"Truly, I Tell You" - November 20, 2011 Sermon

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

The Sermon:
There are a number of things this passage brings to mind, but I am only going to discuss a couple of things that I have found striking. I’ll begin by simply saying that for a shepherd to separate sheep from goats is an easy thing to do. They were often pastured together and when it was time to put them in their respective pens, it was a simple process.

As Jesus continues on with this story, it is evident that he is not actually talking about animals. He is using sheep and goats as an analogy for humankind, which will be separated into two groups t the final judgment…sheep-people on the right and goat-people on the left. (political?) The ones on the right are welcomed into the kingdom of God and the ones on the left are told to depart from Christ’s presence forever.

This begs the question as to what criteria is used to sort them out? I think it is clear that is has to do with whether or not one has been merciful and helpful to those in need. Jesus indicates that those on the right have actually ministered to Him by their compassion toward others…those on the left have actually ignored Him by ignoring those in need.

One thing that stands out for me is that, unlike sheep and goats, those who have loved their neighbor and those who have not can ultimately only be distinguished by the Son of Man…He is the Great Sorter in this story. Those who do good deeds and those who do not cannot accurately determine which are which…and, I am certain that there are members of both groups who will be surprised to find out which group they were sorted into!

Another prominent point is that we need to recognize that our sins of omission are equally as serious as our sins of commission. It reminds us that what we don’t do is as great a reflection of our commitment to follow Jesus…as what we do. Now, some may hear this story as a call to serve others in a specific way…such as found a mission or a relief organization. Many good things have been done by Christians who see in this passage a model of how love for one’s neighbor should be put into action.

However, not everyone is called to found a mission agency. Every Christian should be able to hear in these words of Jesus a reminder that doing good deeds is an essential part of Faith. Some critics have noted that, judging from this passage alone, a non-believer who is compassionate to his neighbor in need is on the same footing as a believer who does the same. Of course, Jesus was not giving a full description of the final judgment. He was making the point about not ignoring the poor, economically depressed and the oppressed among us. At least part of what this story implies is that having our sins forgiven should result in a greater willingness to love our neighbor.

Certainly the doing of good deeds does not eliminate the need for forgiveness of sin, but there can be no lasting faith, no love of neighbor without actual acts of doing good deeds.

This story also reminds us that the place we live out our faith is in the sheepfold of daily life. In other words, compassion belongs not only in the extraordinary events and circumstances of lie, but also in our ordinary, everyday encounters. We need to hear that because most of life is not played out on the big stage or in the kinds of things that make headline news. Actually, most of life is in the smaller things…the chance meetings, the routine places, those times when we do a good deed it seems so ordinary to us that it is not worth mentioning.

Finally, one thing we should NOT hear in this story is the idea of God as a Cosmic Scorekeeper… with a data base that tallies up the number of our good deeds. We should also NOT rummage through our memories and conscience trying to figure out the last time we did a good deed so we can score ourselves and decide whether we are sheep or goats. I really do not think that Jesus was trying to scare us about the Final Judgment either. I believe He was trying to get our attention, perhaps in a dramatic way, and to remind us that God really does want us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He wants us to keep working at it… to not excuse ourselves…to not assume that someone else will do it…and to not act as if it doesn’t matter. It does matter!

That may be the reason that Jesus used such dramatic language. To those on the right, who have unknowingly served Him through good deeds to others, he says, "Come, inherit the kingdom." To those on His left, who have unknowingly ignored Him by ignoring the needs of others, he says, "Depart into the eternal fire."

Depart and come are very strong words, but rather than get all caught up in them, the best words to remember from this story are these: "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." AMEN