HONORING THE LORD OF HARVEST

Matthew 25: 34-36

This past week 36 of us joined together in a guided pilgrimage of the Land of God known as Jordan and Israel. Our time together taught us about the land, and about history, about the Bible, and about each other. But it was in a most unusual way that a new insight came to me about today’s parable. It is known as the last judgment; also called the story of the sheep and the goats, and it features the words of a King, Jesus himself, who said “whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” A wonderful Christmas story in our church library is called “Shoemaker Martin.” It was written by the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy, originally in a story for all ages called WHERE LOVE IS, THERE IS GOD ALSO. It describes how a man, wanting to see Jesus, did not realize how he had seen is Lord through helping a poor woman, a young boy, and other. But in the Holy Land this time, my perceptions of this parable of the sheep and goats changed. Today I’m asking you to join me in considering why Jesus would have chosen these particular animals as descriptions of the type of human beings who one day would be on his left and on his right.

First, goats are useful, sheep are helpless. Goats can be left on hillside and they will eat nearly everything in sight with no harm to themselves! Perhaps a cure for diseases may one day come from examining the lining and the make up of a goat’s digestive track. They are remarkably resilient. They can also get out of the way of many predators; some have horns to defend themselves; and, they can be a source of milk, meat, and fur. Fur. You might wonder about that one! But as our guide told us and showed us on Mount Nebo, Bedouin men who live off the land cut the hair from goats in order to weave it into a virtually weatherproof piece of material, the kind of material that they used to make tents, large ones in which families could live. The goat hair is naturally water resistant, it breathes to allow circulation, and yet it also acts as insulation in cold weather to keep warmth in. When we were on Mount Nebo, we were exposed to the weather that was rather chilly with a brisk wind one morning. But when we entered a goat-haired tent the size of a large dining fly, the wind chill rose at least 20 degrees; we were comfortable and dry. Our guide said in the summer the goat-haired tents had the opposite effect: when the sun created scorching heat, the tent this time lowered the temperature at least 20 degrees. It is likely that the Apostle Paul used goat hair among other materials to make the tents that were part of his trade too. So goats are useful for their hair, their milk, and their meat. By contrast, sheep also are useful for their fur, their milk and their meat but the similarity stops there. Put sheep on a hillside and they too will eat everything in sight, but 90% of it will make them sick or kill them! They have tender stomachs, are helpless and nervous around predators, and they need constant supervision. How interesting, so far, that the choice qualities Jesus describes for human beings are to be like sheep; what is it about sheep that our Lord loves?

Perhaps we have a clue now: point number two: goats are independent, sheep are dependent. As I have taken our children years ago into petting zoos, they soon found the little goats their wanted to jump on them and chew their clothes. And if they had a bottle of formula with which to feed them, the goats became persistent pests. Sheep, on the other hand, listen for the voice of their shepherd; sheep know the voice of the good shepherd and only trust the steady and ever-present care of their shepherd. Sheep need a shepherd to, as Psalm 23 says, prepare the tableland for them, pulling up poisonous weeds and leaving the good grass; sheep need the shepherd to dam up flowing water so they can drink because running water gets up their nose and stagnant water attracts insects and germs. The sheep need the shepherd to protect them from enemies, and the shepherd uses a rod, a staff, and perhaps a slingshot to do so. And sheep need ointment, a kind of natural insect repellent, applied to their forehead to keep biting flies away. When flies pester them, they lose weight and the owner blames the shepherd for their poor condition. Sheep need a shepherd; a goat needs none of that special attention, preferring to live independently. In fact goats thrive with independence. They are also the animals that can climb sure-footedly into the high reaches of jagged mountains, thwarting all but the most skilled predators. Goats are amazingly well-equipped by their Creator God! So the goats, or the people like goats, are on the left—the hand of curse—and the sheep are on the right—the hand of blessing? How can this be?

Let’s look at one more angle. Point number three: goats are opportunists, sheep are loyalists. Goats look for the next thing to eat, the next thing to try, and the next thing to destroy. Sheep, by contrast, are always looking for their shepherd, especially when they get into trouble, which is constantly. A good shepherd might need a good dog to help round up the sheep, or a good animal to ride to keep up with their sheep, which may unexpectedly encounter danger. Sheep cannot defend themselves; nor can they eat safely without their shepherd, or spot danger. Their fur has to be regularly cut to control the heat in their bodies; not so with goats. Perhaps the picture of the sheep and the goats is starting to take on meaning for their human counterparts.

For the last two summers our Mayberry Bible Study has been extremely popular. In the first episode of the Andy Griffith show, Andy, a single father, is trying to get his boy, Opie, used to his Aunt Bee coming to live with them. Aunt Bee helped raise Andy, and he could see he needed her to help to raise Opie. But Opie, like a goat, would have no part of it at first. He and his “paw” were doing just fine without her help. She would try to cook his favorite foods and he wouldn’t eat them; she would try to fish with him and she didn’t do it right; she would try to play ball with him and she was all thumbs. Then in the last scene, as Aunt Bee is leaving because she can’t get Opie to get attached to her (he was acting more like a goat than a sheep!) Aunt Bee says to Andy “He’s a very smart little boy.” Just then Opie, who had overheard the conversation, runs down from his bedroom in his pajamas. “Don’t go Aunt Bee, I don’t want you to! I want you to stay!” His stand surprises both his pa and his aunt. His pa asks him if he means it, and if so, what changed his mind. “Well if she goes, what’ll happen to her?” Opie explains. She doesn’t know how to do anything: play ball, catch fish, or hunt frogs: she’ll be helpless!.... So, that’s why she’s gotta stay; so I can teach ‘em to her.” And the turning to his Aunt he throws his arms around her and says: “You need me!”

Like a loving aunt who couldn’t find a place in her nephew’s home until Opie’s heart opened up, Jesus is our good shepherd, but he is very ineffective with goats; human ones, who stubbornly keep their arms, and their minds and their hearts closed to the need for a shepherd. Human goats can be opportunistic, stubborn, and self-serving. Human goats are willing to feed, clothe, or visit other people only if others are watching and they are sure that their efforts will count with God! They only act when it serves their business goals, or when someone they want to impress is looking! But when the eyes are turned away, or the camera is shut off, or they are not getting credit for a planned philanthropy, they are all about their own business, not the business of caring for others. Human goats are “self-serving.” Attitudes and motivational reasons are different between human goats and sheep. The human sheep are not self-serving; they are “Son-serving.” They do what Jesus would do, even if no one is looking; they care for others even if no one is keeping score. And they think about others more often than they think about themselves. Human sheep are dependent, rather than human goats that thrive on independence. Like Aunt Bee needed to be needed and wanted in order to be a good surrogate mother, God needs to be needed and wanted by us as well. Our good shepherd knows us, and we need to be tuned in to his voice above all others! Those who don’t need God are more like goats than sheep. Those who plan their own life rather than working the Master’s plan are more like goats than sheep. And those who are helpless without a good shepherd are just the ones that Jesus wants to claim, Once he claims you, you can receive his insights and the Holy Spirit. Jesus needs us, and others, who will be, like sheep, in his flock. He wants you; he hopes you need him as well.

This parable has one group who helped others saying: “Lord we didn’t even know it was you!” It has another group who helped no one that said “Lord, if we had only known it was you, we would have helped them!” When the Son of Man returns in his glory and sits on his glorious throne, on which side of Jesus will you be found?

Jeffrey A. Sumner November 20, 2011