Here is a week's end note on sheep and Goats...again, William Willimon.
Please note that in Jesus' parable, both the blessed sheep and the cursed goats are ignorant - both ask, "Lord, when did we see you?" Neither the sheep nor the goats were out looking for Jesus, nor did they know Jesus when he stood before them. Both were encountered by him incognito as he pushed into their lives in the faces of the poor, the imprisoned, and famished. This suggests to me that the parable of the Great Judgment is not a lesson in how to shape up and, therefore, avoid God's judgment but rather a statement on the impossibility of circumventing God's judgment. We shall be judged, says the parable, no matter how zealously you worked for the defeat of George Bush or the hours you gave to Habitat for Humanity. And the judgments shall be those of God, not those urged by either progressive or conservative preachers.
So now what!? In a situation that could bring much anxiety - we are being called to rest on God alone. In the meantime, we follow Jesus...always serving and making sure that the joy of God Reign is among us as the gift that it is.
Connection: The power of the story pulls us into the life that is already ours. We can go there!
O God, you are the light of this day and the power that enables us to be a part of that light within a world that can suck it all out of us. Abide with us - as promised. Amen.
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