Sheep & Goats

I’ve been reading Shane Claiborne’s Irresistable Revolution and quite enjoy his narratives. His joruneys to

 Calcutta were refreshing. That being said, he referenced a passage that is a rather harsh text from Christ. Observe.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come you that are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

We as humans have this uncanny ability to exclude ourselves from harm in any way possible. Perhaps it started with our parents saying to not touch the orange burner on the stove, but anytime we may feel that we’re being punished or judged, we always imagine ourselves as on the right side, or in this case, as the sheep. ABC News poll of Americans found that 89% of Americans believe in Heaven, and of those 89%, 85% are certain they’ll be going, too.

With that said, now let’s see who Jesus says will inherit the Kingdom (which is different than going to Heaven, but since that’s all that Americans think the Kingdom is, I’ll play along):

for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

Fortunately, this can’t be referring to in any way to us…right…?

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Hmmm…this doesn’t look good.

Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked adn you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

Well, at least that’s just for those that lived in Jesus day. He’s talking about them needing to take care of Him…right?

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it tha twe saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I once saw a shirt that said simply, “God is unfair.” I think that’s true. But what may make it more true than anything is that its us saying that He’s unfair. In reality, His throne is established with justice for those on the underside of society. The old man in the nursing home. The homeless family living with a shopping cart. The unemployed with the cardboard sign. The guitar player on the street corner. The single mother of four, pregnant with a fifth. The sex offender. The prostitue. The illegal immigrant. The drunkard. The dwarf. The crippled. The mentally handicapped.

I pray that in my own way, I’m somehow improving this situation through my relationships with the overlooked youth at MYC. I aspire to do more for the least of these, for they are where the Kingdom really comes.