What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?

• What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?
Matthew 25:31-46 (with Luke 4:14-20 and Micah 6:1-8)
www.FirstChurchBville.com @FirstUMCBville @kerrfunk

• What do you want on your tombstone?
My first wife Tricia's tombstone:
daughter – sister – friend – wife – angel

For my own: “disciple” might be nice. Circuit Rider...

My hope is to be found a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
My hope is that when people interact with me they'd be drawn to Jesus.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction not promotion.

• Today's Matthew passage is the last of Jesus' public teachings. Chap 26 is the pre-passion narrative. (Chapters 5-7 the Sermon on the Mount, and this passage “bookend” the gospel ministry of Jesus).

These bookends have a lot to say about how we treat people...
...with justice kindness and mercy

• “we” are individuals
and First Church
and The UMC
and WVians and Americans

and our actions go beyond us.

Jesus said in Matthew 12 that a tree shall be known by its fruit.

My hope is that through my/our actions other people would be drawn to Christ, who is uniquely able to save (a la Luke/Isaiah passage)
and who bids us to follow.

And who, according to this passage, measures us at the end.

Your tombstone is your fruit.

Be known for what you stand for, not what you stand against.

• Henri Nouwen (20^th century Catholic priest and theologian from the Netherlands)

Did I offer peace today?
Did I bring a smile to someone's face?
Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger and resentment?
Did I forgive?
Did I love?

These are the real questions.

• Jesus invites us to come to the table

• into Communion liturgy

Matthew 25:31-46 NRSV

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,^[a] you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”