The Other Sermon

     I am preaching this weekend.  My problem in preparing a sermon is not a lack of ideas.  My problem is having too many ideas and needing to choose one that I think I can develop in to 10 -12 minutes of something meaningful.  Often the “other sermon” is what I share at the communion services in nursing homes. However, I have decided that this blog may be a place to share some of my undeveloped thoughts that continue to intrigue me.  

     This weekend’s text is the parable Jesus tells about the end times in Matthew 25.  Jesus returns in glory as king, gathers the nations, and separates the sheep from the goats.  On the one hand, the sheep receive eternal life because they have fed the hungry, visited the prisoners, etc.  On the other hand, the goats are punished for sins of omission in not caring for the “least of these.”  It is a tough text with some hard questions for a wide variety of reasons. 

     What I find curious is that both the sheep and the goats are surprised by the dividing.  Neither group realizes what they have done or not done.  Jesus seems to be able to discern something that they do not even realize.  When I was researching the difference between sheep and goats, I further discovered that in the wild and certainly in Jesus’ time it was very difficult to tell the difference between sheep and goats.  Primarily it is their tail that gives them away.  Goats have a tail that stands up and sheep have a tail the goes down.  Goats aren’t inherently bad and sheep aren’t inherently good.  They are both very useful animals.  The curious difference comes more in what I would call attitude.  Goats are independent, like to go their own way, more frequently butt heads with the other goats while sheep prefer to stay in the flock and will follow wherever they are led.  In fact in the sale barns today, sometimes a goat will lead a flock of sheep into the ring only to slip away and lead another group in while the sheep are being sold for slaughter.  The men at Bible study this week exclaimed, “sheep are just dumb.”

     So what does all this mean for us?  “Thank God I am a dumb sheep” or “I hope I’m not a stubborn goat.” Is it our resistance to recognizing our need to live in community that Jesus is addressing?  Is it our independence that gets us in trouble?  How often are we the ones who want to decide who is in and who is out of our community, church, family, etc?  

Maybe you can continue this "other sermon" for me.