Religion – in all its various branches - has been described as “Pie in the Sky when I Die”. Is there anything peculiar about a person who is religious for that particular reason? Is it a good thing to be seeking pie for me when I die?
Philosophers, sociologists and others are quite sure that, speaking generally, our present generation is both materialistic and liberal. That fits well with a “pie in the sky when you die” religion, because religion like that is, in a word, self-seeking.
When Christians tell people to turn to Jesus so as to get to heaven, is even that “pie in the sky when you die”? Are they appealing to self-interest? Is that what Jesus wants?
|
|
Take a fresh look at the last few days before this man was crucified in AD 30 Jerusalem and rose again. He’s with his disciples – see bold above. They’ve asked him about what’s coming. He’s said lots of things about that and now he’s speaking about the day of his return after a long period away. He says: - “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate the people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will set in place the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come,”
Last week we asked ourselves what, exactly, was glorious about Jesus. What was praiseworthy? Was it his self-sacrifice not merely for others but in fact his self-sacrifice, his giving of himself to awful suffering and death at the hands of his enemies, in order to bless them and give them everything he had?
Speaking about his return he said it would be the Son of Man who would return. Yes, this man, a human being. He added that he would, then, like a shepherd, separate the sheep from the goats. On this throne, then, will be a man like a shepherd. To cap it all Jesus said that this Son of Man like a shepherd would, then, be king. Matthew wrote his biography in Greek and his word, translated king, is basileus. It means “rightful ruler”. It’s the opposite of a ruler who usurps the realm – who has seen a crowd and wanted to lead it.
Jesus said that he would separate the sheep from the goats and place the sheep at his right side. Tell me. When you go to dinners – or arrange them – do you take note of who is on the right-hand side of the most important person present? Who then will, one day, be at the right hand of the self-giving Jesus when he takes his place as shepherd-like rightful ruler of all? Will it be those who have religiously sought “pie in the sky when they die”? Will it be the self-seeking? Those who want to be served first?
|
|
Here’s what Jesus said he would say to the sheep on that day. ‘Come”… “Come, because I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Could it be that the age to come isn’t for the self-seeking, isn’t for the religious seekers of pie in the sky when they die? Could it be for those who love Jesus and who therefore love to copy, actively and constantly, the self-giving ways of Jesus?
|
|
