“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. All the nations will be gathered in front of him.” — Matthew 25:31-32a
When the Hebrew slaves were liberated, they were led to the Promised Land. There they formed a nation, installed kings, and built a temple. And in the process, they did things that benefited some and excluded or oppressed others. It took the prophets to call them back to worshipping the liberating God instead of invoking that god’s name to perpetuate evil.
In other words, after Israel established itself as a nation, it began to resemble the nation it was liberated from.
Freedom can be used to help others become free, or it can be used to take advantage of them.
The United States has been viewed as a land promoting “liberty and justice for all.” Unfortunately, we’ve sometimes demonstrated that “all” really doesn’t mean all. If that were the case, we’d truly be a melting pot and celebrate diversity as a strength at this juncture in our nation’s history. But diversity is often invoked as a bad word by some and justified by caricaturing “them” (whoever that may be) as a threat.
It comes down to acknowledging that freedom can either narrow or expand us. To narrow us means we turn into the very masters we needed liberation from. To expand us means seeking a diverse population as a way to fulfill our charter as a promised land for all.
In Jesus’ last parable in Matthew, about the sheep and the goats, we often jump straight to, “When you did it to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.” But it’s prefaced by “all the nations” being judged. Will nations, including ours, be judged by how we’ve treated “the least”? The more we’re like the Promised Land and less like Egypt, the better our chances.