‘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.” 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.” 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 no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we 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.’ Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus is telling folks about his return, which most of the early Christians thought was in their lifetime. It was not and they had to retool their thinking thereafter. He talks about us as sheep and goats, not the brightest in the animal kingdom, but familiar to his audience. I'm probably more goat than sheep, but that is not his point. His point for the faithful is about the care and feeding of the neediest among us. We will not be judged by our radiant vestments, our writings, our prayers, but by how we demonstrate the love of God in the darkest places among the most hurting people. We have witnessed the skies turning yellow and green these past days and it can feel very apocalyptic. When we feel that way, Jesus reminds us to find ways to love the unlovely, welcome the stranger and free the prisoners.
Awesome Creator, who dances with the twinkling stars
and sings with the birds and the creatures in the sea
you give us the spirit to be compassion and kindness.
Too often, we see scary signs and run and hide away
drawing away from the people who need us the most
and worrying about our safety and trembling in fear.
Lord, take away all fear today and help us care for
for the immigrants who lives are truly in danger
and those on the margins who have no one else. Amen.
