Flocks of sheep, herds of goats.

July 20, 2007 by Pastor Dan.

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 the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 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.” – Jesus (Matthew 25:31–36)

This passage has longed intrigued me. I preached a long sermon on it when I was pretty green, right out of seminary. (Hopefully, those people forgave me long ago for my length and self-righteousness, each of which can be insufferable.)

But the parable is such an open-and-shut case, in a heavenly trial, of the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” There isn’t much wiggle room, because Jesus tells us, as the Letter of James (1:27) also says, that right religion is really true compassion, not rituals and costumes.

The “Judgment Day” is such a fun metaphor for all people—especially for those who are not really religious. The details in the Bible are sketchy and besides they are obvious metaphors, so we’re free to imagine how things might really unfold. Anyway, it crossed my mind, What if the Judgment doesn’t start with individuals, but with nations, states, or even Christian congregations first.

And a Christian congregation comes up, and with their famous, smiling minister at the front of the line they happily report their good deeds:

“We had a huge congregation, we tithed, we built a cathedral to the skies in your name;

“We had the latest and greatest praise music; we put Bibles in every pew;

“We had potlucks, soup suppers, coffee klatches, Jello salads; we made and sold thousands of low-fat-low-sugar-low-carb-big-heart-”Jesus is the greatest” health and fitness bars.

“We had programs for all ages, an outstanding choir and the biggest pipe organ in six counties; we had stewardship and evangelism programs, marriage enrichment, teen challenge, golden goodies and grief groups;

“We started our own radio outreach and television ministry; we sent thousands of dollars for benevolence to support Christian colleges, seminaries, and foreign missionaries; we prayed from the heart and praised Jesus every Lord’s Day, twice a day, and on Wednesdays, and we taught everybody to say “Amen” loudly.

And the king will answer them, saying,  “Did you feed the hungry? Did you take in the homeless? Did you do anything to show mercy and compassion to outsiders?”

“But Lord, our doors were open! Everybody was welcome! And we were on TV!!”

And the Judge will say, “Next!!”

— Dan Hooper, Los Angeles

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