As the election season drags endlessly onward and the US seems ever more divided into groups that too often don’t even recognize one another as human beings who are deserving of love and compassion, it’s easy to think that I know exactly who is a sheep and who is a goat. Obviously, the ones who share my opinions on politics, climate change, and what to do about the pandemic are honorable sheep, and the ones who are on the other side of such questions are dishonorable goats. And, like a good, obedient sheep, I will get to sit next to the right hand of Jesus, while those no-good, rebellious, cantankerous goats will have to sit way over there on his left side and eventually be sent off to eternal punishment.*
The trouble is, when I am honest with myself, even though I often try to dress up as one, I am rarely a friendly, hospitable, outgoing sheep who is willing to invite strangers to dinner, to buy clothes for people who need them, or visit people in hospitals or prisons the way Jesus says I should. I tell myself that I’m doing ok because I recycle my cans and bottles, donate my gently-used clothing and household goods to a local thrift store rather than sending them off to the landfill, and give money to organizations that help those who are in distress.
But I’m not very good at inviting even my friends into my home or bringing casseroles to people who are sick. The very thought of going to visit anybody in prison makes my stomach turn somersaults with anxiety because I have no idea how to talk to people who aren’t a lot like me. In fact, I would much rather sit in my comfortable study and write about Jesus than actually encounter him out in the streets.
Meeting Jesus in the street, however, seems to be exactly what he is telling us to do. So what’s an introverted, scholarly goat like me supposed to think? It’s not likely that I’m going to turn into an extroverted, home-cooked-meal bearing sheep any time soon, although I suppose that miracles can always happen. Rather than waiting for that particular miracle, however, it seems to me that it’s not very useful to worry about what will happen to either sheep or goats at the end of time, or even who belongs to which part of the herd.
Dressing up as a sheep rather than being honest about my own goat-like appearance probably isn’t quite what Jesus was getting at, anyway, when he talked about who he would greet with a hug at the end of time. I’m guessing that he meant that both sheep and goats are supposed to love and help each other. I can probably manage to do that, with a little help from the rest of the mixed-up herd.
–Deborah Sokolove, Seekers Church
Questions:
- Do you think of yourself as either a sheep or a goat in this story?
- What do you think Jesus really wants us to do?
- How do you love and help people who aren’t a lot like you?
