Matthew 25:31-46

Pentecost Last or Evaluation Day
November 23, 2014

Matthew 25:31-46

This past year we started out analyzing the needs around us—"What is broken that needs fixing." We went on to acknowledge it was going to take a real presence and not wishful thinking or injunctions from on high to begin addressing the realities of how far short of where might be regarding relationships with creation and one another. Folks from afar could see better than ourselves the need for a new leadership paradigm (partnership of high stars and low mangers). Even with such recognition we wrestled with the intractability of being our own worst enemy. Eventually a moment of breakthrough came—and another. It appeared that we we crossing boundaries and finding the intersectionality of our common life when our practice to develop this into a habit stumbled over the humility needed to continue such. We got into all manner of arguments about symbols of food and male marking and divisions over which leader to follow.

After such a year we are at an important point of evaluating how it went. Any progress made?

What will make this day have a sense of movement? Claiming kingship feels a bit hollow in light of any newspaper or news program. Claiming some artificial Doctrine of Discovery and subsequent Reign is foolish on its face.

Is there any evidence that this coming Advent will bring any greater clarity of need or vision of a goal worth putting our life toward?

Even with Christmas plans are in place, what would lead us to think we are up to recognizing a new stable location; that mercy is any the closer to surfacing in our day-to-day lives; that we are any better prepared for learning from one another, much less teaching?

How many less children will die from hunger this last day of Pentecost 2014 than did in 2013?
How much cleaner and available is safe water given the amount of fracking for profit going on?
How differently are we dealing with the migration and welcoming of peoples?
How many coats are in our closets for which we will play a giving game and give $1 per coat to a charity that never changes underlying structural injustice?
How many are still not covered by health care simply because it is our common need?
How many visits were made to prisons to see what is being done in our name?
How many are so invisible that they don't even make it to the list of the least?

Again, any progress made? If you can say, "Yes", back it up with more than statistics about charitable work.