Did I Do That?

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  January 1, 2023

Click here to listen to the service 
  
Read Matthew 25:31 – 46 (NIV)
 
There is a tv sitcom that I used to watch fairly often and still catch occasionally that was called “Family Matters.”  The main characters in the show are a police officer named Carl Winslow and his family along with their neighbor, Steve Urkel.  Now, at any given point during the show, Urkel tends to cause some type of mishap then points to the damage and utters his catch phrase, “Did I do that?”  Feigning innocence, as if there was anyone else who would have been culpable.
 
That is the question before us today, DID I DO THAT?
 
Now, in our text for the morning, we find Jesus on the Mount of Olives, talking to His disciples and using a series of parables to help them understand what is to come and why they must remain awake and alert… for the Day of Judgment will come at a time when they [and we] least expect it… so we must always be ready.
 
And in the verses that call for our attention this morning, Jesus uses sheep and goats as a way of illustrating what will happen when the Son of Man comes… explaining that when the day arrives, people will be separated… one from another… just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
 
Jesus used the sheep as a metaphor for the righteous people who have done as He has commanded… those who have loved the Lord with their whole being and who have loved their neighbor as they have loved themselves… providing for those who were in greatest need.
 
And as Jesus describes the reaction of the sheep… the ones who He says have fed Him and given Him something to drink, and given Him shelter and clothing, and have visited Him in prison and cared for Him when He was sick… in my imagination, I can hear them saying, in the words of Steve Urkel, “DID I DO THAT?”
 
In all the things that I have done in service to others, I don’t remember seeing You there, Lord…
 
To which Jesus will let them know, “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40, MSG).
 
On the other hand, when Jesus chastens the goats… the ones who have not followed His commands to love God and the people of God… He tells them that they must depart from Him because they are cursed. 
 
They did not give Him food or drink, clothing or shelter, nor did they care for or visit Him when He was sick or imprisoned… and once again, in my imagination, I can hear these people asking the same question, “DID I DO THAT?” 
 
Even scratching their heads wondering… How could I have missed out on the opportunity to serve You, Lord?
 
To which Jesus will respond, “I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me” (Matthew 25:45, MSG).
 
The things that Jesus says the sheep will be blessed for doing and the goats will be cursed for not doing are simple acts of kindness and mercy… acts that can be done by anyone and should be done by everyone.  These are not simply acts that should be reserved for the church or even the government to handle.
 
On the Day of Judgment, each one of us will be held accountable for our actions… or our inactions as the case may be… and I do not believe, “I thought someone else was going to take care of it” will be an acceptable answer.
 
On the contrary, as you have heard me say before, we have been blessed to be a blessing… and it does not have to be something that we do on a grand scale.  As St. Teresa has been credited with saying, “Not all of us can do great things.  But we can all do small things with great love.”
 
Great love… that is definitely something that the world seems to be in seriously short supply right now.  
 
Even as we step into this New Year filled with all the hope and expectation for things to be better in 2023 than they were in 2022 and 2021 and definitely in 2020… we must remember that there are still a great many people who are hungry and thirsty… who are in need of clothing and shelter.  And there are still a whole lot of people who are sick and imprisoned who need even the simplest reminder that they are loved and that they are not forgotten.
 
But not only that… we cannot lose sight of the fact that there are people in need of asylum who are being shuffled about and left out in the cold simply to score political points…
 
There are men, women, and CHILDREN, who are falling victim to gun violence every single day… because in the minds of some people… profit trumps protection.
 
There are communities that are suffering as a result of climate change and a global warming crisis because there are some folks who apparently did not get the memo from God where He told us to take care of His creation.
 
We, as a society… as a nation… as a people… have got to do better… or we may find ourselves standing before the Lord asking, “DID I DO THAT?”
 
Did I hold my tongue when I had the opportunity to call out elected officials for putting personal agendas ahead of the public welfare?
 
Did I decide not to exercise my right to vote to hold those same elected officials accountable because I figured it would not make a difference anyhow?
 
Did I keep silent when I heard my coworkers and colleagues making crude and callous remarks about those who are less fortunate… blaming them for their unfortunate circumstances instead of the broken systems that have kept them impoverished unfairly?
 
Did I fail to act when I had the chance to give even just a portion of my time, talent, and treasure for the benefit of someone else because I did not think I had enough to give and still have something left for myself?
 
DID I DO THAT?
 
Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not want to have to give an account and answer for continually failing to do as Jesus commanded… to love God and the people of God as Christ has loved us…
 
So, as we move forward into this New Year, let us be intentional about looking for opportunities to extend love and kindness to others… doing small things with great love that will be a blessing.  We just never know how that one small thing can make all the difference to someone else.
 
I came across a story the other day that I wanted to share.  It is a great example of how random acts of kindness can leave a lasting impression.

Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. “I know,” said Mamie, “but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.”  (http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/k/kindness.htm)
 
What does it cost to take a moment to say or do something to brighten someone else’s day?  Whatever it is, let me suggest, it could potentially cost far more not to…
 
So, let us make it a point to speak up and speak out for the benefit of others… to lend a helping hand when we can… to look beyond ourselves to bless someone else.
 
Now, some of you may have heard me say that I stopped making New Year’s resolutions many years ago… beyond the fact that I never seemed to keep them after the first week or so… I wondered why we would wait to resolve to do things on New Year’s Day that we should have resolved to do long before the calendar flipped from one year to the next.  After all, what is so magical about New Year’s Day anyway?  Don’t we get a new calendar page at the first of every month? 
 
But even more than that, every time we open our eyes at the beginning of another day… we get a new page… a clean slate… a fresh start…
 
It’s because of the Lord’s great love for us that we receive a fresh batch of compassion every day as it says in Lamentations 3 (22-23), “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Or as the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns puts it:

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
 
God’s compassion… God’s mercy… God’s faithfulness… are new each and every day… not just at the start of a New Year. 
 
So let us not make another New Year’s resolution… but a just-because-it’s-today resolution to share God’s kindness, compassion, mercy, faithfulness, and love with others… everywhere we go.
 
And let us resolve to be good sheep who follow the example of the Good Shepherd… so on that day if we ask, “DID I DO THAT?”  We will hear the Lord say, “Yes, you did. Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.”
 
Amen.                            

 
 

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