First Reading Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
11“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
20“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
Psalm Psalm 95:1-7a
1Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. 2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also. 5The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land. 6Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7aFor he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Gospel Matthew 25:31-46
31{Jesus said to the disciples,} “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Are You a GOAT?
For the last three weeks the readings have been ones of end of time as we know it, and judgement. This makes sense as we come to the end of yet another liturgical year. Christ the King marks the final Sunday of the church year and next week we begin, as we should, focused on the coming, the nativity, of Jesus. Because of this, it’s easy to skip over the ominous passages we’ve read these past three weeks and focus instead on the coming of our Lord as an innocent baby in a manger. We all like looking forward, at least forward to a holiday season of family, of good cheer, and of gift giving.
And to be honest, I’m one to fall prey to this sentiment. This year especially, with the lock down and restrictions, the social distancing and isolation that has been forced upon us because of this virus, I too long for a change when this pandemic is over. And with the continued progress of an effective vaccine just around the corner, it’s easy to shrug off the realities of the moment and look toward a more pleasant season. The problem is, if we ignore what’s right before us, we could miss out on some very important information; we could miss out on alerts that have eternal ramifications.
So, for now, for this Sunday, let’s stay focused on the warnings that Jesus has been giving these past few of weeks. Today is Christ the King Sunday, and too often, like we are so prone to do, we look at the joyous side of the celebration and brush aside, if not outright ignore, the whole truth. Yes, Jesus is our Lord and King. Yes, Jesus will come again to bring God’s kingdom together, heavenly and earthly, reign forever and ever with perfection. Yes, in His coming, as we read in our epistle passage, Jesus will defeat satan and his forces and banish them to eternal punishment (1 Cor. 15:20-28). All of this is true, it’s hope filled, it’s reassuring, and it’s good that we recognize and celebrate this. But this is only one part of the reason we set this Sunday aside as a festival Sunday.
Christ the King and the two Sunday’s leading up to it are here to also get us to recognize the side of Jesus’ Kingship that many don’t want to dwell upon; Jesus as our ultimate and righteous judge. For the past two Sundays, we have wrestled with well-intentioned maidens, five who were wise and planned ahead and five foolish who tried to live off the other maidens’ righteousness. As we learned, you can’t, and Jesus called them foolish for thinking they could. Last Sunday we struggled with the lazy and slothful servant who refused to accept responsibility for his God given talents and buried what was entrusted to him in the ground. As we learned, simply returning to God what was His in the first place won’t cut it. God expects a return on His investment. We are expected to use our gifts for His glory and His kingdom. Those who don’t will be cast out, into outer darkness. This brings us to our gospel reading for today.
Again, this is a passage that is all too familiar to us. Not only do we recall all the passages where Jesus reminds us that His sheep know His voice and follow Him, and of how He will take care of us, even die for us, we also recall the images of green pastures, of calm waters and of restoration for our souls. It doesn’t take a Harvard doctorate degree for us to know that what Jesus is saying here is that He will be separating the faithful from the foolish, the slothful and the wicked. It’s in our rush to look forward to the near future, that we fail to see that our perceived reality isn’t as neatly ordered as we would like. Sometimes we fail to recognize the difference between the sheep and the goats.
In today’s language of social media, artists and sports greats of all kinds often refer to themselves as GOATS. The term means “Greatest of All Time.” The term GOAT was once reserved for public acclaim of a popular sports figure, but today, the term has been used to declare the best of the best, or at least, those who believe, they are the best–folks such as Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant–those who are icons of their craft, who are often universally lauded and praised by others, as well as significantly self-proclaimed. However, the problem with today’s icons is there’s a fine line between an honored icon and a self-elevated idol.
What is it that makes these figures so great? What is it about them that sets them apart from others in their field or sport? Often, it’s their penchant for winning, for their sports acumen or for their showmanship, or their brilliance in their craft. Those who are acclaimed, or self-proclaimed, as GOATs appear successful. They’re driven and passionate “winners.” They’re also often seen as viciously competitive, headstrong, defiant, and independent. Michael Jordan, for example, and I know I’m treading on thin ice here, but the truth is the truth, while a sports hero, has also been called a “jerk” by his teammates.
Michael Jordan has been identified by many as frequently arrogant, demanding, destructive, even self-destructive, and just plain mean. And he’s not alone. Tom Brady, a relentlessly competitive sportsman, has been described by others as obsessive, intolerant, and overly concerned with his image. Kobe Bryant too, is known for his arrogance on and off the court, has also been dubbed too selfish to be a team player. And while Muhammed Ali dazzled people with his antics and acumen, he too was seen as egotistical. In his own words, Ali told people, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”
And while we venerate these idols and smile at their bold and brash behavior, most of us probably wouldn’t want live in the same house with them. The truth is, GOATS have a pretty goatish character; characteristics that are not often tempered toward harmonious relationships and community. Likewise, goats in the animal sense, have bourn this kind of label from the beginning of the scriptures. While sheep are characterized as obedient, gentle, docile, loyal, emotional, and gentle-tempered animals, goats are characterized as arrogant, unpredictable, independent, strong-willed, destructive, and self-serving creatures.
Additionally, sheep will recognize a Shepherd’s voice and will submit to direction and caring, while goats, on the other hand, will often defy the shepherd’s guidance, kick, go rogue, and frequently jump the fence. One thing needs to be mentioned here for us to further understand this passage, Israeli goats and sheep in Biblical times looked surprisingly similar and were kept in the same flocks, so it was it was their personalities and behavior that define them as radically different animals. These differences displayed themselves most in the roles they serve within community. And not surprisingly, we see similar behaviors in people.
Sheep are by nature communal and relational animals. They build friendships with each other. They defend each other and care for each other. They’re intrinsically social creatures who are content with what’s given them and who feel sad and anxious as a communal group. They go where they’re led and need social interaction. Goats on the other hand are by nature curious, independent, and often rebellious.
Goats are indifferent to community, can appear headstrong, unruly, and rebellious, and typically seem to think things are better on the other side of the fence. They’re mavericks interested in their own journey and tend toward jealousy and disloyal behavior within the flock. Looking from the outside, it may be difficult to tell them apart by their physical appearance, but they can be recognized by their personalities and their flock (or anti-flock) behavior. Do these characteristics sound familiar to you? Makes sense why Jesus told this story and used sheep and goats in His example.
Some of the earliest stories we have in scripture attribute differing personalities in this sense to attributes of sheep and goat. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain is described as a farmer, attached to his land, jealous, rough, and challenging of God, while Abel is described as a shepherd, easy-going, humble, gracious, and relational. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Esau the farmer is described as hairy, rough, independent, and disloyal to his parents, while Jacob is described as a docile, obedient, loyal, and stable shepherd. Both Abel and Jacob are the ones chosen to carry the covenant with God forward through to the next generation. Only those with a sheepish kind of humility are noted by God to be worthy of the kind of obedience necessary to be an example to the future people of God.
While not all shepherds in scripture have been lauded by God as being “good” shepherds, still one role of the shepherd is to be able to discern between those who are “sheep” and those who sport “goatish” personalities. The question is why is this important? Why does God so deftly distinguish between sheep and goats? Why does Jesus so adamantly speak about separating the sheep from the goats? The clue is in His description of a “kingdom” community: those who are sheep, committed to community care, will be the ones feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, caring for the sick, loving each other. The independent, self-serving goat will be the ones who refuse, instead going their own way, serving their own needs.
Jesus makes it clear that in God’s love for all people, community care, the nature and personality of the flock, is vital to a kingdom of heaven kind of world. We live in a world today in which we often advocate for a philosophy that says, “the ends justify the means.” Too often we believe that behavior doesn’t matter, that personality doesn’t matter, as long as the desired end goal is achieved. But Scripture disagrees.
Jesus is clear. It matters why we do things. It matters how we do them. And it matters that we do them. A flock full of sheep and goats may look the same and even behave in some similar ways some of the time. But it will be in the really important times, at the most needed moments, in the most challenging times, in the most heart-wrenching situations that their true hearts will be revealed. Jesus sees us for who we are. We might fool those looking in from the outside, but Jesus has the ability to look into our hearts and souls and to see what dwells beneath our wild and woolly exteriors.
Some of us may seem a bit rough around the edges but may have the most generous of hearts. Others may look like perfect Christians, but when rubber meets the road, their generosity fails and self-serving behavior kicks in. Now, it’s not to say that Jesus believes, our personalities are just simply black and white. We all are a combination of good and less than good decisions, good and less than desirable behaviors. And only Jesus will judge us in the end.
But I think in this week’s scripture, Jesus wants to ask us to look beyond the outer appearance and look deeper. Jesus is wanting us to look into our own hearts. On this Christ the King Sunday, the question before us is, are we feeling a little goatish, or sheepish? The answer, as Jesus is telling us, does and will have eternal implications. One outlook and attitude will get you in trouble and bring eternal damnation, the other will get you a life of servitude and eternal life.
Amen
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.