Are you a sheep? OR Are you a goat? (Part 2 of 3)

So, once again, I want to explore whether we are sheep or goats. I know that often times people think of being a sheep as a bad thing: a person who goes along with the crowd, no original thoughts in their head, etc. It makes sense, I mean I have never really talked to a sheep, but the movie Babe doesn't paint a beautiful picture of the world of sheep. However, conversely, I'm not really sure what people say about being a goat. I don't know that my circle of friends employ the metaphor of being a goat to any sort of likeness. However, goats do have sweet horns, especially mountain goats. So, with that picture, I would say it's better to be a goat. Nonetheless, we are not here to talk about social euphemisms for stupidity, or gawk at sweet horns (maybe one day), but no, we are here to dive into the parable of the sheep and goats as told by Jesus in the Holy Bible of the Christian tradition. In case you aren't familiar with this one, here is the beginning again:

The message comes from the book of Matthew the 25th chapter:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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, 36 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.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “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 part of the passage refers to the sheep, the people of the nations who took care of the physical manifestation of Jesus in their land. They fed the hungry, they clothed the naked, and cared for the sick and imprisoned. As a result of these acts, they are granted access to the kingdom as it was prepared for them. They did these things, but we unaware of the fact that it was being done to/for Jesus. As pointed out in verses 37-39. They're like, "When did we do all that? We were just doing what we're supposed to be doing!" I think this is where there is some good in being a sheep--not the mindless creature who follows the herd--but being a chosen one of God, as is the allusion in the bible. Jesus leaves the 99 to find the 1, the sheep inherit the kingdom, and Jesus was the lamb that was slain. The images are everywhere, and none of them necessarily paint the image that it is a bad thing to be considering such a beast. However, I also think there is something bigger at play here.

In the very beginning of this message, it says that all of the nations were gathered and the people of those nations were separated out. Now, wouldn't it be cool to be a nation that could stand together in front of Jesus and not get called out for being a goat and not get cast into eternal damnation (if you believe that actually happens--in a later series!). I mean we have all of these commercials and politicians who tell us that we need to keep God in our country and all this stuff. We have people who claim they are saving the world one soul at a time. We have churches who pump millions of dollars, collectively, into missions and such. BUT we also have thousands of people without food, without jobs, without homes, without the basic luxuries that the blessed "middle class" afford when they are worrying about being over taxed. Let's do our job as a country and take care of the "least of these," so that if the Christian ideals that are being subliminally forced down our throats are lived out in a meaningful way.

I'm all about missions, I enjoy having a house to live in, I enjoy having food to eat, I enjoy the luxury of having a full time job, but I also know what its like to be broke, to be hungry, to witness the suffering of people who dream of being middle class. It's time we take God out of political debates and slander commercials and but God back into the lives of the people who need us most: the naked, the hungry, the homeless, the imprisoned, the sick, the abused, the poor, the goats! The world is suffering and politics is not going to end it. People are!

This is a battle cry; this is a call to action; this is a plea for help! Let us rise up and be the people that God intended us to be. Let's unknowingly take care of Jesus, and knowingly love our neighbor as ourselves!

-Andy J. Graves