Sheep and Goats and the Least of These

A funny thing happened when I was at the fair...

I know, that sounds like a bad intro to an even worse joke, but I really did go to the Illinois State Fair this past Monday, and something funny struck me. Ha.

My family and I were leaving the 'Conservation Corner' and were heading toward the animal barns. Then it hit me. The goat barns were on my left and the sheep barns were on my right. Spooky religious imagery going on. Anyway, it got me thinking about sheep, goats, and what Jesus had to say about them. When I looked up the passage, I was struck with conviction about my life. Here's the passage out of Matthew 25:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Living out the Gospel isn't about "sharing your faith" verbally all the time. It really, really is about showing extreme kindness and hospitality, even to people you don't know (because as scripture says, you can entertain angels unaware). My wife and I were out on a date last week and were walking around downtown Springfield. We both noticed a homeless woman lying on a bench by the library and wondered aloud if that was "her bench". But that's it. We didn't go buy her a sandwich or a cup of coffee. We kept our distance.

I feel like a goat. I acted like a goat. I didn't live out the Gospel and love my Savior.

I pray that you and I both take advantage of serving the poor and needy as the opportunity arises; heck, we can even create the opportunities. And as we do that, we live out what the Lord's brother, James, wrote of having "true religion" (James 1:27)...really living out the Gospel.

May we all be more sheep-like.

Ryan