Are you a Sheep or a Goat?
Guest Preacher: The Rev. Susan Latimer
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In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. Please be seated.
It's a joy to be with you today. It's my first time serving at St. Peter's as a sub and I have known Paige since a little over 20 years ago when we both served in the Diocese of Maine. So we've kept in touch all these years and it's, I grew up in Vista and so it's lovely to be back. back here.
Meister Eckhart, 12th century German mystic, said many things. And this is one of the things he said. "In the end, all there is is God." In the end, all there is is [00:01:00] God. This came to mind to me because today is an ending of sorts. Today is the last Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday we will begin the new church year with Advent.
But today we say goodbye to a liturgical year and to the ending of a season. And as usual with Last Things, the church invites us to focus on what is most important. We celebrate today Christ the King. And today our focus is on Jesus Christ. Paul's poetic words from Ephesians give us a measure of Christ's nature.
Probably taken from an earlier hymn or poem about the nature of Christ, the verse is profound. [00:02:00] "And he has put all things under his feet. And has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Christ, who was with God in the beginning of all things, is connected to everything that is.
This cosmic Christ has no beginning or end. Instead, everything has its beginning and ending. Everything, Paul says, is filled with Christ.
In the end, all there is, is God.
Now, after hearing today's Gospel reading, you may be wondering to yourself, Am [00:03:00] I a sheep or a goat? Or, if you were listening very carefully to the reading from Ezekiel, Am I a lean sheep or a fat sheep? These are powerful images. And if you've been following along in Matthew for the past couple of months, you know that Jesus teachings seem to only increase in urgency.
And here we are. Right before his passion in the Gospel of Matthew, with this powerful parable. This parable in Matthew's Gospel is the only description of the Last Judgment in all of the New Testament. So it's right that it would give us pause here at the end of our church year. I think it [00:04:00] sets this important question before each of us.
Am I a goat or a sheep?
How many times have you or I driven by someone on the side of the road who's holding a sign that says, we'll work for food, or homeless, need help? And how many times have you or I given food or drink to a hungry person? or welcomed a stranger, or given someone clothes, or cared for a sick person, or visited someone in prison.
These actions, the traditional Jewish works of mercy, are the actions that the king praises. I think, if we are honest with ourselves, nearly all of us would say, well, sometimes I am a goat, and sometimes I am a sheep.
So what do [00:05:00] we do with this very difficult and quite harsh parable?
Well, here's one suggestion. Nearly all of us visit our primary care physician at least once a year for a checkup of our physical health.
What if we look at this parable and and also the reading in Ezekiel as kind of a spiritual wellness check, a state of our hearts check up. Then we might ask ourselves these questions. Are our hearts open to the least of these? Do we see Christ in the face of the strangers? Even in the face of [00:06:00] an enemy?
Do we act on this scene? Do we do these works, traditional Jewish works of mercy? Not all the time, but at least some of the time? Or using Ezekiel's image, are we acting like fat sheep? Pushing others out of our way. Butting the weak animals with our horns until they are scattered far and wide. Taking the best for ourselves.
Only we can answer these questions for ourselves. And only God really knows our inner motivations for our outer actions in the world.
I think it's important to remember that in this parable, everyone is surprised. [00:07:00] Those who are considered good, or sheep, are surprised when they hear the king say, For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing.
I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me. They don't remember ever seeing the king and helping him. But the king says, 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. In the same way, those who are considered bad goats, goats.
Goats get a bad rap in this parable. Are equally surprised. They don't remember ever ignoring the king in need. But the king [00:08:00] says to them, similarly, Truly, I tell you, Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, You did not do it to me.
This parable is a wonderful And perhaps stern reminder that all are made in the image of God. All are made in the image of God. And as Christians, we are called to share God's love in the world in tangible ways. God wants all of us to be in on this important work. And so, as we navigate in this holiday season, which has already begun, When many of us are invited to lots of feasts, and many of us, I know I do, eat and drink much more than I [00:09:00] need.
Many of us spend lots of money on things that may not be that important. Perhaps we can keep this parable in mind. Perhaps the image of the sheep and the goats, or the fat sheep and the lean sheep can serve as a little bit of a corrective. Maybe, to our usual way of doing things. Perhaps. And when this parable comes around again, and we have our next spiritual wellness check, we all have the chance to have done more of the work so that our hearts will be found more open to our neighbor, to the least of these, to the stranger, the hungry, the poor and those in prison.
As we come to the close of the year, perhaps we can [00:10:00] hear these hard words of Matthew's gospel as a wake up call. Perhaps we can be even more aware of the needs of our community and of the choices that we actually do have choices that we make all the time every day. Whether we are aware of them or not, let us not at the end be totally surprised, except by God's incredible grace and love for all of us, for it is only that love of God that passes all our understanding, that strengthens us and enables us to reach out to others for the healing of the world.
Amen.
