Welcome
Invite various persons to bring a designated item and use this liturgy to begin your time of learning together.
One: Come, let us gather around and see how the Spirit will nurture our faith today.
All: Who is with us?
One: Christ, the light of the world.
(Place a candle on a table in your gathering place and light it.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Love of God, who came to meet us in the world.
(Place a cross on a table in your gathering place.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Wisdom of God, who speaks through the Scriptures.
(Place an open Bible on a table in your gathering place.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Grace of God, who proclaims we are children of God.
(Place a symbol of baptism – a bowl of water, a seashell – on a table in your gathering space.)
All: Who is with us?
One: Our risen Lord, who meets us at the table.
(Place a symbol of communion – a plate and cup, a loaf of bread, grapes – on a table in your gathering space.)
One: We are here, Holy Spirit, ready for your leading.
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something — a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world. [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for… [invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Connecting with Scripture: Matthew 25:31-45
Read the Scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
As you listen to the Scripture read a second time, make a list of all the ways we see Jesus in this text.
Connecting through story
Watch and listen to this version of Leo Tolstoy’s “Where Love Is, There God Is Also” in the “Shoemaker’s Dream.” There is a Claymation version, “Martin the Cobbler,” available on YouTube as well.
- What was Martin’s dream?
- What life-giving acts of caring did Martin do the next day?
- In what ways were those acts caring for the Lord?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue
- What were the items on your list from the second time you listened to the Scripture earlier?
- What life-giving acts of caring for the king did some of the people do in Matthew 25?
- Who did they think they were helping?
- Why did the king say they were doing those things for him?
- In this text, who is the king? Who is the Lord? Who is Jesus?
- Where does this text say we will see Jesus?
- Where and why is there value in these acts of life-giving caring?
- Why would the Lord want faithful people to give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes for the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick and those in prison?
- Read Luke 4:16-19. This can be understood as Jesus’ mission statement — what he’s going to do in his ministry and what is important to him. How does it relate to our text today?
- Where do you look when you want to see the Lord? Where do you see, or have seen, the Lord?
- What life-giving acts of caring do you do for the Lord?
- What gets in our way from doing the things Matthew 25 expects of us?
- How can we remove the obstacles and truly live into Jesus’ mission?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion
- Today is the last day of the Church Year. It is designated Christ the King Sunday. It acknowledges and celebrates the reign of Christ over all creation. The Christian Year began in Advent with the story of the coming of the baby Jesus who will grow into his kingdom.
- One of Jesus’ titles is “King.” Matthew 25 shows us Jesus has a very different understanding of what it means to be king.
- The text gives us Christ’s priorities as king: who and what he values, with whom he identifies and how he expects those who follow him to act.
- This parable presents a difficult reality that Jesus will often be found with the marginalized, the vulnerable, the powerless and those in need.
- In this story, Jesus is living into his own Jewish faith heritage, which connects the fulfillment of God’s promises with the people’s acts of caring for the least of these (often characterized as the widow, the orphan and the immigrant — those who are among the most powerless, marginalized and vulnerable in a society).
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has adopted an initiative that invites its constituencies to become Matthew 25 congregations and presbyteries. Spend some time exploring one of our denomination’s priorities.
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world.
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
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