When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the king will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. (NRSVA)
A young lady named Sally took a seminary class taught by Professor Smith, who was known for his elaborate object lessons. One day Sally walked into class to find a large target placed on the wall, with several darts resting on a nearby table. Professor Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone they disliked or someone who had made them angry-and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.
Sally’s friend (on her right), drew a picture of another woman who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend (on her left), drew a picture of his younger brother. Sally drew a picture of Professor Smith, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on his face! She was quite pleased at the overall effect she’d achieved.
The class lined up and began throwing darts amidst much laughter. Some of the students threw with such force that they ripped apart their targets. But Sally, looking forward to her turn, was filled with disappointment when Professor Smith asked the students to return to their seats so he could begin his lecture.
As Sally fumed about missing her chance to throw the darts, the professor began removing the target from the wall.
Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled image of their Savior-holes and jagged marks covered his face. His eyes were virtually pierced out.
Professor Smith said only these words, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."(1) Another translation reads: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me, you did it to me. (2)
This has always been a passage that leaves me with a little bit of sadness. That sadness is for the fact that the sheep didn’t recognize the Shepherd to whom they were ministering. The sadness I feel is for myself as a sheep, missing my Shepherd.
It’s not hard to see the value of what Billy Graham does when he is preaching a crusade on TV to untold millions, and thousands walk forward to accept Christ during the invitation. It’s not hard to see the value of Calcutta’s Mother Teresa, and how the little wrinkled nun walked as a humanitarian giant through the 20th century. It is so easy to see the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child. These are great people and gigantic endeavors.
What is difficult to see is Christ in the center of what I do every day, and the choices I have to make about being selfish or generous; I have trouble deciding if I will give a cup of cold water in His name today.
As I read the words of Jesus describing the judgment of the nations I am more than ever impressed with the growing wideness between the world’s opinion of life and what Jesus said our life should be like. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, it will mean different things to people.
The worldly view of celebration goes something like, I’ve got a lot, and I’m gonna celebrate just how much I have accomplished, and how my success really makes me happy. The Pilgrim’s view was, God has blessed us, and we who could have been blown-away like chaff in the wind are here and alive because of the hand of God’s Providence; we shall worship Him!
The Key to Understanding the
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHEEP AND GOATS
There truly is a separation of sheep and goats. Neither the righteous, nor the unrighteous recognized the Shepherd; both lived their lives the way they thought best; yet there is a division. The division shows up in another parable Jesus told; we call it the Good Samaritan.
A man had been beaten, robbed, and left by the side of the road to die. Three men came by. Two of them, a Scribe and a Pharisee, religious-types, scooted on by the other side of the road so as not to get involved. A third, the Samaritan stopped, helped the man and saw to his future care. The question Jesus asked was, which person was the real neighbor to the man who¡¦d been robbed and beaten? When they answered, the one who showed him mercy, Jesus finished the discussion by instructing them, Go and do likewise.(3) Sheep do likewise; goats do what they want, no matter what the Shepherd says!
The real key to understanding the difference between being on the right hand as a sheep, and the left as a goat, can be found in verse 34:
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
The word "blessed" is "eul-o-gay-o". It is the word from which we derive the word "eulogy¨ - the kind words spoken about the life of a departed one. Jesus is saying that sheep are the ones the Father "brags-on¨.
Now, that doesn’t mean the deeds of kindness, great and small, earn this sheep distinction; it’s just that God says this is how my family behaves. Those who do the kinds of things Jesus listed are the kind of people who are in His family.
I took a hard look this week at the original language of the list hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and in-prison. What I found was that each of those words, along with the corresponding actions of feeding, giving drink, clothing, shelter, etc, were acts of personal involvement, not movements directed at the masses. Sheep minister hands-on!
Tony Campolo is a seminary professor and a Christian activist. He makes the difference for us about personal involvement of sheep:
I walked down Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. There was a filthy bum, covered with soot from head to toe. He had a huge beard. I’ll never forget the beard. It was a gigantic beard with rotted food stuck in it. He held a cup of McDonald’s coffee and mumbled as he walked along the street. He spotted me and said, "Hey, Mister. You want some of my coffee?"
I knew I should take some to be nice, and I did. I gave it back to him and said, "You’re being pretty generous giving away your coffee this morning. What’s gotten into you that you’re giving away your coffee all of a sudden?"
He said, "Well, the coffee was especially delicious this morning, and I figured if God gives you something good you ought to share it with people."
I figured, This is the perfect set up. I said, "Is there anything I can give you in return?" I’m sure he’s going to hit me for five dollars.
He said, "Yeah, you can give me a hug."
I was hoping for the five dollars.
He put his arms around me. I put my arms around him. And I realized something. He wasn’t going to let me go. He was holding onto me. Here I am an establishment guy, and this bum is hanging on me. He’s hugging me. He’s not going to let me go. People are passing on the street. They’re staring at me. I’m embarrassed. But little by little my embarrassment turned to awe. I heard a voice echoing down the corridors of time saying,
I was hungry. Did you feed me?
I was naked. Did you clothe me?
I was sick. Did you care for me?
I was the bum you met on Chestnut Street. Did you hug me? (4)
For if you did it unto the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you did it to me...
Christ coming in the air; Christ coming in his glory; these are images and events that are always in the back of a believer’s mind, or should be! Advent is upon us next week; it is the reminder of His first coming, and it always points to the next coming.
We were the least of these - the reason for His first coming. Christ didn’t form a corporation and mobilize a movement; he came personally, hands-on and died our death. He came to show us what a sheep lives like.
Friends, the Father has plenty of room in the family for anyone who will accept the family name Jesus. He just has no room for goats. If you’re a goat, and you’d like to be a sheep, He is willing; He died so you could leave goat-life behind. Goats are welcome at the foot of the cross; but they go away from the cross as sheep following a Shepherd, THE Shepherd!
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ENDNOTES
(1) Lee Rhodes, Wheeler, Michigan
(2) Matthew 25:40, Eugene Peterson, The Message New Testement [emphasis added]
(3) Luke 10:37
(4) Tony Campolo, "Year of Jubilee," Preaching Today (212)
