0:0 - Our scripture readings this morning begin with Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 through 17.
0:8 - These are absolutely inspiring and wonderful words written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Colossae.
0:16 - And even as those words were a blessing to that congregation, and those words were copied and shared with other congregations throughout Asia Minor, and then throughout the entire Christian world, and over to us today, they were God's word then.
0:36 - They remain God's word now.
0:38 - And as the Holy Spirit breathes life into us, we receive these as God's speaking to each one of us and to each one of our hearts.
0:48 - So listen, as God is speaking to you through these words.
0:55 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
1:8 - Bear with each other and forgive one another.
1:10 - If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive, as the Lord forgave you.
1:19 - And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them together in perfect unity.
1:27 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
1:34 - And be thankful.
1:37 - Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, through psalms and hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
1:52 - And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
2:9 - As these words were shared from congregation to congregation, so were these next.
2:14 - And this is from Hebrews 13, verses one through three.
2:22 - The writer from Hebrews says, keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
2:30 - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
2:39 - Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
2:54 - Thanks be to God for the reading of his word.
3:0 - Now today is Father's Day, and I was blessed with a very fine father whose voice still rings very clearly in my ears, despite his passing some 36 years ago.
3:15 - I often think how there's so much that I would like to tell him, so much for which I would love to thank him.
3:24 - And that reminded me of this.
3:27 - I was speaking with a friend a while ago who had been quite ill, to the point that she wondered whether she would live or die.
3:37 - And in speaking with her about it, she has since, thank God, recovered.
3:43 - She said, you know, I was lying there in the hospital, wondering if I would die, and wondering if it mattered to many people whether I did or not.
3:57 - And so I told her a dream that I'd had.
4:0 - In this dream, I had gone to heaven, and I was given a tour.
4:5 - I wish I could say it was Saint Peter giving me the tour, but I think I rated only a lower functionary on the list.
4:13 - The dream was unclear.
4:15 - As we walked along, I kept seeing these lineups of people.
4:21 - Some lineups were short, with just a few souls.
4:25 - Others were longer, with dozens, while some stretched into hundreds, even thousands of people.
4:33 - Those in the lineups were quite content to wait their turn, chatting with others in line.
4:39 - After all, it's eternity, and no one's in a hurry there.
4:44 - So, what's with the lineups?
4:47 - I asked.
4:49 - Then my host, let's call him St.
4:52 - Dennis.
4:54 - He replied, when somebody new arrives, everyone whose lives they impacted lines up to tell them about it.
5:6 - Impacted how?
5:7 - I said.
5:7 - Well, ask them yourself was the answer.
5:11 - So I did, and I kind of butted in to the line.
5:14 - And the first person I spoke with was close to the front of a line.
5:17 - And they said, well, I'm lined up to see my mom.
5:21 - My brothers and my sisters are ahead of me.
5:23 - Among other things, I want to tell her how she helped me to treat other people with patience and understanding, just like she always treated me.
5:32 - I want to thank her for that.
5:35 - And next to them was a different line.
5:39 - I'm here to thank my dad, said a fellow.
5:41 - So many things he taught me I didn't appreciate until it was too late.
5:46 - And so I'm thanking him now.
5:50 - I moved to another line and they said, well, this is my grandma's line.
5:54 - She brought me to Sunday school and to church every Sunday of my childhood.
5:59 - She helped me learn about God's love for me and I never stopped going since.
6:4 - Another line, well, my dad taught me to work hard and provide for others.
6:8 - And another, my neighbor, this is my neighbor.
6:12 - He was always there for me and anytime I needed help, there they were.
6:17 - Another said, I'm lined up here because I worked with this guy and he never complained, you know, and he never spoke badly about anyone else in all the years that I knew him.
6:29 - Another said, this is my grade five teacher.
6:33 - I was an awkward kid and I was always teased and picked on, but I knew somehow that she cared about me and her smiles and her reassurances helped me to not hate myself.
6:46 - Another said, you know, believe it or not, I'm lined up for this guy because we had a bad argument.
6:53 - It was a terrible fight.
6:55 - Horrible things were said.
6:59 - Of course, I looked confused and he smiled.
7:2 - He said, but you know, but then after years of me carrying around this anger like a rock in the pit of my soul, this guy phoned me and he asked to see me.
7:16 - And he apologized for what he'd said.
7:19 - And he asked if we could put it all behind us and start fresh.
7:22 - And I was so surprised, I said, sure, and that I was sorry too.
7:26 - And then after 20 years, 20 years of not talking, we got together regularly and that friendship became an important part of who I am.
7:38 - I was moved by his story and I looked towards the front of the line and to the person who was there and I said, you know, he actually kind of looks like you.
7:50 - Yes, the man said, that's my, that's my son.
7:56 - Another said, after my husband died, I didn't want to go anywhere or see anyone for weeks and months, but this lady kept calling and inviting me for coffee and inviting me for church.
8:6 - And eventually, just to stop her pestering me, I went and I never stopped going and I was never lonely again.
8:15 - Another said, well, you know, this person I'm lined up for, they don't even know me.
8:20 - They lived half a world away, but they made donations to feed the hungry and their generosity saved my children from starvation and someday my children will be here to thank them too.
8:34 - And another and another and another and eventually my guide encouraged me to talk to one of the newcomers for whom others were waiting to speak.
8:43 - I had no idea, she said.
8:46 - Tears of happiness were running down her cheeks.
8:50 - No idea of how many people I touched and how many lives I impacted.
8:55 - This is so wonderful.
8:56 - I can't wait to line up for others and tell them how they made a difference to me.
9:3 - I returned to Dennis.
9:7 - I said, this is so wonderful.
9:9 - What a way to spend eternity telling the people in your life, how they impacted yours, how they made a difference to you.
9:16 - So this is heaven.
9:20 - But then I asked, is there a hell?
9:27 - Dennis nodded sadly.
9:31 - What happens there?
9:33 - I asked.
9:36 - The same thing, he said.
9:38 - There are lineups there, too.
9:40 - Only what people have to say is very, very different.
9:49 - So I told my friend this dream that I had.
9:54 - Now, well, my line would be short, she said.
9:58 - But then together, we began to run through names and faces and memories.
10:6 - And as we did so, her line grew long and longer still.
10:12 - And we talked about the people that she'd line up for, too.
10:20 - Who would be in your line?
10:24 - Whose life did you impact for the better?
10:31 - For whom would you line up?
10:32 - Who impacted you?
10:34 - And how?
10:35 - In what way did they steer the course of your life and of the decisions that you've made?
10:41 - Of how you treat others, of how you view the world, of how you view yourself, of the person that you've become?
10:50 - It is something well worth thinking about, both sides of that coin.
10:56 - It's worth thinking about whether or not those lines are in balance, whether there are ways in which you might grow a longer line of your own.
11:8 - Now how do we go about this?
11:12 - Well start by thinking about who you'd line up for.
11:16 - A person who impacted you in a positive way, great or small.
11:21 - Maybe they changed your whole life, maybe just a small part.
11:26 - Maybe it was a good neighbor or a good friend or a loving father or a mother or a supportive spouse or a teacher or a co-worker or that person who always made you feel welcome in church and who saved you a spot beside them.
11:41 - Maybe even a person whose name you don't even know, but who said something or did something or lived in such a way that it made you and it made your world better and more hopeful, more like you hoped life would be.
12:0 - If I had courage, maybe if this was a different kind of church, maybe if we could have a service that was two hours long, I would say, who would like to come up and line up right now and tell us a story about someone who impacted you?
12:18 - You know, in my dream, I dreamt that there were people who knew that someone helped them in a way that made a difference, but it was someone they'd never met, but whose kindness they've never forgotten.
12:28 - And in heaven, they found out who that was, and they joyfully joined their line.
12:36 - When you think of who you'd line up for and why, I think it would fill your heart with gratitude for the people that God has placed along your way, people who made an impact for you.
12:49 - Maybe you can learn from and be inspired by their example and do for others what those people did for you.
12:55 - That's a pretty good way to grow a line.
13:1 - But here's a thought, why wait for heaven?
13:7 - Why not pick up the phone or write a card or send an email or even make a visit to someone that you would line up for?
13:17 - To thank them now, to tell them the difference they've made for you.
13:25 - I think if all of us did that, it would seem as though heaven starts not in the sweep by and by, but right now.
13:35 - And you know, those words that you share with that person just might be the encouragement someone needs, someone who is thinking their life hasn't mattered much at all.
13:46 - You can be that difference.
13:49 - You can shine that light because their life mattered to you.
13:55 - And you told them so.
14:1 - Jesus told a story, a parable.
14:4 - And I know you know it.
14:5 - I know you've heard it, but I want you to hear it again.
14:8 - And with what we've been talking about in mind, Jesus told it, Matthew wrote it down.
14:15 - Here it is for us today.
14:19 - When the son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
14:27 - All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
14:36 - He'll put his sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
14:42 - And then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
14:54 - For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.
15:0 - I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink.
15:2 - I was a stranger, and you invited me in.
15:5 - I needed clothes, and you clothed me.
15:8 - I was sick, and you looked after me.
15:10 - I was in prison, and you came to visit me.
15:15 - Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
15:25 - When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
15:30 - When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
15:35 - And the king will reply, truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
15:51 - Then he will say to those on his left, depart, depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.
16:9 - I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink.
16:12 - I was a stranger, you did not invite me in.
16:16 - I needed clothes, you did not clothe me.
16:18 - I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
16:23 - And they also will answer, Lord, when, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or stranger and eating clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?
16:35 - And he will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
16:49 - But then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
17:0 - Now, the key point of this parable may surprise you.
17:5 - We often read it as though the main point is that some go to eternal punishment, but others to eternal life.
17:11 - But, the clue to figuring out a parable's main point is to look at what's emphasized through repetition, and particularly through surprise, through the unexpected, through the punchline.
17:27 - And in this parable, it's clear that when we treat others with kindness and compassion, it is as though we are being kind and compassionate to Jesus himself.
17:41 - And when we fail to provide for the hungry, the thirsty, the destitute, when we ignore the suffering of the sick and the oppressed, it is as though we're ignoring not some anonymous stranger, but Jesus himself.
17:56 - We serve and love Jesus by serving and loving one another, and specifically, most specifically, those who are in need.
18:8 - Well, back to my vision, my parable, my dream.
18:15 - The longest line, you will not be surprised to learn.
18:18 - The line stretching right around the block, if heaven can be said to have blocks.
18:22 - The line in which everyone in heaven eventually stands, joyfully waiting their turn, is the line to see Jesus.
18:32 - To say, thank you, thank you, Jesus, for all that Jesus has done, the things that we realize now and the things that we don't even realize, but which will come in the light of eternity to learn.
18:47 - That's the line all of us will be waiting in, to see him, to see Jesus face to face, and to say thank you.
19:1 - But when we do, if the parable of the sheep and goats is anything to go by, we'll be in for a surprise.
19:11 - We will realize that we've already seen him, that the face of Jesus is uncannily familiar, because he was in our line, waiting to see us.
19:32 - That we glimpsed Jesus in the faces of all those who were hungry and to whom we gave something to eat, who were thirsty and we gave something to drink, who were strangers and we invited in, who needed clothes and we clothed them, who were sick and we looked after them, who were in prison and we visited them.
19:58 - That's who was in our line.
20:0 - That's who was in your line.
20:4 - It was Jesus.
20:7 - And we will say, thank you.
20:10 - And he will say, you already have.
20:15 - In your kindness, your compassion, in your generosity to others, you already have.
20:28 - Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
20:33 - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
20:44 - Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
20:54 - And by doing so, meet Jesus and say thanks.
21:6 - Amen.