“When the Son of Man comes in glory, with all the angels, he will sit on a glorious throne. All the nations will gather before him; he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on the right, goats on the left.
“Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by God; take your inheritance, the realm prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you gave them to me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will ask him, ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 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.’
Then he will say to those on the left, ‘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, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will ask, ‘When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 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.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
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Here we go again, with Jesus throwing out an incredibly hard and harsh saying, which by its nature would seem to negate the grace of God. Somewhere back in Sunday school, we learned that separating sheep from goats means division - the good from the bad, the wrong from the right, the insiders from the outsiders. In our human tendency to arrogance we hold that all wrongs - perceived or otherwise - must be judged by our system and our sense; those who do the wrong thing must pay; all rip-offs must be brought to justice. We have told ourselves that this is how God does it, so we can as well. - and we tell ourselves that God reserves a special day on the calendar to do the same thing as we do here. We believe God goes to court to determine who’s innocent and who’s guilty.
That’s where we are this morning- in a courtroom with the gavel pounding, the doors opening and the Judge of all creation enters the courtroom. All humanity--like a flock of animals are herded into God’s huge Hall of Justice. There all humanity is separated into two camps based not on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age, but on the basis of what we’ve done in this present life. Judgment begins.
Theologians are all over the map when it comes to this gospel lesson. One says faith plays no role whatsoever in this vision, it isn’t even mentioned. Another says that all the nations --the word “ethnoi” in Greek, refers not to Jews or Christians only but to all the others. In the biblical stories, it didn’t take long for devout Jews to discover some genuinely good people among the gentiles, those they considered unclean. Or for Christians to discover some genuinely good and spiritual people among non-Christians who, though not converting to Christianity, offered a warm meal, the shirt off their back, and even visits in prison.
As I was researching this sermon, I came across website after website which claimed that God will take all the Christians, and those who have not found Jesus will be left behind. Who’s going to make it and who’s not. Harold Camping and his crew, who predicted the rapture, were sure all of them would go and those of us who don’t agree with his vision will be left. I remember commenting that I prefer to sit on my deck with some popcorn and watch, and stay down here with real people struggling with real life.
This whole issue bugged the daylights out of Paul the Apostle. He knew just too many good people who were not Christians. In Romans 2 Paul says that Gentiles with no connection to God through the Law can still fulfill the law. During the holocaust, there were an incredible number of non-Jewish in Holland and elsewhere, who were called "Righteous Gentiles" by the Jews, because they were the ‘ethnoi’, the ‘other nations’ who protected Israel’s little ones in the time of trial.
Catholic theologian, Karl Rahner calls such people "anonymous Christians" - people whose actions are more faithful than baptized, proclaiming Christians. The prophets spoke of those who do the right thing because the law of God is already written on their hearts. They do what is right not because they learned it in Sunday School or read it somewhere in the Bible, but because it is a part of their very being, and they could not be any other way.
In this visionary story, we hear that the one on the throne will separate sheep from goats. Sheep will be on the right and goats on the left. Matthew is clear that the shepherd will know which is which.
This is good, because Middle Eastern sheep and goats in Jesus’ time didn’t look anything like the sheep and goats we know now. We have to remember that over 2000 years, animals have been bred for particular characteristics. Swiss Saanen goats are large, big-boned and have been bred for milk production with high butterfat content; the Swiss Toggenberg is smaller, has lower milk production and a lower butterfat content. The Welsh Llanwenog sheep, and the Sussex sheep, have been bred for different kas well. These are modern animals - larger and more inbred than the kind of sheep and goats of biblical times. Sheep and goats in Asia and Africa are often similar in appearance; sheep and goats are related animals, coming from the same origins and family of animals..
Those who are not shepherds would find it difficult to distinguish such sheep and goats, but the shepherd knows the difference and easily separates them. It has often been believed that sheep are good followers, and goats go their own way. Well, that’s true to some extent. But then we have biblical passages about sheep going astray. Anyone who has bred sheep and goats will know that there are some really pig-headed sheep, and some really docile goats.
The key, I think, to this “sheep and goats” thing is contained in Jesus’ distinction between those who care about others, and those who don’t. And it is this story which prompted Paul, and others, to look closely at the realisation of what Jesus had said all along - that those who say “Lord, Lord”, but do not care for their neighbour will be the ones who may find themselves at the end of the line rather than the front. Notice that Jesus keeps talking about the “least of these”. There is no distinction of race, colour, belief or anything else. Jesus talks about how people treat each other, about their acceptance and care for strangers, for those who are not like them.
There’s an old southern spiritual called “Judgment Day’s a- Rollin’ Around”.
Judgment, Judgment day is a-rollin’ around
Judgment, Judgment, Oh, how I long to go.
I’ve a good ole mudder in de heaven, my Lord, Oh, how I long to go there too.
I’ve a good ole fadder in de heaven, my Lord, Oh, how I long to go there too.
Dur’s a long white robe in de heaven for me, Oh, how I long to go there too
Dur’s a starry crown in de heaven for me, Oh, how I long to go there too
My name is written in de book ob life, Oh, how I long to go there too
Ef you look in de book you’ll fin’ em dar, Oh, how I long to go there too.
Brudder Moses gone to de kingdom, Lord…
Sister Mary gone to de kingdom, Lord …
Dar’s no more slave in de kingdom, Lord …
All is glory in de kingdom, Lord …
My brudder build a house in Paradise …
He built it by dat ribber of life …
Dar’s a big camp-meetin’ in de kingdom, Lord …
Come, let us jine dat-a heavenly crew …
King Jesus sittin’ in de kingdom, Lord
De angels singin’ all around de trone …
De trumpet sound de Jubilo…
I hope dat trump will blow me home …
This is a spiritual sung by a people in slavery - the “least of these” Jesus talked about - and if you listen, there is an absolute conviction that they will be vindicated in the next life. *They* will be the ones going.....
In fact, most of us are kind of sheep, and kind of goats, aren’t we? So what is God going to do with us???? Earlier in Matthew, Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment; He answers with the “Sh’ma”. “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one. You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second of these is likewise, you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two hang ALL of the law and ALL of the prophets.” So here is Jesus demonstrating to the listeners again what it means to obey the greatest commandment. Maybe the vision of Matthew is that God will judge us by how we have treated others - which may mean that a lot of people who call themselves Christian may be left out; and those who are not Christian but follow the WAY, will be included.
Jesus doesn’t ask a whole lot here, just a natural kindness and compassion shown to others in need. Maybe Jesus is saying we need to work on the side of ourselves which doesn’t come so naturally. Maybe Jesus hopes that we half sheep, half goats, will bear the kind of fruit that often comes naturally for the “least of these”.
Sources:
1. Judgment Day’s a Comin’ a sermon based on Mathew 25:31-46 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. http://creation.com/separating-the-sheep-from-the-goats
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat
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