SHEEP OR GOAT
Bible Text: Matthew 25:31-46
There are places in the world where goats are highly prized because they seem to be able to exist on almost anything, they give milk which can be used for yogurt, cheese and butter, they provide meat and their skins can be used for clothing. Now to be sure the sheep is no slouch when it comes to usefulness but of course you can keep a sheep a little longer and use its wool for clothing for a few years before using it for food. But you need to be cautious because the older it gets, the tougher it gets – and I have had my fair share of mutton over the years!
For whatever reason, sheep have been more prized by the people we have come to know as the Hebrews. Goats seemed to get the short end of the stick. When the Day of Atonement would come, it was a goat that was symbolically charged with the sins of the people and sent out into the desert to die. And while sheep met their end at the hand of the butcher, their fate was more blessed. Goats meant release from sin but sheep meant life. We all know that sin is something that happens again and again in our lives but life happens only once. And while it is important to rid our lives of sin and acknowledge our desire to be rid of our sins, it is even more important to ensure that we remain alive.
And so it is that God ordains that the blood of a lamb and a lamb only will be the mark of salvation – not the blood of a kid by which I mean a goat. Now we may debate whether it is fair to the goat that it has been chosen to represent sin and the sheep to represent salvation and life but we are in no position to ask God to change His mind. It is what it is. So we are left with the metaphor of the goat and the sheep – one representing our sin and one representing our salvation.
Now I am not sure what kind of animal one would get if a goat and a sheep ever got together but obviously it was not a desired result. Obviously shepherds went to great lengths to keep goats from sheep. And Jesus uses this image to speak of the time when He will return in glory for the final judgment.
First he speaks of gathering the nations before Him. Obviously there will be a sifting of the nations. Some will be like goats and some will be like sheep. He speaks this way because He knows that the nations of the world will make choices that will reflect the ethos by which they will live. Some nations will choose to be nations where compassion, care for the poor and the needy, concern for those who are ill or troubled is encouraged and expected and other nations will be those who choose to ignore the plight of the needy at best or even persecute them at worst.
But there is a second sifting and that is the sifting of the people who come from the nations of the world. The second sifting will be one in which those who chose to see the need of humanity and act according to the justice of God will be like the sheep. They will be set at the right hand of God – the place of honour. And those who chose not to see the need of humanity and chose to act in their own interest will be like the goats. They will be first placed on the left hand – a place of dishonour.
Concern for the community as a whole has ever been front and centre in the heart and expressed mind of God. The very fact that the two greatest commandments concern love for God and love for neighbour give a clear indication that we are not to ignore the plight of those who share our community locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. And while we may never be able to meet the needs of everyone in the world, we must ever be conscious of the needs around us and continue to encourage our nation to be one that seeks to be truly equitable in its dealings with all members of society.
One more thing that we can glean from this passage is the fact that those who are considered sheep responded to the needs of the poor, needy or oppressed not even imagining that God in Christ was present. Those who are considered goats would no doubt have responded differently if they had known that God in Christ was present. But that’s exactly the point Jesus is trying to make. Those who desire to be God’s people and wish to be welcomed into the kingdom of God and receive eternal life act not out of selfish self-preservation or for their own glory but out of that true love for neighbour which is an extension of the love they have for themselves.
I will freely admit that it is not an easy thing to imagine that Christ is indeed in the one who appears to us as a hungry family or a thirsty child or a homeless beggar. I admit that it is not easy to imagine that Christ is present in anyone who is sick or in trouble. But perhaps that is exactly the point. If it were an easy thing, we might never have a struggle within ourselves over how to respond to the need before us. If indeed we always believed it was Christ, I am sure we would always do the right thing. Even a goat might act like a sheep if it knew its fate depended on it. But it is what it is. There are goats in the world and there are sheep.
Perhaps we don’t like the image. Perhaps we like goats better than sheep. But that’s the image Jesus chose because it was a traditional way that the people had understood God.
Being a goat is something that in many ways we cannot escape. Each day of our lives brings opportunities to be a sheep or a goat. We will be goats some of the time. My prayer is that we will strive to become like sheep. But being a sheep is not about blind faith; it is not about following God without thinking; it is about choosing to live for God and to one day live with God in eternity.
I invite you to think on this prayer which I use as part of my preparation for the day:
My Father, I come to you at the beginning of this day to ask you to guide me and help me. Give me courage to face the problems that lie ahead and give me a heart wide open to the joys you have prepared for me. Forgive my many sins that I may start this day anew. And as you forgive me, may I learn to be forgiving and compassionate to others in return. My Father, I long to serve you aright. May all that I do and all that I say be pleasing in your sight. AMEN.