I like numbers. I was a math major in college. Numbers have a soothing way of being orderly in a world that can be very chaotic. I get along well usually with engineers, scientists, and other people who think technically. So if you are more of a social or emotional person, please be patient with me. Know that I love you, but know that you are dealing with a numbers person. For some time I’ve been thinking about how the first few garden variety positive whole numbers have to do with faith. So let’s start at the beginning shall we.
Zero – nothing without God there is nothing
One – There is one God
Two – The two natures of Jesus: Human and Divine, the mystic union of physical matter and spiritual essence
Three – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in three persons perfect unity, The trinity gets its own Sunday
Four – The four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and also the four fold form of worship: Gather, Word, Meal and Sending
Five – The five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, The Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy
Six – What about six? Honestly this number has tripped me up for some time. I have always been a little freaked out by it, because of the mark of the beast: 666. Is there something bad about the number six? How relieved I was when studying the texts for this Sunday it occurred that six was a number core to the message. You see there are six ways that Jesus can come to us in our lives.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. Today we remember that Jesus will come back to Earth and judge as a righteous king. Jesus will judge each and everyone of your according to your actions. To determine if you are worthy of entering into the kingdom of God. Are you an unjust sinner? Or are you a righteous follower of God? I cannot be that judge, none of us can judge or know who is saved and who is not. Only Jesus can judge. But know this, you will be judged. Everybody will be judged, and nobody is above God’s righteous judgement.
Are you worthy to enter heaven? When you stand before God almighty, how will you measure up? Well there’s good news. You are saved by grace through faith and not by your works. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, then you will be saved. You don’t have to worry about death, evil, or sin. All you have to do is have faith and believe that Jesus is real, and worship him. So what does that mean, exactly? To have faith in Jesus. Thankfully today in Matthew 25 Jesus gives us specific instructions for what it means to believe in Jesus. And as a math person, I love the fact that there are exactly six ways you can believe in Jesus. So let’s take a look.
One – I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. Who is hungry? A hungry person is Jesus. Believe it! So give them food. The other night we were putting the kids to bed. Everyone had brushed their teeth, put on their jammies, and was tucked in bed. Then one kids says, “Daddy I’m hungry.” It was soul crushing. I had a glass of red wine with my name on it. The remote was all queued up for binge watching TV. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that we had already had dinner, and the child didn’t eat. A hungry person is Jesus. So if you believe in Jesus, you feed the child. This is the way.
Two – I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. We adopted a dog. We did this, large part, due to some social pressure from some of you. You know who you are. We love our dog. And my wife asks the kids everyday. Did you feed and water the dog? Water the dog? What does that mean? If I just pour water on him, he’s not going to like that! But if the dog is thirsty you have to give it water. By the way, how we treat animals is a reflection of how we love God too. But how many people don’t have clean water in the world? Anyone who is thirsty is Jesus.
Three – I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Do we have any strangers this morning? How do we treat strangers in our society? How do we treat people who are knew, who are foreign? Anytime you meet someone who you don’t know, who is a stranger, a newbie, you are meeting Jesus. Believe it. Put your faith in it. You want to talk about numbers. Do you know how many migrant children are in detention centers, and we can’t find their parents. 666. I believe in the rule of law. I believe in legal immigration. But I also believe in Jesus. Are we treating those 666 as if each one is Jesus Christ? Legal or not. Jesus.
Four – I was naked and you gave me some clothes. The other day we had a vagrant on our property. They trashed our bathroom and startled our preschool staff and parents just as school was started. I was called in and I worked with the person. We talked, we prayed, I gave her a Bible, gift cards, and she went on her way. It felt pretty good. But you know what bothers me about that day. She walked away without shoes. I could have done better. God forgive me. Maybe someone out there listening would be willing to help me.
Five – I was sick and you cared for me. Too bad there aren’t any sick people right now. Oh wait, we are in the worst global pandemic humanity has dealt with in over 100 years. Over 250,000 dead. Millions more getting sick every day. Each person who gets sick is Jesus. The other day I called me sister. She was so sad and depressed on the phone. I was like, “sis, what’s wrong with you.” I just got back from a funeral. Our friend died. He was doctor from San Francisco. His husband is crushed and doesn’t know what to do. This doctor from San Francisco, I don’t know if he was a church goer, but he cared for sick people. He gave his life trying to save life. I would say he had faith in Jesus. He saw Jesus in the sick. Do you?
Six – I was in prison and you visited me. When I was an intern one of our members got arrested and sent to jail. He called us asking for help. I remember feeling so mad, how could he just be picked up like that? Then when the pastor and I visited him in jail, the more we talked to him, the more I realized that he had done some really bad stuff, and frankly he kind of deserved to be there. And yet Jesus doesn’t say what kind of prisoner. Any prisoner, including the vast majority, the overwhelming majority who have done bad things. They are Jesus. It’s a matter of faith. Eventually he was released, and he and his wife reached out, and what do you think they wanted. They wanted their kids baptized, right away. There was a reckoning, and priorities were getting sorted out. We baptized the children.
So this is our last of three stewardship sermons. I would encourage you to support this ministry through your financial gifts. Sheri and I do. We do because we believe that faith makes all the difference in the world. Faith is healing balm that has the power to change lives, right wrongs, and fashion this world into the kingdom God would have it be. So go forth and believe in Jesus. Amen.
Every single human being that you encounter is to be treated like Jesus Christ from on high. Your neighbor, your enemy, your child, spouse, friend, ex, parent, step-parent, weird uncle, long lost cousin, mailman, politician, homeless, every single human that you encounter is to be treated as you would treat Jesus.
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