The passage I’m preaching from today is our first reading; the story of the sheep and the goat, what I want to call the parable of the sheep and the goats, except it isn’t a parable. Before we look at it in detail I just want to remind you about the background of this story. It comes just a couple of days before the crucifixion and is the climax of Matthew’s account of Jesus preaching.
Immediately prior to this Jesus has warned about being ready for the return of the son of man. He has warned his listeners that only the father, God, knows when that would be and they would have no warning, other than the warning he would give them now. He gives them the example that a householder would stay up if he knew when his house was going to be burgled and says “So you must also be ready, because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Having given this warning Jesus then tells three parables, some of which you may have looked at over the last couple of weeks. One is a parable about a servant who is entrusted with looking after his masters house while his master is away , and who, not expecting him back quite so quickly abuses both his master’s trust and his fellow servants. The second is the parable of the foolish virgins who fall asleep and miss the bridegroom and the third is the parable of the talents. Immediately after this is our passage today, the story of the sheep and the goats, which runs straight on from the parable of the talents.
Jesus says “When the son of man comes in his glory, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.” So this is a continuation of the warning that Jesus has already given. In fact it’s more than a continuation of the warning, it’s an explanation of what is going to happen, and what as believers we need to be ready for. It’s not a parable, even though it’s often mistakenly known as the parable of the sheep and the goats.
So what happens in the story? Well, all the nations are gathered before the Son of Man, before Jesus, who divides the people as a shepherd divides a flock into sheep and goats. This was an image that would have made perfect sense to his hearers. Sheep and goats were commonly kept in the same flock and couldn’t easily be told apart from a distance. It took the shepherd, up close, to be able to tell them apart clearly. Here Jesus does exactly that; he divides the people into two groups, one on his left and one on his right. He likens this to dividing sheep and goats, but they aren’t sheep and goats, they are people. We often refer to them as ‘the sheep and the goats’ but this is shorthand.
Jesus says to the people on the right. “Come you who are blessed by my father: take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
The people are amazed, they had no recollection of doing this for Jesus, but Jesus replies “I tell you the truth, what you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”
And the people on the left, the goats, well Jesus rebukes and curses them and orders them to depart from him into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Because they hadn’t fed him, and clothed him. They hadn’t invited him in, or visited him in prison. When they ask when they hadn’t done these things for him, the son of man replies that when they hadn’t done them for the least of his brothers and sisters, they hadn’t done them for him. The passage ends “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” This is the last teaching that Matthew records, and we move immediately onto the Easter story.
I want to make three points here about the passage. The first point is the most controversial; it’s a warning. This passage points towards the reality of God’s judgement and God’s punishment. It points towards the reality of God’s judgement and God’s punishment.
I’ve been a member of the URC for six years. I don’t remember Hell being preached about once. I’ve been a Christian for about thirty years and I’ve heard it preached on only a handful of occasions during that time. I suspect that in times past it would have been preached on a lot more. People used to talk about fire and brimstone preaching, and maybe that’s part of the problem; maybe it was overdone or preached badly. Many people like to emphasise God’s love rather than his judgement, and many of us Christians struggle to reconcile the God of love with the threat of his judgement and eternal punishment.
However I’d like to suggest one reason why preachers are right to warn of the dangers of Hell and that is because that’s exactly what Jesus did. That’s what Jesus is doing here in this passage. That’s what Jesus was doing when he was warning people to be ready for the Son of Man, for Jesus, to return like a thief in the night. That’s what he was doing when he explained the parable of the virgins and the parable of the talents, all of which ended with those who weren’t ready for the son of man facing harsh consequences.
In Matthew’s gospel this was Jesus last teaching before the events of the last supper, his betrayal, trial and execution. It’s the climax of his teaching. It was important to Jesus, or he wouldn’t have said it, and it was important to Matthew because he wouldn’t have given these events their prominence, or indeed written them at all, if it wasn’t.
So that’s my first point, this story tells us about the risk and reality of God’s punishment. The second point is that it tells us about what will be important to Jesus at the last judgement. It tells us about what will be important to Jesus at the last judgement.
‘Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, 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 ill 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.”
This is what is important to Jesus; that we care for these, the least of his brothers and sisters, and the question is who are the least of the Lords brothers and sisters and what does caring for them involve. Now a few chapters before we have had the story of the rich young ruler. He was keen to follow Jesus, but unable to take the step that Jesus asks, giving up all his wealth to the poor. It was a big step and he couldn’t make it, but no such demands are made here. These are generally pretty very basic mercies, food, shelter, clothes, comfort.
These aren’t things that require you to be rich, or to have special equipment, or a university degree, or special training. All they require is an eye to see need and a heart to respond. The kinds of mercies described here are within the reach of all of us. They do not require great sacrifice, but they have the potential to alleviate great suffering.
This is how we have seen Jesus living his life, helping the needy, guiding the lost, giving value to the lives of people whose lives had no value to the world around them. The world was full of such people then and it is full of such people now. The poor will always be with us, as Jesus himself says, but that is no excuse to stop caring for them, because Jesus never did.
So who are the least of Jesus brothers and sisters? And why in doing things for them are we doing things for Jesus?
It’s often understood that Jesus means everybody, that Jesus sees the whole world as his brothers and sisters, and the least of them are the most marginalised, the poor, the sick, the orphaned, the refugee, and this passage is seen as a general call for Jesus followers to show mercy to them, just as Jesus did when he walked among us. That’s not wrong, please don’t think I’m saying that, but I want to suggest that Jesus means a lot more than that.
The word used for brother here is a word used in the New Testament to mean Christian. It’s a little old fashioned, but we still refer to Christians as brothers and sisters and they did in the New Testament. The least of these my brothers, are therefore the least of these, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now I’m not suggesting that this means showing mercy to fellow Christians and not showing mercy to non-Christians. I am suggesting that we are called to show a special regard for Christians who are experiencing physical and spiritual struggle. We are called to show that regard because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and because Jesus himself calls them his brothers and sisters. Christians in the west may experience sneers, and we may face condescension, but we don’t in general experience persecution, of if we do its very mild. But our brothers and sisters across the world do not benefit from this blessing.
Today, in Syria and Iraq, our Christian brothers and sisters are facing very real persecutions. A Christian community that has existed since the time of Jesus is being extinguished. Christians are being murdered because they are Christians, their wives and daughters are being raped, because they are Christians. Their children are being sold into slavery, because they are Christians. In Nigeria the girls abducted by Boko Haram, because they were Christians, are still missing.
The world has forgotten them. Have we forgotten them, the least of Jesus brothers and sisters? Are we still praying for them? Are we supporting aid agencies caring for refugees? Are we writing to our MPs and government ministers about it? Are we reminding a world that has forgotten these people that they still exist? “What you did for these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me”, says Jesus. “What you did not do for them you did not do for me.”
And there is another group of people Jesus might specifically mean and that is those Christians who specifically preach the gospel, who serve Jesus in proclaiming and promoting his kingdom. In the time of the New Testament this meant supporting the apostles and those with a preaching and teaching ministry. It meant not only supporting the travelling missionaries like Paul and Barnabas and Titus, but also the leaders of the local churches they founded. Those people too still exist today and they don’t just require financial support, but emotional and spiritual support too. They honour God in what they do, and when we support them it is as if we are doing it for Jesus. “What you did for these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me”, says Jesus. “What you did not do for them you did not do for me.”
It includes full time ministers like Peter but it also includes people who teach in junior church, it includes pastoral visitors, it includes elders and church officers. It includes the many people in every church who tirelessly offer encouragement and support. It includes everybody who puts their head above the parapet at work and lets it be known that they are a Christian, risking scorn and judgement in the name of Christ as a consequent. They honour God in what they do, and when we support them it is as if we are doing it for Jesus
Do we offer all these people the support that we should? Do we physically and emotionally and prayerfully support them, so that they don’t burn out and become disillusioned? “What you did for these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me”, says Jesus. “What you did not do for them you did not do for me”
Everybody who stands before Jesus at the last Judgement is either a ‘sheep’ or a ‘goat’. Are you a sheep or a goat? Because we are all one or the other. I’ll be honest, and I ask you to look into your hearts and do the same. When I look as the characteristics of both groups I see myself there in both groups. Yes I can think of circumstances when I have shown mercy to the least of Jesus brothers and sisters, but I can think of many, many times when I have turned my back on people, and over the years probably more times the latter than the former. Am I a sheep of a goat? I could be either.
And that brings me to my third point. Without the mercy of Jesus we are all goats. Without the mercy of Jesus we are all goats. I think it’s possible to misread this story as saying that the ‘sheep’ go to the kingdom prepared for them by God, because they have cared for the least of Jesus brothers and sisters, while the goats are cursed and cast into the eternal fire because they have failed to care for the least of Jesus brothers and sisters. But this flies in the face everything else the bible says about salvation. We are saved by Jesus death on the cross, not through any work of our own hands.
Jesus says that that the sheep are destined for their inheritance, the kingdom prepared for them since the beginning of the world. Now an inheritance isn’t something that’s earned. It’s a gift from someone who loves to the object of that love. When people die they leave bequests not just to their immediate family but to people who are important to them. Jesus doesn’t say that the kingdom is a reward. He says it was prepared from the beginning of the world, long before the ‘sheep’ were born and long before they did anything good or bad towards anyone.
To argue that we are saved by what we do is to ignore the rest of scripture. In our other reading today we read Pauls letter to the Ephesians. Paul say in Ephesians, “For we are saved by grace, through faith, and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God. We are not saved by works, by the things that we do, so that nobody can boast about what they have done.
The good works mentioned in the story of the sheep and goats are not the cause of salvation but the effect of salvation. As Christians we become like Christ . In the letter to the Galatians, Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control . Good works in a Christian’s life are the direct overflow of these traits, and are only acceptable to God because of the relationship that exists between the saved and their Saviour, the sheep and their Shepherd
The core message of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats is that God’s people will love others. Good works will result from our relationship to the Shepherd, Jesus. Followers of Christ will treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself. While “goats” can indeed perform acts of kindness and charity, their hearts are not right with God, and their actions are not for the right purpose – to honour and worship God.
One day we will stand before Jesus and be judged. Will he see us as his, or recognise that we are not? How do we avoid being seen as goats?
I suggest that we start by recognising that we are goats and then we ask God to forgive us. I suggest that it is only God who can turn us into sheep. I suggest it is only God who can take the tiny amount that we can give him and turn us into people who love, people who can see need and respond to it so unthinkingly that we won’t even remember doing it, people who honour God in all that we do, because we honour even the least of his brothers and sisters. In the grace of God.
Lord when we look into our hearts, we shudder at the neglect we give to each other, to the world, to you.
Forgive us Lord, we pray. Change us we pray so that we become more like you. Help us to honour you in all we do and say.
In Jesus name.
Amen
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