Parable of the sheep and goats Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31-46  Gospel Reading for Sunday 20th November 2011

Well, we have come to the crunch in this hard-hitting trilogy of the three parables of Matthew 25. Jesus delivers one final knockout blow to the people in the closing moments of the last lesson of his teaching career.

This story would be one that is hard to forget for anyone who has ever heard the reading. It seems to be loaded with fire and brimstone, judgment and punishment themes. Superficially it appears to be suggesting that we need to DO GOOD WORKS in order to earn our spot in the sheep pen. Is this in serious conflict with SAVED BY GRACE? If so do we need to tear out most of the rest of the New Testament and throw it away? This text is probably the basis for a lot of the moralistic, do good thoughts that we have paraded at funerals - especially the case with secular funerals, where there is often the inference that he or she was a good person therefore they can go to their grave in peace.

This is arguably one of the most misunderstood and under-understood stories of the gospels. Unless we read it carefully, it is very easy to miss the gospel message. I want to draw attention to the RESPONSES of the two groups.

First of all the sheep (v37 - 39). Note in particular the element of surprise. Let me paraphrase this:

"Hey Lord ... thanks for that. We’re pretty chuffed with your affirmation. But pardon our naivety – we’re just a bit confused – when did we actually see you hungry, thirsty, sick or in prison? We can’t actually remember having seen you hungry or sick. Jesus responds – hey when you actually helped feed the hungry and visited the sick people in the world – you were actually doing that to me!"

But the really critical clue to interpretation of this story comes in the response of the goats in verse 44 - in particular the words "and did not help you" also paraphrased here ...

"Hang on Lord ... that's not fair! How can you possibly exclude us? We gave food to hungry people, when people were thirsty we gave them drink, we visited the sick ... (we supported a sponsor child, we put some clothes in the Vinnies bin, we donated to the bushfire appeal, we sent people to the Philippines to build homes )... we thought we had all of our bases covered. How can you possibly say that we have fallen short?"

Can you see? It's all about attitude. Jesus was talking to people who were intently fixed on operating under the law. These highly religious people were governed by having to do things to satisfy God - the 600+ demands of the law that had to be satisfied in order to earn favour with God. Jesus says NO - you've got it all wrong - none of this stuff that you do will earn you favour with me. I'm trying to tell you that it's all been done for you! ("take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.")

For the "sheep" it is not the good works that saves them. Note that they do not even know that they were doing those things! What an amazing paradox! Those who are saved see nothing in themselves. They just go about their lives full of love and humility, their lives reflecting a total trust and belief in Jesus, their good works automatically flowing. Those who are NOT, see nothing lacking in themselves. They are pleased with their ministries to others. No humility only a boasting. This is NOT a statement about being saved by good works. Rather our good works are evidence that we have been saved! I like these quotes from various commentators ...

“The King says ...Not that the sheep have compiled a splendid moral record, BUT that they had a relationship with Himself”

"The nations will be judged on how they responded to / received the Gospel message."

“The good deeds commended in Matthew 25:35-36 are the FRUIT not the ROOT of salvation”

So what is the message for us as leaders in Lutheran Schools as we read this parable?

Well, I must say that I have two threads of thought running about this.

I think there is definitely still a sense in which this is a major warning to us. We need to be careful that we don't end up in the yard with the goats. Are we at times guilty of the same mistake as the goats ... doing stuff so that we look good? Why do we do Operation Christmas Child? Why do we support World Vision 40 hr famine or ALWS projects? Why do we give to natural disaster appeals? Are we grumpy about having money deducted from our pay for the flood levy? Or, do we automatically do all of this, because of our love care and concern for those about us who are in need and much less fortunate than us?

Balanced against that is our understanding of the basic gospel message. If we've got it right (that is our relationship with Jesus) these Matthew 25 passages should not invoke the slightest bit of fear or doubt for us. We can celebrate that we know that our amazing God has already called us to be His.

Our prayer is that the Spirit will continue to work in us to help us to be the sort of people that God encourages us to be in these stories:

People who say YES to the good news of Jesus
People who take that good news and "trade with it" - share it around
People who show the world Jesus by our actions.

Nev