“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’” Matthew 25: 44
Jesus is the Son of Man who will come in glory and separate the sheep from the goats, the saints from the sinners, based on their care for the poor, the marginalized, and the vulnerable. Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:40).
The way we love others (especially the “least of these, my brothers”) matters. It matters because it makes us distinct. It matters because this kind of love is how the shepherd distinguishes his or her sheep from the goats. It matters because entrance into the Father’s kingdom is at stake (Matt. 25:34).
I have lately been fascinated with sheep! I’ve drawn them, studying how they group together. And I have read from many sources the reasons why we should know the difference between being a sheep or a goat.
The imagery given in Matthew 25:40-45 establishes that if you look at sheep and goats, one of the things you will notice about the two animals is that they have very different, so to speak, personalities. Sheep are, as a rule, docile to the master. They follow the shepherd, they follow his voice, they flock together, and they are docile creatures. Goats are, as a rule, very stubborn animals. So even with the imagery here of sheep and goats, you can get a sense of what the difference between the righteous and the wicked are. The righteous are those who are obedient to the Lord, who are docile to the will of God. The goats, the wicked, are those who are prideful, who are stubborn and who have refused to do the will of God. Jesus doesn’t make that explicit, but it is implicit in the language and imagery of sheep and goats. So, He puts the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left hand, and then He begins to pronounce judgment.
Just in case it isn’t clear, you want to be with the sheep, not the goats. You want your faith to be seen in the way you treat others, the way you go out of your way to meet needs and welcome them just as they are. When you refuse to help someone that God has placed in your path, you aren’t just protecting your security and comfort, you are rejecting the image of God in that person.
But you may think, “There are so many needs! I can’t help them all!” God isn’t calling you to help everyone, but He is placing specific people in your life who He is calling you to help. Pray and ask God who that might be and then boldly put your faith into action!
Submitted by Dr. Paula Artac
PRAYER
Like a sheep, I am clothed in the beauty of Your mercy. Your rod and Your staff comfort me. You surround me with love. So we give thanks to You our Lord and Shepherd, the silly sheep, the resting sheep, the frazzled sheep, the hidden sheep, the exhausted sheep. Help us to see the sheep who are clothed in grace and the sheep who are jumping at shadows, the sheep who hunger for the kingdom and the sheep who remember to leap in joy. Remind us that there is no wrong kind of sheep, and that we, each and every one of us, belong to the shepherd.
In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Permission to use or adapt this prayer with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta