This past Sunday our topic was "Seeing the Needs Around us," and the teachings of Jesus that we focused on came from Matthew 25:31-40. In this teaching, Jesus says there will be a day when all of the people of the earth will separated as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats of his herd. The goats will be on the left, and the sheep will be on the right. Out of those two groups, it will be the sheep that will be rewarded. Here's the scripture:
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then 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 creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Coming from and having grown up in a rural community, there were a couple observations I gathered about sheep and goats that might translate into what Jesus was ultimately trying to say.
First, goats always seem to be hanging out by themselves, while sheep "flock" to one another. This is probably an over generalization, but it might be on target for what Jesus was trying to communicate. This passage ultimately is trying to communicate that by giving our lives away, by helping others, by meeting the needs of the people we live, work, and play with, will not earn us, but will be given to us by grace, the Kingdom of God.
The only way to be aware of the needs of others is to seek to know them and to put ourselves in a close enough proximity of others, that we might learn their needs. If we're like the lone goat, standing off by itself, unmindful and uncaring of the rest of the herd, we won't be in a position to make a real difference in the lives of others. Jesus would have us be sheep--close enough to each other to be aware of each other's needs and desiring to stay close enough to do something positive about them.
The second observation about goats is they seem to be more consumers while sheep seem to be more givers. Again, another blatant over generalization, but think about it.
What are sheep mainly known for? No, not their dynamic personalities. Their wool! The life of a sheep is one continual, literal cycle of giving "the shirt off their own back" to those that don't have one. We round them up a couple times of year and shear what they've naturally been given by God to make clothing for ourselves.
What does the goat do? Eat. My parents have a goat, and that's all it does. Eat. Continuously. I don't even think it's one of those dairy producing goats. It just stands around, eats, and then poops.
Perhaps I'm spending too much time trying to force a spiritual and physical metaphor together in what Jesus said in Matthew 25--it wouldn't be the first time.
However, I have a notion to believe that if doing so actually leads you and I lead more communal lives, lives that are more connected to one another, and not just connected, but aware of each other's needs, then that's ok.
The point is that Jesus desires for us to take what we're naturally gifted with and to give it to others that need what we have--just like a plain old sheep.
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