life as we know it and the beginning of life eternal, doesn’t happen in one fell swoop, it happens over time, with each and everyone of us doing our part.
To bring about the unification of this world and the next , to bring about the day of the Lord, the Return of Christ on Earth, we must break open room for The Christ to dwell. We must break away from all that ensnares us. We must free ourselves from all that scares us, we must loosen the grips of doubt and reach out and up ready to receive our King. Our Lord. Our Beloved God.
Each and every time we live our life as God intended, each and every time we mimic Jesus in our actions, we bring that day ever closer.
Our job is not to simply live a decent life, biding our time until we get to heaven. Our job is to break down the distinctions between this world and the next, to break down the barriers which keep us overly concerned with our individual well being instead of our corporate well-being.
As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it: We are called to look at each other and see Christ. It’s as simple, and as hard, as that.” To accomplish this seemingly simple yet still so very difficult task requires Grace.
When we see God in the other, when we notice Jesus in the eyes of that other person, it’s because of Grace. The God-given ability to see beyond ourselves, our own wants needs and fears and look at the bigger picture—that ability is a gift from God, it is a gift of God…and when we receive and open that gift—when we release that grace…it spreads. From me to you and from you to another and on and on and on.
It’s that chain reaction of grace, that domino effect of noticing God in each other, of seeking and serving Christ in all whom we encounter, which allows the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom. The more we break ourselves open to Love, the more the source of that Love, God, is given room to move about here on earth.
Jesus Christ as our King seems like an a odd title for this itinerant preacher who spoke of the sanctity of the poor, the sick, the outcast, the rejected…..But Christ as the King of a world where the Divine is noticed in all, where the Holy is respected by all and where the Love of God is the rule and not the exception—that is a world where Christ, as King, makes sense.
Can you hear me now?
Can you see me now?
Do you notice me now?
Yes God, we do.
Thanks be to God. +
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