Christ the King 2023. God is love

We owe God nothing. A provocative statement right? We owe God nothing.

In November while in Egypt, I and along with the other priests had the pleasure of meeting with Bishop Joseph Thomas. He shared a story from his life. He initially studied to be a veterinarian in Cairo. When he had finished school the diocese contacted him and asked him to take a visiting Greek Orthodox Monk from Mt. Athos Greece to the desert. This monk was seeking a spiritual experience. Just an aside, Mt Athos monks live in monasteries completely separated from people, and the Egyptian desert historically had been the site of many early Christian monks. So he took this monk out into the desert. The first night he watched as this Monk stood and prayed, mouthing many many prayers. But this monk stopped and said he needed to go deeper into the desert. The current place was not sufficient. So Joseph took him further out. Again prayers and such, and this monk was still not satisfied. He wanted to go out further and further. Joseph was hesitant because it was more dangerous. Yet this monk insisted. So he took him far out into the desert to some ancient Christian ruins. Joseph was scared, because of snakes and scorpions and people had used this site to bury dead people. But this monk insisted. So it was night, and he watched this monk stand off from their little campsite, and began praying and praying and praying. Eventually Joseph fell asleep. When he awoke, he found the monk by the fire, tears in his eyes, but not joyful ones. He told him they needed to leave. On the way out he convinced him to share what had happened. This monk had a visión while in prayer. Jesus was on a throne, and people were coming before him and their lives were being evaluated. Then this Monk saw himself before Jesus and the throne, and he saw Jesus write down 0, 0, 0, 0. This greatly upset the monk, after all he was a man of prayer, he had journeyed all the way into the desert, yet he rated nothing but zeros. And then Jesus simply pointed at himself and raised one finger, 1. And the Visión ended.

We owe God nothing. Likewise God owes us nothing. God is love; we believe this, or at least we are supposed to believe this. God is love. Love, that giving of self for the other, that willingness, that choice, that decision to give of one’s self for the other. Not because there is an obligation, recompense, duty, but because of desire.

God is pure love and therefore God only wants to love and to what is good and just. God acts completely free.

God created us in God’s own image, created us in love and out of love. God did so because God wanted to. We humans there have that same potential for love, for true freedom within us. Our freedom is that capacity to love, to do what is right and just, what is kind and merciful, to love simply because it is who we are as persons, as humans, as children of God. Freedom to love and do what is good for the sake of love and what is good.

Jesus reveals this and exemplifies this; Jesus empowers us to be free, to be saved, to do what is good and just. Jesus graces us so that we can always see what good is needed and to do it. This powerful parable he provides reveals this.

This is not about a final judgment rather this is a call to live life differently, freely, NOW. Pay attention to those on the right. They are called out for doing good things, and they did not have to do them. They saw a need and they acted. Those on the other side had a different response: “well if we knew it had been you, we would have done it.” Their actions were to gain favor, were of duty, of obligation. It was to earn something. They lack a sense of love, of goodness.

Marriages and families, communities and parishes thrive where Love, where the sense of giving of self for the sake of doing what is right and just reigns. Husbands and wives love each other and serve each other, ideally, not to gain favor, not out of obligation, but because they love the other. Parents with children too, and children back to their families. A community that is truly healthy will seek to care for others not to gain anything, but because it is needed.

Jesus calls us to live as we truly are; as loving people able to live freely. Jesus calls us to our very core as children of God. Jesus invites us to discern, consider and act as people who respond to God’s love by loving in turn.

We gather here each Eucharist to celebrate this. We come and receive the very love of God given to us in word, and in the bread and wine that become the very person of Jesus Christ. We come, ideally not because we have to, but because we want to. We want to be reminded, to be renewed, to give thanks. And we go, to love in turn; freely, whole-heartedly.

The monk had to learn that all his prayers, all his discipline, his desire to be out in the desert meant nothing, because he did not have love. That shook his core. He returned home to his monastery. Bishop Joseph later learned he changed. He became more joyful. He learned to love and accept love.