In an earlier post a made a quick reference to Harry Potter, "...that kid forced to live in the closet under the stairs by his wicked aunt and uncle after the horrific murder of his parents who turns out to be The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One..." and made an even quicker reference to something that is at the heart of what it is to be a geek—namely being ostracized and rejected. I think maybe that's one of the appeals of one of the stereotypical hero journeys, the kind where the little guy, the underdog, the powerless one forced to the margins of society turns out to be the one who's actually important. In other words, we geeks can instantly relate to Harry being whaled on by Dudley Dursley and we all—well, I was going to say we all secretly wish for an owl to deliver us an invitation attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but I think most of us are actually out in the open on that one. That's the other piece of being a geek—openly loving things that might get us pushed to the margins ourselves.
Jesus tells a story about the end of days, when we shall all be judged and separated out into two groups—the in crowd and the outsiders. Only he used the metaphor of sheep and goats. Of course, that's probably because he was talking to people in First Century Palestine. But you get the point. They guy in charge, a character Jesus calls "The Son of Man" comes to earth and separates us all out into two groups. One group will be "in" and the other "out." So the most important part of the story is learning what the measuring stick is that will decide whether you're in or out.
And in the story, the measuring stick is how the people treated the Son of Man during their lives. The people who fed the Son of Man when he was hungry, gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, welcomed him when he was a stranger, clothed him when he was naked, took care of him when he was sick, and visited him in prison get to be part of the in crowd. Everyone who refused to do those things is tossed out in the cold and dark.
Which all makes sense. Except that both the "in" folk and the "out" folk are thoroughly confused. "When did we do that?" So the Son of Man explains, "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."
Do you see what Jesus is doing there? He's taking the marginalized people—the little guy, the underdog, the powerless ones—and he's saying that they are the most important! It feels pretty good, doesn't it? After all, who doesn't like Harry Potter? Who doesn't want to be the Chosen One?
But here's the thing: as is frequently the case, this story carries both hope and a challenge. It's pretty easy to see the challenge that this story has for the privileged upper classes who's mantra of "I worked hard for this!" not only keeps them from feeding the hungry and taking care of the sick but also subtly implies that the sick and the hungry simply aren't working hard enough. But there's a challenge here for the marginalized—and yes, I'm looking at us, fellow geeks.
You see, in my experience groups of marginalized people have a tendency to get hyper-focused on their own oppression. The gay and lesbian community sometimes gets so caught up in their own struggles that they fail to support the struggles of trans folk—let alone other kinds of genderqueer people, for example. Some furry communities get so marginalized that they become completely xenophobic, for another.
So the challenge for geeks (and the queer community and furries and whomever) in this story from Jesus is to recognize the Son of Man in each other, not just their own people.
What it comes down to is simply what I tell you every week.
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
111814
The scripture lessons for November 23rd—Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A—are:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24—Psalm 100—Ephesians 1:15-23—Matthew 25:31-46
For another blog entry that relates well to Matthew 25:31-46, click here!
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