Sheep and Goats
October 20, 2005 – 2:20 pm | by Duncan Macleod
When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”
Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”
The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”
Then the king will say to those on his left, “Get away from me! You are under God’s curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, but you did not welcome me, and I was naked, but you did not give me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of me.”
Then the people will ask, “Lord, when did we fail to help you when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?”
The king will say to them, “Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me.”
Matthew 25:21-45 (Contemporary English Version)
I like the approach taken by William Loader, in his presentation to a worshipping community at Bishop’s College, Calcutta in 1999. This was just after a supercyclone had devastated the neighbouring region in the state of Orissa to the south. He tells the story from the perspective of a fictional goat. Here’s an excerpt from his web site:
He said to the red people who were on his left: ‘Come and live with me in my father’s city. For I was an outcaste and you welcomed me into your home; I was in Orissa and you sent me help; I was trying to bring change through politics and you supported me; I was a child labourer and you found me another way for me to live; I was a woman burnt by her husband and you gave me refuge.’ They all said, ‘When did we see you as an outcaste, or in Orissa, or a politician, or a child labourer or a burnt woman and come to your aid?’ He said, ‘You did it to them; it was like you did it to me.’
Then he turned to the people in blue who also called him, ‘Lord’, but the situation was much less happy. They had kept themselves pure and had not helped the outcaste, the people in Orissa, the politician, the child labourer, the burnt woman at all – or anyone else for that matter. There was no room for them in the city.
Just then it started to rain and the vision went away. We were left to ponder what we had seen.
Nanny, who was standing beside me, said, ‘I know. If I am a human being in my next life, I shall pretend I see the shining one in everyone I see. I shall help all those needy people like I’m helping him. That way he will reward me with a place in his father’s city.’
I was thinking about that when from the other side her sister – they always used to argue – said, ‘No, no, no! Don’t you see it was all a surprise. They didn’t care for people because they saw the shining one in them. They cared for people because they were people. They did it naturally. It was their way. Only later were they surprised to learn that they had also cared for him.’
