Ezekiel 34:15-16; 20-22, Psalm 100:3, Matthew 25:31-45

Reflection for November 20, 2011

Rev. Dr. David Breeden, Minister
Minnesota Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Focusing Scriptures: 

Ezekiel 34:15-16; 20-22

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

. . .

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

Psalm 100:3

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Matthew 25:31-45

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 

Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 

Meditation:

The twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel According to Matthew begins with the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, continues with the Parable of the Talents, and ends with a grand vision of final judgment. In this vision there is no mention of orthodoxy, but rather orthopraxis: the criteria for making it as a sheep rather than a goat is compassion and service for “the least of these.”

As Matthew 25 builds, we see that we ourselves are the foolish bridesmaids who forgot to buy oil for our lamps; we ourselves are the back-talking servant given one talent and losing even that. But, that’s OK—in the kingdom of God, wisdom and prudence mean far less than community with those “who are members of my family”—namely, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned. At this judgment, the righteous remain so foolish, such back-talkers, that they don’t even understanding why they are being “saved.” For the righteous, apparently, doing good just comes naturally.

This was not a new vision. The sheep and shepherd motif appears in the verses from Psalms, “we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture,” and the verses from Ezekiel continue the metaphor. Ezekiel tells of a time when the Lord will take the position of shepherd from incompetent and greedy earthly leaders who “pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns.” These corrupt leaders have taken the sheep and “scattered them far and wide.” Yet, “I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.”

Jesus, a master poet, takes this metaphor and turns the incompetent and greedy earthly masters into goats, and, as usual with his parables of the kingdom of God, reverses the way things are in that moment when the kingdom comes. When that realization hits, butting the weak is revealed as the most foolish action of all.

Prayer: Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.

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