On the “last Sunday of the Church Year” our focus is most always on the end of time, the last day and the final judgment, where, in the words of today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus will come to “separate the sheep from the goats.” Today, after hearing what Jesus had to say, I think it is valid to ask: What’s the difference between a sheep and a goat? After all, if I had to be an animal in Bible times, a goat wouldn’t be my top choice. It was the “scapegoats” which were driven into the wilderness by the high priest after being “loaded up” with the sins of the people. They probably ended up as lions’ lunches! Nobody in the Old Testament seemed to appreciate the goats!
But, you might argue that being a sheep in Bible times wasn’t easy either. A sheep, after giving up its wool, might end up on someone’s menu and someone’s dinner table! They were burned up regularly as temple sacrifices. But Jesus always gives the indication that He’s on the side of the sheep, as their “good shepherd,” so hands down, my nod goes to the sheep over the goats.
Let’s see if YOU can tell the difference: I’m going to show you a few pictures. (on screen, mixed: 3 of sheep, 3 of goats.) Which are sheep? Which are goats? I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you? For shepherds, it’s even easier. Goats are thinner; tend to eat more shrubs than grass; have hair rather than fleece; a goat’s tail stands up, while a sheep’s hangs down. How well did you do on the quiz?
It’s obvious that Jesus isn’t talking about two bunches of critters, He’s talking about people, real human beings who, ultimately, will be sorted out into two groups: the sheep-people on the right, who will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven, the goat-people on the left, who will be driven from Christ’s presence, forever. So, given that Jesus is actually talking about real people, how can we tell the difference between “sheep people” and those who aren’t? (People pictures.)
Hmmm, not as easy, right? The criteria certainly isn’t based on looks. It’s not about income or social status. It’s not about which way tails point! Rather, as we listen to Jesus, the Good Shepherd and Judge of All, the criteria have to do with whether or not one actually ministered to HIM by their compassion to others, as opposed to those who ignored Him by ignoring those who were in need!
One of the striking things about this particular teaching of Jesus is that unlike sheep and goats, those who have served their neighbors and those who have not can ultimately ONLY be distinguished by Christ, who serves as the great “sorter” in the story. Even the doers and the non-doers of the good deeds don’t easily recognize one another and the members of BOTH groups seem quite surprised to learn into which group they have been sorted, some obviously for the good and some…..not so!
Right about now your “spidey-senses” are probably tingling from the way Jesus portrays the Christian faith. It ALMOST sounds as if it’s all about doing good works; like our final destiny is based on whether or not we love our neighbors. It DOESN”T say anything about loving God, about repentance and the forgiveness of our sins, or even embracing Jesus as our Savior! If we take this passage at face value, a pagan person who feeds and clothes his underprivileged neighbors is on better spiritual footing than his Christian friend who doesn’t! Jesus is NOT painting a picture of Himself as the “cosmic scorekeeper,” keeping a database of the good and the bad we do and weighing them to see which comes out on top. That’s NOT the message of the Gospel. It’s extremely important that we pull back the lens of Scripture to see the full picture of Christ’s work, and His message.
*In Matthew 22: 37, Jesus does just that, as He summarizes the Commandments for the Pharisees: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.
When God calls us to Himself through Holy Baptism, He washes our sins away and brings His Holy Spirit to live inside of us. That’s the gift of faith: it’s not earned, certainly not deserved, give us by grace simply because God loves us. What Jesus is reminding us is that God’s love for us allows us not only to love HIM back but to love those around us…..those same people HE loves!
*The disciple James (2: 17) says: Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead!”
*St. Paul, a recovering Pharisee himself, (Titus 3:8) “Insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone!”
Do our good works EARN salvation for us? Certainly not. In this world we’ll always remain sinners in need of forgiveness, which Jesus won for us on the cross. But this judgment account reminds us that our faith is lived out NOT just an hour or two on Sunday mornings in church, but in the arena of our daily lives! Jesus isn’t trying to scare us in this passage; He’s simply encouraging us to love our neighbors…..in the same way HE loves us! He wants us to keep working at it, not to offer excuses, and not to assume someone else will do it.
For the “Sheep,” their love for their Savior flowed naturally into their love for those “in need,” so easily in fact, that when Jesus commends them for feeding Him and clothing Him and visiting Him, they were amazed. They were simply living out their faith, loving Jesus and serving others, no matter who they were.
The difference……gets clearer by the moment, doesn’t it?
As you leave God’s house this Sunday, I offer you a challenge: when you see a person in need, love them as you love Jesus. Serve them as you would serve Jesus, because, as He reminds us, we never know: it just MIGHT be Him!
