The blessing of being judged / Matt 25:31-46

We don’t like the idea of judgment as we often think of it. We think of someone being included and somebody getting left out. But what if judgment were more about knowing what God is creating more of and what God is doing away with so that we can get on board with joining him as he gets rid of what isn’t like him and growing and multiplying what is like him? The world would be pretty hopeless if there were no justice, no righting of wrongs, to correcting of inequalities. And so Jesus helps us see what he’s talking about by talking about sheep and goats because he wants us to know what’s going on and choose him and what he wants to do in our lives.
Sheep are the group, or flock as the case may be, that are more helpless, more dependent on the shepherd and more lost without guidance. Goats are able to be more independent, and so have less relationship with the shepherd. Amazingly, it isn’t the more independent and able to excel or take care of themselves that are desirable to our Lord. It is those who depend on him and are cared for by him that are more likely to become like him in caring for our fellow men, women and children and in valuing life and creation. The point isn’t so much that sheep are wonderful and goats are awful. The lesson is that we all have some independence that can lead us away from trusting Jesus. And we all have some weakness that reminds us of our great need for him. Jesus is revealing what he’s up to so that we can choose to live in cooperation with what he’s doing. Lord let us learn to depend on you and not go our own way. Create your heart in us and destroy everything in us that isn’t like you. Shepherd us our Lord and Master, Savior and King.

Created 6 months ago