Before we begin this morning, I believe we need a little background on sheep and goats. Sheep are the most profitable animals man has ever domesticated. Catgut comes from sheep, not cats. I'm sure all you cat lovers will find that a blessing. Sheep are good for meat, fur and milk. They outnumber humans in most countries.
Then there are goats. More people world-wide drink goat's milk than cow's milk. Moroccan leather, Angola and cashmere sweaters come from goats. And ladies, do you remember those old mohair couches that would never wear out? Remember, you could never get your husbands to get a new couch because they wouldn't wear out? Well, that came from goats.
With that deep, theological background, we come to our text for the day. Our text is about surprised sheep and graceless goats. You know the parable well. According to the parable, on the last day, the nations of the world will be separated into sheep on one side and the goats on the other. The sheep are to feast forevermore on the pastures of glory. But the goats the poor goats are to experience eternal punishment.
I asked myself, why was Jesus so hard on the goats but so gentle with the sheep? At first, I thought that maybe Jesus just didn't like goats. But that couldn't be it. Goats aren't immoral. They may have some bad habits, but they can't help it. They're just goats. Why was Jesus so angry with them? I have gone through the scriptures and looked for things goats and sheep do, what happens to each, and how it was that Jesus was so furious with the goats. They so offended him that he condemned them to everlasting punishment. Biblical punishment is so severe that it often offends our ears, yet if we read all of the Bible, we must come to grips with it. In the biblical place of punishment there is no rest day or night, and the smoke of torment ascends forever and ever.
It may surprise you to know that a recent Gallup Poll shows that more Americans believe in hell today than did in the 1950s. Why the comeback? Some analysts see it as a hopeful sign, along with reports of increased church attendance, that the America of the baby boomers is returning to traditional religion. Others find in it a sobering reflection of the pervasive violence and suffering in modern society that somehow makes the idea of hell more readily grasped. Still others question whether it is much more than a nostalgia for the beliefs of childhood. "If people really believed in hell," suggests theologian Martin Marty, "they wouldn't be watching basketball or even the TV preachers. They'd be out rescuing people."
(1)
The biblical descriptions of everlasting punishment are very sobering, but there is another aspect about this passage that is even more sobering the goats had no idea they were making Jesus so mad. What a frightening thing that is to think about. What had they done? The answer is, nothing! That was the problem. They had done absolutely nothing! Jesus told them all the things they DID NOT DO. There was not a word about any of the bad things they had done. If you are not currently doing good things in Jesus' name, this may come as a shock to you. It came as a shock to the goats. They were completely surprised, but it was too late. At the time it did not seem too bad to neglect something that needed to be done in Christ's name. After all, someone would do it. But their neglect did not go unnoticed by the Master.
Unawareness seems like a trivial thing, doesn't it? A guest counselor was helping a college psychology class learn some new and different counseling techniques. There were only eight students, so, the counselor got them into a circle. The counselor noticed that the professor who normally taught the class addressed the students by their first names, but the students addressed the professor as Doctor. The counselor explained that from that time forward, everyone would be addressed by first names even the professor. At first, the students were timid about addressing the professor by her first name, but as they got into it, they were soon addressing her as an equal. Finally, one student spoke what was on her mind. She told the professor that she was afraid of her. The professor was totally unaware. She did not want the student to be afraid. She asked, "What did I do?"
What an example of graceless goats! The professor did not deliberately frighten the young woman. She was simply unaware. Is that such a terrible offense? Well, it doesn't seem so terrible, yet the Lord was infuriated by it in the goats. "Lord, when did we see you hungry, naked, thirsty, in prison, sick, lonely, hurting, depressed, not quite yourself, or whatever?" The truth of the matter is that they didn't see the Lord that way at all. Had they seen him in that condition, some of them would probably have ministered to him. Nevertheless, because they did not see him in the lives of the poor and outcast and hurting, Jesus said, "Depart into everlasting punishment." They got caught unaware. That's kind of scary.
A man arrived at heaven and was shown into God's office for judgement. One office wall was a huge window looking down on earth. The earth was beautiful with its blue waters, green forests, and white clouds. There was a pair of glasses on the table. They must be God's glasses. No one was around, so the man tried them on and looked at earth again. This time he saw hunger, poverty, sickness, and so much inhumanity that he could not bear it. He heard a voice behind him, "Take off my glasses." He did so, and he awaited his punishment. After a pause, the voice gently asked, "What did you see?" "I saw hate, corruption, and evil!" the man answered.
"Did you feel any love or compassion?" the voice asked.
"None!" said the man. "I would destroy the whole planet without any hesitation or regret!"
"That's why you can't use my glasses," said God. "You may not see what I see, unless you can feel what I feel." (2) The goats did not see nor did they feel. That was their crime, and it was devastating.
In Hebrews 10:4, we are told that the blood of goats does not take away sin. If we extend that as a metaphor, we could say that the offering we put in the plate, or the songs of praise we sing, or the prayers we pray will not help much if we neglect the service that Christ has called us to perform. We must not get caught like graceless goats. So, what do we learn from the goats? Jesus did not get this angry with the wrong things they did, but he did get as angry with the things they did not do namely service in his name.
That is enough about graceless, negative goats. Let's look at positive sheep. Did you notice that the sheep were as surprised they had pleased the Lord as the goats were that they had displeased him? The sheep ask, "When did we see you and minister unto you?" The answer was, "When you did it to the least of these you did it to me." Isn't that good news! The last time you did something nice for someone who could not return the favor, you also did it to the Lord. We, like the sheep, are unaware of that most of the time.
Mother Theresa was asked how she could minister to people with such horrid illnesses, and she replied, "I just pretend they are Jesus." What a wonderful attitude. Every time we do something that helps those who cannot help themselves, we are ministering to Jesus. It's obvious that this attitude makes Mother Teresa look for as many people to help as possible.
Have you done something thoughtful for someone else this week? Then you have done something thoughtful for Jesus. It might be a word of kindness or encouragement. It might be a visit at the hospital or a gift to someone in need. You did it unto Jesus. Surprised? Most of us are as unaware of the importance of our good deeds as were the sheep in Jesus' parable.
There is a Czechoslovakian film called ADRIFT. It is about a fisherman and his family who one day rescued a girl from drowning. The girl came to live with this family for a while. They couldn't find anything about her past. It was a mystery. In those years that the girl lived with them, she was a source of untold blessings and untold joy, binding that family together in love.
Near the end of the film, the girl disappeared just as mysteriously as she had appeared. The fisherman looked for her, and three other men came to try to help him in the search. Only when these three men revealed their identity did the fisherman begin to understand. Their names: Balthasar, Melchior, Gaspar the supposed names of the Three Wise Men. What the fisherman began to understand was that in ministering to the needs of that little girl, he had cared for the very presence of God. In doing that he had come alive.
We can come alive too when we realize that every good act is important. Not that we are accepted by God because of our goodness. Most certainly not. We are accepted by God because of God's grace. But good acts are the outgrowth of a life which is connected to Christ. A good tree bears good fruit. And part of the fruit we bear is service to others in the name of our Lord. This brings us to our most important reference to sheep in the Scriptures.
I refer to those places in the Bible when it speaks of the Lamb of God. In John
1:29 John said of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The writer of Revelation was so taken by that phrase that he wrote it 29 times. Calling Christ the Lamb sums up everything he is, and everything he does. He is both the sacrifice and the redeemer. He is a Lamb, and yet he is the King. He does it all, and all we have to do is accept his love and grace.
A pastor wanted to emphasize Jesus' role as the Lamb of God to his Vacation Bible School. He asked for a volunteer, and many children raised their hand. He picked out the biggest boy there, named Jim. Jim was a good sport. Unknown to the other children, Jim and the pastor had planned this exercise ahead of time. The pastor made a big speech about Jim having to do whatever he commanded. Jim agreed. So, the pastor made Jim put his hands behind himself, and said he could not move them. Then the pastor smeared mud all over Jim's face. Then he ordered Jim to wash his face, but still Jim could not use his hands. Jim tried, but all he could do was smear the mud more. Then the pastor took a cloth and washed Jim's face, explaining to the children that is the way it is with our sins. We can't wash them away, but Jesus can. It was a graphic way of showing that Jesus was at the same time the Lamb that was sacrificed and the Shepherd who saves.
Jim Fleming, a contributing editor for BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL REVIEW and a resident of Israel for the last fifteen years, lives very deep in the culture and history of this revered land. Discussing the Twenty-third Psalm with a pastor friend, Fleming reflected upon the complexity of the geography within the land of ancient Judea and Galilee. He explained that grazing areas have never been plotted or laid out as in our country, where the grassed areas are so easily perceived and predictable. The paths for grazing in the land of Israel have always been a labyrinth. Sheep can easily stray and become lost in this maze of pasturage. Many paths lead to nowhere. The wilderness is always only a breath away. "Tell your people," Jim counseled, "that the sheep's choices are analogous to our own. We are constantly in danger of taking the fatal turn if we do not rely upon the shepherd." (3)
So, not only goats but also sheep can be caught unaware.
Dr. Andrew Bonar once told Dwight L. Moody how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places where they couldn't get out. The grass on these mountains is very sweet, and the sheep like it. They will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then, they can't jump back up again. The shepherd will hear them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint that they cannot stand, and then he will put a rope around him and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death.
"Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" Moody asked.
"Ah!" said Bonar, "the sheep are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did."
This is the meaning of grace. If we were to take this parable of the sheep and goats literally, what hope would there be for any of us? We are all goats. We have all neglected opportunities to serve in Christ's name. And we are all foolish sheep. We nibble ourselves into foolish situations that are not becoming to a follower of Christ. But Christ is not only the Shepherd, he is the Lamb. Because of what he has done, we are relieved of the burden of our sins. Still, we need to remember: Only one thing makes Christ angry our neglect of needy brothers and sisters. And there is only one way to minister to Christ it is to find those who are hurting and show them the love of Christ. So, which will it be surprised sheep or graceless goats?
1. U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, March 25, 1991, p. 56.
2. THE JOKESMITH
3. "God As Shepherd," by George Thompson, PULPIT DIGEST, March/April 1992, p. 29.