I think this works if you maintain some lightness of being. But the goat business is not easy to work with.
Year A, Christ the King
November 23rd, 2014
Matthew 25:31-46
Where Culture Makes Sheep and Goats, Jesus Makes Disciples and Lovers
When the big guy comes, life will be different. This is always the hope of the people on the bottom. As the common people suffered taxes so heavy they lost their land and the Roman leaders and Jewish collaborators used their money to build colossal buildings to their own glory, the people imagined the scene when the worm would turn. They used this bitter oil to lubricate their lives. It was the oil of revenge. The dream of a God-sanctioned payback burned in their souls, hidden away, but capable of bursting into flame at any moment.
Even the Romans used the language of those “in” and those “out” but they put the action of their gods in the past when they were ordained rulers of the world. The gods had placed them in Rome, the geographical center of the world, blessed them with ideal weather and access to both land and sea. They had been given the law, civilization and the disposition to govern and govern they will. All other people were inferior to them and they are the criteria by which all the nations are judged. If the nations thought and dressed like Romans they were civilized and worthy of being sheep. But the minute they strayed from Rome’s plan and dared have a mind of their own they became goats, subject to ruthless pursuit and destruction.
Roman coins contained the message of Roman superiority. Their art portrayed it in every sculpture and relief. Always Rome was portrayed as an idolized male who in a threatening position stood above and over a woman who represented the rest of the nations. Relations between Rome and the nations of the world were presented in gender terms with Rome being male and the rest of the world female. They assumed this division was in the nature of things and paralleled the relations between the sexes. Glorious temples were built to teach the futility of opposing Rome. The world was filled with propaganda proclaiming the supremacy of Rome and the second class status of all the other nations, Jews included.
So it seems everyone was dividing the world between sheep and goats. Each group saw itself as the sheep and its enemies as goats. The Romans had the power to enforce their vision and the Jews did not so the Jews cast their vision into the future and made it dependent on the actions of a violent god they made in their own image. Everyone was clawing toward a place at the top and if they had to claw over each other they would. There always seemed to be some king saying “to those on his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” It was the way everyone thought; it was the air they breathed and the water they swam in.
Now, if you could see that this is how everyone thought and this way of thinking was causing suffering and death, how would you communicate this to people you loved? This is Jesus’ dilemma. He sees that the problem is in the dividing. There are no sheep and goats and never have been. That’s the problem. When we divide we create two kinds of people and yet all of God’s children are his children.
When we divide we cast out many and exalt a few. It’s a division that cuts through our humanity and hurts both sides. How can Jesus enter our divided-in-two world and cause us to see in a way that reconciles? He finds a way. He enters our world and then subverts it from the inside. This is what makes him our king but he is a king like no other.
The subversion happens half-way through the following sentence; listen for it. “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 drink.” Suddenly the sheep are those who care for the goats. They feed them and provide them with water. They are all in it together. Prior to that the hungry were those you ignored because they were lesser than you and deserved their fate. They were goats on their way to destruction. But now those who inherit the kingdom stand against destruction. The world has been turned upside down and the followers of this new King champion those who have been separated out as goats.
A week ago Saturday Laura and I attended the Saturday afternoon Bravo Concert. Bravo is a youth orchestra for first, second and third graders at Rosa Parks Elementary School in Portland, the poorest school in the city. Our granddaughter, Iona, plays violin in this orchestra and her father, Seth, is the Executive Director. They are in their second year of existence. The whole operation is funded through a not-for-profit organization and has become a vehicle for children to learn to work together to create beautiful music. It’s a new kingdom-thing filled with Spirit and the lives of children are being transformed. Prior to Bravo, this school had no music program and the parents of these children, being poor, had little capacity to provide a music education for them.
I was astounded at how they had advanced musically in the year since they began and so were all their parents and the many community people who came. It was as though another phrase had been added to Jesus’ list. “I was without music or any avenue by which to learn it and you gave me an orchestra. It nurtured my soul and gave me a vision for a world in which I could amount to something.”
I was moved to tears and so proud. Children of all backgrounds played music together and exuded joy. For me it was the kingdom of God on earth though no one mentioned Jesus directly. Two professional musicians from the Portland Symphony Orchestra and one of the world’s most accomplished cellists, Alban Gerhart from Germany, played with them. The children shared music stands with the professionals and the next week Seth had the students thank the professionals for coming. One second grade girl who shared her stand with one of the professionals said in her letter that she was “shocked” at how well the professional played her violin. Can you imagine how grounding this is to the world class musician? We are all God’s children.
Rene Girard, in his book The Scapegoat, refers to these things as “the silent work of the Spirit working in history to bring light to the plight of the victims.” Those who align themselves with the Spirit’s work find themselves aligned with Christ, whether they have mentioned Christ or not. Conversely, those who continue to create or ignore victims will find themselves estranged from Christ, even if they named themselves “Christian.” I mentioned this view of the Spirit to Seth and he immediately knew what I was talking about. He then added that all of them; students, teachers and board were being changed. Their faces shine and they become more attractive. The divisive sheep-and-goat mentality has disappeared and in its place they have found their humanity. All of them together! The children and the adults, the beginners and the professionals all together!
James Alison, in his book Knowing Jesus, makes the connection between the Beatitudes and this final parable in Matthew. In the Beatitudes blessedness entails living a deliberately chosen and cultivated life not involved in the power and violence of the world. Of course, this makes the one living it immensely vulnerable to being turned into a victim but that too is blessed. In this week’s famous sheep and goat passage, judgment centers on how we relate to those blessed in the Beatitudes. Ignoring them continues the pattern of human division and separates us all from wholeness and joy; a kind of eternal punishment. In Jesus’ story those who understand that culture creates victims yet choose to stand with them find themselves serving Christ though they did not know it.
“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.” Where the world makes sheep and goats, Jesus makes disciples and lovers. Amen.
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