Servants of God

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; I Corinthians 15:20-28; Matthew 25:31-46

This is the last Sunday of the long season known in the church as Pentecost. And typically, the few weeks of the season of Pentecost have been used by the church to remember that Jesus Christ promised that he would return to be the King of kings and Lord of lords and to fulfill creation, itself. Thus, in keeping with this theme of the church we have now come to Jesus' Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

Indeed, this is one of the most vivid parables which Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson of it is crystal clear. The lesson is this -- that God will judge us in accordance with our response to the needs of our fellow human beings.

Certainly, as we have studied the teachings of the Bible we are convinced that salvation comes by grace and not by works. And this is very important for us to remember. Nevertheless, if there is any part of the Bible which comes close to contending with grace it is this parable of Jesus. For we are told in no uncertain terms that our response to God's grace must be a response of love. It is fine to talk about being accepted as Children of God. It is a wonderful thing to know that God has accepted you as a fellow heir of Jesus Christ. But, the person who has been saved by grace will respond in love. Perhaps another way of looking at it would be to say that if a person has no love or charity for his/her fellow human being then it would be extremely doubtful that such a person is living under God's grace, at all. A person may, indeed, claim to be saved by the grace of God, but that person's willingness to help another person is the proof in the pudding of salvation.

So, it is very important, as far as Jesus is concerned, that we be open and vulnerable to the needs of one another. But, there are certain things which this parable teaches us about the help which we must give.

First, we must be willing to help in the most simple and basic things. The things which Jesus picks out in his parable are -- giving a hungry man a meal, or a thirsty man a drink, welcoming a stranger, cheering the sick, and visiting the prisoner. And these are all things which anyone can do. It isn't a question of giving away thousands of dollars, or of writing our names in the annals of history; it is a case of giving simple, human help to the people we meet every day. And, indeed, there never was a parable which so opened the way to glory to the simplest people than this Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

And for Jesus it was important that those who followed him accepted this philosophy and made it a way of life. Indeed, the Christian should have a relationship with those who are in need that is almost symbiotic in nature.

I am reminded, for instance, of relationships which exist between certain animals. The rhinoceros has very poor eyesight. But its tough hide is infested with ticks -- a delicacy to a certain little bird which rides on its back, feeding on the insects and alerting the rhino to danger.

Then there is the relationship which exists between the ratle, a badger-like animal, and he little honey-guide bird. Both of them love to eat honey. And so they go out together. The keen eye of the little bird quickly pinpoints a beehive with honey, and the ratel's powerful claws tear up the hive, making the honey available to both.

Or take the case of the Pinna Marina, a blind snail, which has many enemies, the worst of which is the cuttle-fish. No sooner does the pinna open his bivalve shell then the cuttle-fish rushes in. How can such a blind defenseless creature secure food and protect himself?

Well, luckily, thee is a kind of a crab-fish, with very good eyes, who is a constant companion of the pinna. They live together in the shell that belongs to the pinna. When the pinna is hungry, he opens his shell and sends out his faithful companion to secure food. If any enemy approaches, the watchful crab dashes back to his blind protector, who quickly closes his shell as soon as his friend is inside.

On the other hand, when the crab has returned with food and no foe is around, he makes a gentle noise at the opening of the shell, which is closed during his absence. When admitted, the two friends then feast together on the fruits of the crab's labors.

And, certainly, this is the kind of symbiotic relationship the Christian should have with those in need. For just as the poor depend upon our generosity, our salvation is dependent upon our caring for the poor.

And this leads me to my second point: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats tells us that the kind of help we give to others in need must be help which is quite uncalculating. Those in Jesus' parable who helped did not think that they were helping Christ, and thus piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop themselves from helping. It was the natural, instinctive, quite uncalculating reaction of the loving heart. Whereas, on the other hand, the whole attitude of those who failed to help was: "Gee, if we'd only known it was you we would have gladly helped; but we thought it was only some common bum who was not worth helping." It is still true that there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and publicity; but to help like that is not to help, it is simply to pander to self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is simply disguised selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is the help which is given for nothing but the sake of helping.

And this is really something to wrestle with in our own day. I truly think that most people want to help. But, so often our help is the wrong kind of help. For example, when a person comes to our church for help, I don't always help those persons in the same way, nor always give them exactly what they ask for. Rather, I often pray silently for God's guidance in helping a person. For instance, a few weeks ago a man came to our church, wanting me to provide transportation, food, and housing for him. I told him that since our church and its members regularly supported the Salvation Army over in Owosso, his best bet would be to go over there. Immediately, he asked me if I would give him a ride over to Owosso. But, since it was only about three in the afternoon on a warm and pleasant day, I suggested that he walk the three miles. In short, it doesn't look like I gave him much help. But, actually, the advice I gave him was probably the best advice I could have given a man like him, for as I was talking with somebody in my office, the next day, the man came back and rang the doorbell at the church office. Brenda, our church secretary answered the door. And the man, not thinking I was around, told her that I had told him, the day before, to return so that we might give him some money. When Branda checked with me, I told her what I had said to the man. And when Brenda told the man that he could go to Salvation Army he swore at her, using language you won't hear on the radio, and left. When he did that I felt fairly certain that the advice I had given to him had been correct.

In comparison to this, there are been times that I have taken as much as $350.00 out of our church's Local Emergency Relief Fund to help people pay their rent. And, indeed, this particular fund is always in need of your support, as well.

But, getting back to our Parable of the Goats and the Sheep: The third point that I would like to make is that Jesus confronts us with the wonderful truth that all such help which is given is given to Himself, and all such help which is withheld is withheld from Himself. How can that be? If we really wish to delight a parent's heart, if we really wish to move a parent to gratitude, then the best way to do it is to help his child. God is the great Father; and the way to delight the heart of God is to help His children, who are our fellow human beings.

There are two men who found this parable blessedly true. The one was Francis of Asissi; he was rich and he was wealthy and he was high-born and high-spirited. But he was not happy. He felt that life was incomplete. Then one day he was out riding and he met a leper, loathsome and repulsive in the ugliness of his disease. Nevertheless, something moved Francis to get off of his horse and throw his arms around this poor sufferer; and, amazingly, in his arms the face of the leper changed to the face of the Christ.

The other was Martin of Tours. He was a Roman soldier, and a Christian. One cold winter day, as he was entering a city, a beggar stopped him and asked him for alms. Martin had no money; but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold, and Martin gave what he had. He took off his soldier's coat, worn and frayed as it was; he cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar man. That night he had a dream. In it he saw the heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus in the midst of them; and Jesus was wearing half of a Roman soldier's cloak. One of the angels said to Him, "Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?" And Jesus answered softly, "My servant Martin gave it to me."

When we learn the generosity which without calculation helps men in the simplest things, then we too will know the joy of helping Jesus Christ Himself. Amen.