This morning at Advent Lutheran Church (ELCA) we continued a summer sermon series: Stories That Shape Us: How Jesus’ Parables Transform the Way We See God, Ourselves, and the World.
Sermon
My message, “Jesus in Disguise,” is based on Matthew 25:31-46.
You can watch below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
Y’all know I’m a Texan through and through. I was born and raised here. I lived here my whole life until I moved to Florida in 2007. After spending so many years in one place, that relocation meant lots of adjustment. I went from a big city to a small town, from a place where the population grows steadily to one that swells every year during the winter months, and from worrying about tornadoes to watching for hurricanes.
I arrived in the middle of hurricane season and listened to many stories of storms that had impacted that community in years gone by. And, I started paying more attention – actually much more attention – to the weather in Florida and beyond.
Less than a year after I arrived in Florida, Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast. Soon thereafter, I found myself heading back to Texas for a reason I had never imagined.
Over the years I have led many mission trips. Most have been limited to energetic teenagers and their adult chaperones. This trip, however, was different. It was an intentionally intergenerational group that included high school and college students alongside adults ranging in age from their twenties into their seventies. Participants of all ages were invited to come together and work side by side as a united team.
Mission trips often take you out of your bubble and drop you into places where people live with much less. That wasn’t the case this time.
Our rebuilding efforts involved the things you would expect:
- removing debris,
- repairing roofs,
- installing floors,
- hanging drywall, and
- meeting displaced homeowners who were hurting, but deeply appreciative of our labors of love.
Our time in Texas also included activities you might not imagine:
- a prayer walk through a part of town we were advised to avoid,
- jumping on a trampoline with children in front of the home they longed to return to, and
- participating in a worship service and meal with our host congregation on Thanksgiving Day.
By the time we got back on the road for what would become a 24-hour drive in holiday traffic everyone was exhausted.
I heard many moving stories from the trip’s participants. One shared that they felt like the first project they worked on was the hardest physical labor they had ever performed. What kept them going was meeting the family and realizing it had the exact same makeup as their own. When they were moved to a different job site, they were not happy about it at all – until they met the elderly homeowner. Every time they looked at him, they could not see him for who they knew he was. Atop this grandfather’s body was the face of Jesus. Each time they saw him, they knew they were face-to-face with Jesus.
This morning our Gospel lesson teaches that the one mission trip participant had the kind of vision we all need. They saw something we too often overlook: the people in need around us are Jesus among us. Jesus shows up every day in those who are hungry, hurting, or overlooked. And, in God’s eyes, the way we respond – what we choose to do or not do – is as if we’re doing it to Jesus himself.