Preaching ths Sunday: The Final Judgement

I am preaching this Sunday. The gospel reading (printed below) is Matthew 25:31-46. It is a great reading. In it, Jesus uses an image that was common in his day of final judgment. The picture of the king separating the sheep from the goats was not new or newsworthy. It was rather the criteria for judgment. Two things are noteworthy. First, it is not observance of the Torah or Temple worship, or even membership in a chosen group that is the criteria for judgment. Rather, have you fed the hungry, clothed the naked, etc.

There is another aspect that is more subtle. It has to do with a lack of calculation, a lack of judgment, if you will, on the part of the sheep. They feed the hungry, simply because they are hungry. I believe the sheep in the parable serve those around them as a way of life. Whereas the goats in the parable withhold service because of who it is that is hungry. If they had known it was the king that was in need, why certainly they would have fed him. "When did we see you hungry," they ask the king.

For the sheep, there is no distinction. I believe the deeper meaning of this parable is connected to this looking at others without making distinctions of who should be loved and who shouldn't.
Here's the text:

Matthew 25:31-46
31 ‘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. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

34Then 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; 35for 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, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

37Then 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? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And 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.”

41Then 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; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.”

44Then 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?” 45Then 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.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’