November 2, 2025 First Congregational Church UCC, Brimfield MA
Matthew 25:31-46 (see below)
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
I got up yesterday morning, intending to fill out the outline of today’s sermon, which I’d completed on Friday. It’s a nice outline of the changes the Reformation made in our world. Not, maybe, the most exciting sermon you’ll ever hear from me, but in a time when we wonder whether what we believe matters, or even wonder exactly what we do believe, it seemed important.
And then, yesterday morning, I opened my Boston Globe. Yes, I still get a paper paper, delivered to the house. The main headline read “Hope, Confusion, on SNAP”. Below the fold, one article said, “Food banks won’t keep up with strong demand”; another was the story of a mother “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
While it’s true that two separate courts have said that refusing to use emergency funds to keep SNAP going is illegal, that doesn’t solve the problem. If the federal government goes along with the judgment and starts things right up again, it’ll take as much as 2 weeks to get the money flowing again. But they may appeal; they may drag their feet… after all, if they wanted to feed the hungry, and thought accessing the money put aside for that purpose was illegal, they could have gone to court themselves to get permission. It makes me wonder whether or not their intent was to leave people without food. So the lack of SNAP benefits this weekend is still an emergency.
But what does all this have to do with our faith? Isn’t SNAP a political issue? And shouldn’t the church stay away from politics?
Now, it turns out, that heads us back to my original plan to speak about the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a list of questions, what we know as the 95 Theses, on the door of the Wittenburg, Germany, cathedral. 507 years ago, more or less, a ground-shaking change began in the way people understood their Christian faith, changes which then influenced what people believed was important for their communities, their world.
Among many other things, people began to believe that everyone had the obligation to read the Bible for themselves. In order to do that, they had to learn to read – and so, schools for all kids, not just the wealthy and powerful, began. In order to read, you had to have books, and a Bible of your own. Suddenly the Gutenberg press became a way to make a living, and so printers sprouted everywhere. The passion we share here in Massachusetts for schools for all, rises out of that Reformation conviction that it is essential for believers to read the Bible for themselves.
The Reformation caused us to re-think, re-understand, the nature of community and equality. Before, European society was constructed like a lasagna – layers of power and authority, with more and more power, authority and wealth, as you went higher and higher.
Serfs were at the bottom of the pile, slaves in all but name, unable to move, unable to marry without permission, required to spend part of the work week toiling for the person who owned the land. That landowner, a knight or baron, then owed service to the next layer up – an earl or a duke, maybe – who, in his turn, owed service to the king. The church was constructed the same way – ordinary believers listened to their priest, who was under the thumb of a bishop, who was under the authority of an archbishop, who was under the authority of the Pope.
The Reformation changed all that. It created communities, not just little gatherings of people like clubs, but whole countries, where – over the centuries – everyone began to have a say, a vote, in what happened… not right away, not everywhere all at once, but over time. Instead of a world where you are born a serf or slave, and stay there all your life, the Reformation started a world where, at least in theory, everyone is born with the opportunity to move ahead.
Everyone has the obligation to read the Bible for themselves, so everyone has to learn to read. Everyone is equal in the sight of God. Everyone has the right and obligation to participate in our world. Those of us who have more – more money, more power, more free time, are obligated to help those who don’t. We pay attention to the things, like hunger, or instability, which make it hard for kids to learn. It’s a religious obligation to work on the issues which put up barriers to adequate food and decent housing.
What does all this have to do with SNAP? Am I stepping into a political issue by saying that cutting off SNAP benefits is unconscionable, that it is essentially and deeply un-Christian to put 42 million people – one million of whom live here in Massachusetts — in danger of going without food?
In today’s lesson from Luke, Jesus welcomed Zacchaeus, who was unwelcome anywhere else, because he was an agent of the oppressive government. Maybe, if he told this story in today’s context, he’d have said Zacchaeus was an ICE agent, hiding up that tree from local residents? Or maybe Zaccheus would be a poor woman, looking for food for her children. In Jesus’ light, the unacceptable are acceptable; it is our work, the work of Jesus, to call people to accept everyone. Poor people are part of the community; they matter.
Children are going to go hungry. Disabled people, unable to work, are going to go hungry. The elderly, too old to be hired, are going to go hungry. Not just one or two people here and there, not even just a dozen or so, but more people than you or I can easily imagine. Here in Massachusetts, it’s more than a million people.
More than half are in families with children, almost as many are in families with the elderly or disabled. More than a third are in working families, because it’s not possible to earn enough money to support your family in many jobs in Massachusetts. It’s not a ton of money, just under $200 per household member, per month. . . $50 per person per week.
Feeding the hungry is not a political issue; it’s a faith issue. It’s what we do. Without SNAP, thousands will go hungry. What does our faith say about that?
Listen to these words from Matthew 25, the Message translation. Jesus is talking about what will happen at the end of time. Listen for what he thinks about letting folks go hungry:
“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’
“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’
“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”[1]
How will we respond to Jesus’ call?
Amen.
©2025, Virginia H. Child
[1] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Mt 25:31–46.
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 