Lectionary Reflection—26 November 2017

Matthew 25:31-46 (MSG; adapted):a

31-33“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he’ll sort the people out, much like a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

34-36“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

37-40“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

41-43“Then he’ll turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

44“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

45“He’ll answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

46“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Back in the day, my wife and I were part of a drama team at our church. After a while I wrote a skit about a homeless person trying to get some assistance from people entering a building. After several failed attempts, the homeless person was accosted, threatened, and may or may not have been assaulted by one of the people entering the building. After the last person went inside the building, the homeless person (and the audience) finally notices a sign on the door—

CHURCH

As the homeless person read the sign a voice comes over the sound system quoting Hebrews 9.27—

People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…

The homeless person looks at the audience.

There’s a sound of an explosion and the lights go out.

When the lights come back up, everyone who went into the church building is standing before a podium. A person in all white comes out and looks at the people. Then, calling off stage, the person in white says, “Master, your servants are here.”

The homeless person walks out.

The person in white helps the homeless person put on a white robe and crown.

The people fall to their knees.

The crowned person opens a large book and scans its pages. Then the crowned homeless person looks at the people and starts to shake his head as the words of Matthew 25.45 are said over the sound system…

Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.

The crowned homeless person closes the book and the lights go out.

The skit was never produced.

This story from Matthew 25 is the last passage in a long monologue that started way back in Matthew 24. And really, Matthew 24 and 25 is the outcome of Jesus’ confrontation with the Religious Opposition that started in Matthew 21 and came to a head at the end of Matthew 23. While some people maintain that today’s Lectionary passage is about judgment at the “end of the world,” I don’t think that interpretation supports the context. As I showed last week, the context is about the then coming war with Rome and has nothing to do with the supposed “end of the world.”

As we’ve seen, Jesus’ stories address the delay between his ascension and the then coming war with Rome. The story this morning is no different, although its focus is on the judgment of that generation and not the delay. The problem comes in view because of our traditional understanding of the “coming of the Son of Man.” As I’ve gone into depth about this passage before, I won’t cover a lot of it here.b Instead I want to focus on the sheep and the goats.

First let’s look at the elephant in the room—this passage is all about what people did or didn’t do. In other words, I’m sorry to say to my Reformed readers, it’s all about works! Yes, in each one of Jesus’ stories in Matthew 24 and 25, the people are either rewarded or punished based on what they did or didn’t do. That’s the case here, too. It’s like James said in his letter—

James 2.14-17, 24, 26 (NLT; adapted):c

14What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” — but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it’s dead and useless….24So you see, we’re shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone….26Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

Notice that James didn’t say “we’re made right with God by what we do.” No. He said, “we’re shown to be right with God by what we do.” In other words, “a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone” (James 2.18-24; CEB). People are not made “righteous” (“right with God”) by faithful action but they’re “shown to be righteous” by them.

So what does that “faithful action” look like? Well, it looks like what Jesus described above. It feeds the hungry and thirsty. It houses the homeless. It clothes the naked. It visits the sick and imprisoned.

But here’s the twist in our tale—neither the “sheep” nor the “goats” knew they were “sheep” or “goats”! They probably assumed they were the opposite of what they actually were. As we’ve seen before, the Religious Opposition assumed they were God’s people, God’s “sheep,” for the simple fact that they were Jews. John the Baptiser, as well as Jesus, pushed back on this. John said, “Prove by the way you live that you’ve repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we’re descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing. God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.” (Luke 3.8; NLT; emphasis added; cf. John 8.31ff). Here again we see that “faithful actions” are proof of one’s righteousness in God and not one’s ancestory, whether physical or spiritual.

Saint Paul said something very similar in his letter to the followers of The Way of Jesus in Rome. In the second chapter, Paul wrote—

Romans 2.6-11 (NLT; emphasis added):

God will judge everyone according to what they’ve done. 7He’ll give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8But he’ll pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what’s evil — for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good — for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11For God doesn’t show favoritism.

So what’s going on here? The “right” people turn out to be the one’s in trouble and the “wrong” people are the righteous ones. How did this happen? It goes back to the theme of doing good. People aren’t made righteous by doing good but prove their righteousness in God by their “faithful actions.” While some people may not like this it’s a theme throughout the Bible (Job 21:31; Psalm 28:4; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6; 1 Corinthians 3:8; Colossians 3:25; Revelation 22.12; etc.).

Who would be these “wrong” people—the “sheep” who thought they were “goats”? In the Gospels, it’s the people the Religious Opposition are against—the people on the fringes, the outcasts, heathens, Samaritans, Gentiles. Anyone, basically, who they deem “unfit” or “unworthy.”

As I was writing that last paragraph, a passage came to my mind. Jesus said in John 10, “You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd” (v. 16). Notice that the others are already “sheep”. And they, just like the ones above, prove they’re “right with God” by their “faithful actions.”

I guess where I’m going with this post is to say that followers of The Way of Jesus may not necessarily belong to any Christian organization. They may not even acknowledge a Christian doctrine. However, according to the story above, they’re “sheep”. They gave assistance to those on the fringes which, in turn, means that gave assistance to Christ himself.

When those of us who acknowledge Christian heritage fail to produce “faithful action” — care for the people on the fringes, the outcasts, the “sinners,” etc. — perhaps we’re not really “sheep.” Oh sure, we might be able to recite the ten commandments, or give regularly to the church, or go to church every time the doors are open. But those aren’t the things Jesus talked about. They’re not the things that marked people as his followers. It’s all about loving others and doing acts of kindness toward them. After his resurrection, Jesus told his followers, “Just as the Father sent me, I send you” (John 20.21). Jesus’ followers are to be like Jesus, the Word of God made flesh (John 1.1, 14).

If all we have is “faith,” if all we have is a card with all the “right” boxes checked off (say the “right” things, tithe, etc.), that doesn’t really mean anything. James said—

James 2.19-20 (MSG):

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?

In Rob Bell’s controversial book, Love Wins,d he starts off chapter one with this story:

Several years ago we had an art show at our church. I had been giving a series of teachings on peacemaking, and we invited artists to display their paintings, poems, and sculptures that reflected their understanding of what it means to be a peacemaker. One woman included in her work a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, which a number of people found quite compelling.

But not everyone.

Someone attached a piece of paper to it.

On the piece of paper was written: “Reality check: He’s in hell.”

Really?

Gandhi’s in hell?

He is?

We have confirmation of this?

Somebody knows this?

Without a doubt?

And that somebody decided to take on the responsibility of letting the rest of us know?

The person who wrote the note obviously thinks that Gandhi’s a “goat” while they see themselves as a “sheep.” But the story Jesus tells and the teachings from James (as well as Paul) show us that if all we have is “faith” and “right belief” we might not be sheep at all.

We might just be goats.

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

~~~

1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
   
2. Please see that post for a more detailed look at this passage.
   
3. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
   
4. Bell, R., (2011). Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com.