Nov. 27, 2022   Matt. 25:31-46         “Are You a Sheep or Goat?”

16 Nov Nov. 27, 2022   Matt. 25:31-46         “Are You a Sheep or Goat?”

Nov. 27, 2022   Matt. 25:31-46         “Are You a Sheep or Goat?”

We are now officially in the midst of our greatest holiday season of the year.  Now there might be some personal favorites for individuals but generally speaking, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are our biggest holidays.  Right now, we are kind of in the Thanksgiving mode.  I think it’s wonderful that we take some time each year to give general thanks for all we have.  I also believe that you should be giving thanks every day in your prayer time to Jesus for all that you have.  I also believe that one of the sad parts of this country, this world is that most people don’t know Jesus and therefore they don’t have a clue as to what love really is.  If they don’t know love, then they don’t know thanksgiving also.  It is almost like we are perfectly willing to give thanks to anything and everything except to Jesus Christ.  After all, He is the giver of all things and there is not a human in the world who shouldn’t be thankful to God.  There are no exceptions.  In today’s passage, one of the many ideas we can take from this is the idea of being grateful.  For example, we just had an off-year election.  Everyone was so busy hating the Democrats or hating the Republicans that there were very few who were grateful that we even have these parties, this government and this country.  Let’s see if we can get off our little personal biases and look at the big picture that has Jesus at its head.  Let’s try to be grateful to Him who has provided you with all that you have.

I would like to begin this with a story from Pastor Jeff Strite.  One soldier stationed on an island of the Philippines during WW II told this story: Although the region was secure, sometimes the enemy tried to infiltrate our food storage area. One such adversary, dressed in GI clothing, once worked himself into the noontime chow line. Our camp cook spotted him, reached under the serving table for his pistol and yelled for the MPs who were patrolling the area.

After it was all over, we asked the cook how he knew the man was an enemy soldier. “I figured it wasn’t one of you guys,” he said, “because he was coming back for seconds.”  It’s pretty hard to imagine an enemy soldier coming back with Thanksgiving when our own don’t even consider it, or is it?

I would like to begin with a statement that some people might not like.  I think that we are, as a general rule, very poor at gratitude.  It is one of the things that isn’t taught to our children anymore.  I heard this story of a young boy’s first time on a paper route.  He delivered to a trailer and received 25 cents as his first tip.  It was his first tip and he was excited.  He went to the next house and he expected a tip but they didn’t.  He didn’t understand the concept yet.  You have to earn your tip as do people today also.  Many people don’t understand this and don’t say please or thank you and it’s getting worse all the time.  This type of thing really runs into a wall in our churches.  There are too many people who feel that God should be grateful to them.  They do this good work and that good work and they feel that God owes them an atta boy pat on the back, at least.  This leads us to a place where many churches are today.  They want God to serve them continuously in gratitude.  They get the whole thing backwards.  Most of these people aren’t even Christian and have never read the Bible.  They are totally off base and churches are failing because of this.

We need to be just the opposite.  Here comes another of the dichotomies about God.  We are to be bowing down before the Lord in gratitude and thanksgiving.  We are here to serve God and those around us.  God has never been here to serve you.  That is just something that I like to call stinkin thinkin.  You will probably get nothing as a result of this backwards thinking, but if you get this right, you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams.

But God fools us a little here.  He is grateful for what you do and speak.  He is grateful to all people who serve Him.  This is because that is the way of God.  Everything in the world is made by Him and for Him but he shares with us.  He also sets the example for us.  He shows us how to love, have peace, many other things, including being grateful.  However, if you expect Him to be grateful to you, then you first have to be grateful and obedient to Him.  This is just the way He set things up.

This is really a much more detailed reading than what first meets the eye.  It’s one of those passages that when it is read, people wonder why it has to be repeated so much.  You really can’t wait until the reader is done as you have heard it so many times.  You know about the sheep and goats so why not just skip over this a bit.  Now, Jesus could have used just about any animals here but he chose sheep and goats because His listeners knew about sheep and goats.  Well, we don’t know that much about sheep and goats today so we need to remember that when the Bible repeats something like this, then it must be very important and it is.

The first thing for us to notice here is where do we find Christ.  When we read this, we find that Jesus is everywhere.  He is with the hungry, thirsty, strangers, the sick, those without clothes, and those who are in jail.  I want to just add one little thing here.  This is not a complete list.  He is with all the downtrodden.  And how do we know this?  We know because when we serve these people, then we are also serving Jesus.  I hope that you can begin to see how important it is to serve Jesus and not the other way around.  That will be something that just happens when you serve.

One of the things that we like to do once in a while or maybe all the time is to play the role of God.  We like to judge.  Without knowing any of the circumstances, we like to say that we would help out such and such a person but they have to get a job first.  They have to make a move toward bettering themselves before we will help out.  Now this may be ok in some instances like when we are talking about certain addictions but it doesn’t work often for just ordinary homeless people. Christ is with all these people no matter the circumstance, even the addicted.  Jesus tells us right here that if you give water or help to some of the least of the people, then what are you doing is giving to Jesus also.  This is the point of this passage.  No matter how down and out people are, no matter how sick they are, no matter where they are, Jesus is with them and you are serving Jesus when you serve the least of these.  We should know by now that serving others is a wonderful way to feel good about yourself.  One of the therapies that professionals use to combat depression is service.  They have found that the worst thing you can do is just sit around and one of the best things to help rid yourself of depression is to help others.  You see Jesus has always known what He is doing.  He is grateful to us for doing things but maybe not in the way that we are accustomed to seeing.

So, what is our response to the presence of Christ in all the down trodden.  Well, we just discussed one of the options.  We are to serve these people in whatever way we can.  Often times it depends on where you are gifted.  Now, the second way to respond and this is the wrong way, is to do nothing to help these people out.  Often times we read this that the sheep will be getting to heaven and the goats won’t and this is correct.  However, it also tells us how to be sheep, by serving others and how to be a goat, by not serving others.  What happens is that you see the homeless, the addicted, the prisoners, the sick and whatever else we find, and you do nothing.  In this case, you may be signing up for a destination in hell.  I have seen this many times.  Faith without works is dead.

I remember attending a church one time that was a great suburban church.  They were doing some things right.  They had been growing but weren’t anymore.  They had loads of Bible studies.  They had a large Sunday school and youth program.  They seemed to have it all.  But I noticed that something was missing.  I asked them “Where are the poor?”  This didn’t go over very good with them but I know that it opened their eyes a little.  It turns out that they were good at being a church but they were not good at helping the poor and needy.

This may be the most important thing a church does with the exception of asking people if they have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Many, many pastors refuse to ask that question either and churches are dying because of it.  But even in churches where they ask if you have a personal relationship with Jesus, they may no have outreach to the poor.  There could be huge consequences to not helping the needy.  It is a place called hell.

All this has far reaching consequences.  I don’t care who you are, you cannot help everyone.  There is a simple rule that I try to follow.  I can only help the person in front of me.  I can’t help all who are watching unless you find a way to get in front of me.  One of the things that I have learned is that Satan wants me to try to help many people at the same time.  He knows that I can’t do it and I will get frustrated and fail.  That is what he wants.  That is also what he wants you to do.  Satan can never do anything constructive.  He can only tear you down by making you believe his lies.  The best way to avoid this is to minister to the person who is in front of you.  That is where you will be the most effective.

As I mentioned, the sheep and goats are illustrations.  Both these animals have good and bad traits.  We are not to think that goats are bad because of this.  But goats are a little more strong-willed than sheep.  So, if you are leading the life of a goat, then there is still a chance for you as you can see by the reading that Jesus is present everywhere.  Jesus will always accept you back into the fold but you do have to be more like a sheep and less like a goat.

This is because He wants what is the very best for you.  If you are a goat and you die today, you probably won’t be in heaven and Jesus will mourn over you.  We have been talking the last little bit about being obedient to God.  This is where the sheep mentality comes into play.  If you are following Jesus, then you will gradually put aside all of your goat tendencies.  Being obedient will mean more blessings.  Jesus will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so many blessings into your life that you will not know what to do with them.  Our God is an abundant God and He will bless you abundantly.

But if you don’t want to obey His word, then you are heading for the place where you don’t want to spend eternity.  All God does is show us the way.  That is the purpose of the Bible.  It is God’s word and He shows you how to be obedient.  And when you are, then He will bless you and bless you and bless you.  And when you think that you are about full of these wonderful blessings, then He will bless you some more.  There is not a religion or anything else in the world where you can get a better deal than that.

Now, I would like to mention a few things here to try to increase your gratitude index.  Are you thankful for the air you breathe or the food you eat?  Are you grateful for the experiences that have helped mold you to who you are?  Have you been thankful for the kindness of strangers? Do you appreciate all the friendships and acquaintances that you have.  Isn’t it wonderful that we have the freedom to express ourselves?  I know that this can be rather burdensome at times, but are you thankful for your ability to feel emotions?  And of course, all this leads to are you thankful for being alive?   I could keep going on and on here but I hope that you get the idea that you should be thankful for all the things of this world that you have.  And who is responsible for all this?  It is Jesus Christ.

Speaking of Jesus, are you appreciative for having the Bible?  I know that we have many Bibles and we use them.  Do you have gratitude for having a full life in Jesus full of blessings?  Are you grateful that you are able to have peace in any situation?  Are you happy with the many different ways you can worship including an online service like this?  Do you appreciate this wonderful, beautiful world where we live?  Are you grateful that you have a purpose in life, not a purpose from this world, but a purpose from Jesus?  Aren’t you glad that you get to start out each day new, with a fresh start?  And finally, and I know that there are many more to add, but finally are you grateful that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and that he died for you?

People, we live in a world of sheep and goats.  The goats aren’t really thankful for any of these things I just mentioned.  But as sheep, you should be.  I hope you can practice this way of life all the time just like you practice to pray continually.  When you do these things, you will be able to watch as the blessings pile up so much that you can’t keep track of them.  Thank Jesus for everything and praise the Lord.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.