Those of you who were at church yesterday and were in the main room heard me open with an illustration about my coaching years. Later in the day, a former runner on the team reminded me that I would often divide the team during practices into groups based upon their talent and level of fitness. One group would have higher expectations and demands. And she reminded me that I often referred to the groups as the sheep and the goats. I had forgotten that. And probably very few of my runners realized I was making a Scriptural inference in those titles.

The parable of the sheep and the goats is one that has been more debated than most parables as to what it is teaching and who are the characters in the groups. So, yes, there are sort of sheep and goats camps of biblical interpretation about who are the sheep and goats! And I did not want to get us too terribly deep into those weeds … because, well … there was another parable about weeds coming up later.

Simply stated, some believe the parable in its context of a discourse by Jesus is referencing God’s judgment upon Gentile nations relative to their treatment of Israel during the Great Tribulation and in advance of the 1000-year millennial kingdom. Others believe it is more general and is referencing the final judgment at the end of all time. I see the merits in the arguments of each, but along with the other two parables in this week’s study simply chose to draw the big ideas and timeless principles out of it.

And one of those timeless principles is the certain reality of God’s judgment. There is a time of accounting that will happen, and the reward or curse that follows is dependent upon one’s faith and execution of that faith in practical ways. Understand that the deeds being spoken of in these verses (and other such passages) are not prescriptions of things to be done in order to gain favor with God. Rather, having gained God’s favor and relationship through Christ, these deeds are the proof-positive outworking of that inner faith. There is a focus away from self to serving others — all men, but especially those of the household of faith.

So judgment is real and is not the overblown imagination of a televangelist in full stride. Not everyone agrees or believes that there will be a final judgment. Why do some people deny this teaching, found here and in many other passages? What might a denial of future and final judgment say about how a person has a wrong view of God? How do we reconcile seeing God as both the definition of love, yet also the dispenser of final justice and judgment?

Matthew 25:31-46 — The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

A sense of fairness or justice rises very early in our lives. I have seen this most recently when watching my grandchildren. They are constantly looking to see that they are being treated with fairness and equity about such pressing matters as to how much orange juice is in their cup as compared to that in their sibling’s glass.

I suppose you could logically argue that the children in the illustration are actually being self-oriented, making sure they are taking care of themselves and not getting short-changed in any way. Call it maybe “the survival of the fittest.” Being motivated from a sense of justice would cause one child to be equally upset if they got “more” than the other and called attention to that. And that does happen with children and with adults as they see the inevitable inequities that exist in a fallen and sinful world.

But in any event, we have some internal wiring that tells us there needs to be fairness and justice. We know in some intrinsic way that wrongdoing should not be tolerated and that action should be taken against those who harm others. And I would argue that this represents our creation in God’s image, and that the existence of the principle within argues for a good and just law-giver and omnipotent judge.

But as the years go by, the injustices about which we grieve have much greater gravity than the ounces of orange juice or the size of the apple pie slice of dessert. We are saddened when the powerful and entrenched people of society take advantage of people who do not have the resources to defend themselves. We boil over internally when we see evil people in a third world country abuse children or murder innocent people for having a different faith or being from a different tribal ethnicity. Human trafficking is a total outrage. Where is justice? How is this allowed to continue? Will these evil people have to pay for their actions in either this world or the next?

We may also feel the injustice of a life taken before its time, of a young life lost to the folly of a drunk driver, a child neglected or beaten by irresponsible bullies in their lives, or an illness that cuts someone down in the prime of life. Where is God when this happens? Why does injustice exist? Is there a time of accounting, and when will it be?

These are the types of questions we will be seeking to address a bit when we look at three different parables this Sunday and in our writings this next week. To be prepared, here are the three parables of interest in this study …

Matthew 25:31-46 — The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 13:24-30 — The Parable of the Weeds

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:47-50 — The Parable of the Net

47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I have a recurring dream.  Maybe you’ve had it, too.  I’m back in school; it’s finals week.  According to my schedule, I have a math final.  That’s bad enough on its own, but in my dream, I’d always forgotten that I ever even signed up for a math course.  What I’m left with is a looming final and a semester’s worth of equations left unsolved.  In a panic, I’m left to try and put the pieces together in the hopes of not failing out of the forgotten course.

I don’t know much about dream analysis, but in this case it’s usually safe to assume that such dreams stem from fears of inadequacy or unpreparedness.  And, in turn, those fears reveal a solemn fact: that there can be no quick-fix to cover for the absence of commitment.

Regarding life in the future, Jesus teaches:

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

Now, there are a number of ways to interpret the parable.  First, Jesus could be suggesting that the foolish virgins represent those who reject God’s grace and lose their salvation.  But nothing in the parable indicates that the flame has to mean salvation.  So—secondly—Jesus could be saying that the foolish virgins represent those who started out with enthusiasm toward God’s kingdom, but their emotion could not sustain them throughout their life.  Or, finally, the “then” of verse one could refer to the period known as the tribulation: the Church is “raptured” into heaven, and during the seven years that follow ethnic Jews would be given the chance to turn to Christ, and through them redeem a great multitude.  The foolish virgins, therefore, could refer to those who—during this seven-year period—refuse to turn.

Regardless of the exact nuance, Jesus’ message is clear: preparedness begets joy, a preparedness for which there can be no substitute.  In his book God in the Wasteland, David Wells highlights a disturbing fact about contemporary Christians.  Many of us might assume that Christianity’s problems stem-at least partially—from an overabundance of religious “fundamentalists.”  But no, says Wells; the problem isn’t that we have too many fundamentalists, but too few.  In the last several decades, American churches have become preoccupied with personal satisfaction and self-improvement.  Christian books on dieting (yes, dieting) became bestsellers in local Christian bookstores.

The tragic result of this culture of “therapy” is that Christianity becomes indistinguishable from any of the other voices out there in culture today.  If my goal is happiness, then why choose Christianity over any of the simpler options at my disposal?  But now that Christianity has chosen to market itself based on felt needs and personal satisfaction, the light of the gospel has been extinguished, and our hopes dashed.

This, friends is a tragedy.  But while we may analyze and pick apart the trends of our broader culture, we must also turn our gaze in on ourselves—or, better—to allow God’s Spirt to expose our backward motives.  If I look to Jesus to satisfy my immediate needs, then I have treated him as a means to an end.  And when his blessings dry up, or they no longer satisfy, the fire of my faith flickers dim and expires.  But if I look to Jesus as my ultimate source of my satisfaction and joy, then the fire of my faith burns brighter still.