It's Hunting Season ~ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 ~ Christ the King Sunday

Every January in Gettysburg, the town’s churches and social service agencies join forces to hunt for homeless people.

Teams of three to four people canvas the town, looking in abandoned buildings, cars, back alleys, dumpsters—and even in the woods.

When a homeless person is found, they are brought to the town square, where they receive a hot meal, clean clothes, and a warm place to stay for the night. 

I was rather surprised when I heard that we’d have to hunt for homeless people.  I always thought they’d be easy to find.  I was always accustomed to seeing persons standing on street corners, with signs asking for help.  But most homeless people stay in hiding; out of sight and out of mind.  Few ever seek out help.

Some simply don’t know where to find it…  Some have asked for help—but have been turned away. Others don’t seek help because they’re too ashamed.  

That is why we have to seek them out—just as we hear of God seeking out his lost people in our first lesson for today.

 God is announcing a mission through the prophet Ezekiel.  Babylon had conquered Israel, and God’s people were in exile.  Having been driven away from home and scattered all throughout the land, God’s people were lost and injured.  But God wasn’t holding Babylon responsible for Israel’s plight.  Israel’s kings were responsible.  These kings were “bad shepherds” who failed at their fundamental duty of caring for God’s sheep.  The bad shepherds only looked after themselves.  They exploited and oppressed God’s people for their own selfish benefit. 

God is on a rescue mission.  God is sending a new shepherd who will seek out God’s people from far and wide—and gather them into himself so that he can care for them forever. We know this shepherd as Christ the King.

He goes far and wide to seek out his sheep.  When they’re hurt, when they’re scared, when they’re in danger, Christ the king is present with them… Even when his sheep foolishly wander away, he will not let them be lost.  Christ the King is with his sheep when they need him the most. 

This is Christ’s ministry on earth.  Christ the king isn’t seated on a throne up in heaven, watching us all from afar.  He doesn’t wait for God’s lost sheep to find him.  Christ is on the move, seeking out the least and the lost.  Christ takes the initiative to find us, so that he can care for us and give us everlasting life. 

Knowing full well that there are people who are lost and in need all around us, we must take the initiative to seek them out.  We must take the initiative and seek out the unbelievers and those who hunger for a deeper and stronger relationship with God.  We can’t wait for them to come to us—because, in most cases, those who are in need won’t ask for our help. 

We live in a culture that celebrates self-sufficiency.  We pride ourselves on being independent and able to help ourselves.  We’re culturally-conditioned not to ask others for help.  And given the tough times we’re in now, there’s far too little help to go around. 

And when it comes to matters of faith, we’re culturally-conditioned to pursue a relationship with God on our own.  It’s taboo to share our faith with others—as it is to share with others our struggles and our questions…  So often people describe themselves as “spiritual, not religious,” as if to say “I don’t need the church to grow in my relationship with God.  

Our rigid individualism isn’t God’s way.  Self-sufficiency is not a Christian virtue.  We were made to need each other.  And as people of Christ the King, it is our duty to care for God’s people.  We are our sister’s keeper and our brother’s keeper.  Therefore, we have to take the initiative to seek out our neighbors in need; to meet them where they are, and care for them in their needs.

As our Gospel lesson warns us, if we reject this duty, if we see our neighbor hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison—and do nothing to care for them—we are rejecting Jesus Christ himself. 

On the other hand, whatever we do for the least of God’s children, we do for Christ himself. 

Therefore, to do our duty, to be faithful disciples, we need God’s Holy Spirit to give us new hearts that burn with compassion and mercy for the lost and the least of God’s children.  We need the Spirit to give us new eyes, so that we recognize Christ’s presence in those who suffer.  And we need the Spirit’s courage to care for our neighbors’ needs—because that will seldom ever be easy.  We will be in uncomfortable situations; we will be doing things we’ve never done before; our hands will get dirty in the mud of human suffering.  There will always be that question of whether or not we can truly make a difference.

But we also have this promise: Christ is with those who suffer.  So Christ will be with you to help you do what God wants you to do.  You will bear witness to Christ’s power at work.  Others will see Christ in you just as you will see Christ in them.  There will be healing.  There will be transformation.  There will be hope.

 We are entering into a time of year in which people’s hurts and fears are especially heavy.  Christmastime is not the most wonderful time of the year for everyone.  But it is prime time for us to celebrate the birth of our king by joining him in caring for the least and the lost of God’s children.  It is time for us as the church to come alive with the love of Christ, to proclaim his peace and his hope to all creation.