Weekly Sermon of
Fr. Dave Johnson

Episcopal Church of the Resurrection 

“For Jesus Himself” (Matthew 25:35-40) 

July 13, 2025 
 

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 

Throughout the Diocese of Central Florida today we are honoring the late Rev. Canon Nelson Pinder, who served as a priest and civil rights activist in the Orlando area for over fifty years. He died shortly after I moved here, and I wish I’d had the opportunity to meet him. The gospel appointed for today is from Matthew. It is Holy Week and Jesus is in Jerusalem, his death looming, and ends the final teaching of his earthly ministry with the passage about the judgment of the nations, when Jesus Himself, the Son of Man, will divide everyone into two groups: the sheep and the goats. The goats are those who did not reach out to those in need, while the sheep are those who did. In this passage Jesus commends the latter: 

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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, 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 (Matthew 25:35-36). 

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They don’t understand, so they ask, 

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Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty, and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? (Mathew 25:37-39). 

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Jesus tells us the king replied, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). 

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You know this passage. Maybe when you heard it read you zoned out because you “already know this one.” Maybe you think I am going to tell you to find ways to do all these things for others--to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty and welcome strangers and clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned, maybe lay a guilt trip on you--after all, some clergy are travel agents who specialize in guilt trips. But I’m not doing any of that. 

 

Instead, I am going to preach about this passage from a couple different angles: first, how other people have done all these things for me (which means if you think about your life, you may realize the same thing); and second, how Jesus Himself has done all these things for you. When it comes to motivating us to do these things, guilt trips don’t work, but the kindness of God does. When we remember how others have done these things for us, and how Jesus Himself has done these things for us, it just might seep into our heart hearts and lead us to respond in kind. 

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“I was hungry and you gave me food” …when I was in middle school back in the early 80’s there was a World War II veteran at our church who went by Maj (short for Major)--I never knew his real name. Once a month after church all the middle and high school kids were invited to meet him at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor for the all you could eat pizza buffet. When you’re a middle school guy, an all you can eat pizza buffet is heaven itself--it just doesn’t get any better than that. While we ate and cut up at the tables, Maj would personally wander from table to table, greeting us, making sure we were getting enough to eat, asking us how school was going, if we were staying out of trouble. And he always paid for all of it. When I was hungry, and middle school guys are always hungry, Maj gave me food. 

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“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” …Two summers ago the engine in my 2000 Ford Ranger died, so I replaced the engine, and since I replaced the engine, I went ahead and got a new paint job too. That fall one of our many awesome parishioners, Tom Britt, invited me to his house for a beer. And guess what he did while I drank that beer? He washed my newly painted truck, he scrubbed the wheels and scrubbed the bumpers, and made it look amazing. “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink (and washed my truck--that phrase is found in some newly discovered ancient Bible texts).” Who does that? 

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“I was a stranger and you welcomed me”… When I arrived at ECR four summers ago as a stranger, you welcomed me. You welcomed me despite of my neurotic OCD tendencies, welcomed me despite the way too many sermon illustrations from 80’s music and Star Wars and Shakespeare, welcomed me despite the lame dad jokes. You welcomed me as I am and did not try to make me someone I’m not, which often happens with clergy when they go to a new church (and truth be told, some clergy try to return the favor and make a church something it is not). “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”--thank you. 

 

“I was naked and you gave me clothing” …years ago when I served at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, a parishioner asked me to meet him at a Jos. A Banks store because he “needed my help with something.” When I met him there, he told me he wanted to buy me a couple new sportscoats. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m good--thanks, though,” I replied. He smiled and said, “God told me to do this, so if you want to argue about it, you’ll need to do so with God”--and he bought me two new sport coats, one of which I still wear every Sunday. 

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“I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” …During our first Christmas at ECR, Steph and I had COVID--and many of you brought homemade meals to us and sent cards and emails and texts and prayers. Margarite Darragh brought us an amazing homemade dinner on Christmas Day. When we were sick and quarantined at our apartment, you took care of us and visited us. 

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All these things I have shared about what others, including you, have done for me are but the proverbial tip of the iceberg. As you know, Jesus never commanded others to do what he himself was not doing, as is true in today’s passage. 

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” …After the feeding the five thousand Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)--and at the Last Supper when he instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion. He gave bread, “This is my body that is for you” and gave wine, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). And the Risen Jesus beckons you to receive that same sacrament today. 

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“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” … Jesus welcomed strangers who were not used to being welcomed--lepers, tax collectors, notorious sinners. Scripture exhorts us, “Welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you” (Romans 15:7)--and even now the Risen Jesus welcomes you, “Come to me, all you that are weary, and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

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“I was naked and you gave me clothing” …On Good Friday Jesus gave the coat off his back to the Roman soldiers who gambled for it--and like the father did for his returned prodigal son, the Risen Jesus orders a robe--“the best one” to be given you (Luke 15:22). Jesus clothes sinners with forgiveness and the disgraced with grace. Jesus replaces your spirit of heaviness with a garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3).

 

“I was sick and you took care of me” …At a banquet Jesus proclaimed, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). Jesus died on the cross to bring healing to a sick world full of sick sinners, including you and me, and scripture tells us, “By his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). 

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“I was in prison and you visited me” …At the outset of his earthly ministry Jesus read from a scroll these words from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4:18). To a world imprisoned by sin and death Jesus offers the freedom of his forgiveness and the assurance of eternal life. 

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I’ll close with a brief story one of our parishioners, Bill Karle, shared with me: 

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There was a large business convention in Chicago. Afterwards a group of eight attendees went to O’Hare airport to fly home. They were running late and as they rushed through the terminal, they accidentally overturned the table covered with apples, apples a young blind girl was selling. One of the men, knowing he may miss his flight, went back. She was on her hands and knees trying to gather the apples and put them back on the table, and she was crying. The man knelt next to her, apologized for what happened and began to help her gather up the apples--and he realized she was blind.

 

After he helped, he gave her three $100 bills and told her to keep them for herself. After he apologized again for the mess, he turned to go see if he could still catch his flight. As he was walking away, the little girl, full of wonderment and gratitude, asked in her frail voice, “Hey mister, are you Jesus?” He told her no, but that it was the nicest question he had ever been asked. 

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And he was right, that man was not Jesus, because in light of what Jesus taught in today’s passage, Jesus was the little blind girl. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Everything Jesus commands--feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison--he has already done for us. And when, like the Rev. Canon Nelson Pender, we obey Jesus and do those things for others, we actually do so for Jesus Himself. 

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Amen.