Matthew 25:31-46
“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 who 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 brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who 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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSVUE)
One of the great beauties of the bible is its ability to convey competing, even contradictory, messages that are interesting and compelling. For instance, one reading of Matthew 25 is terrifying but important: we are called to a radical form of care for each other, and that call is deadly serious. Those whom the world counts as “least” among us have a special place in the heart of God, and we ignore them at our extreme peril. Then again, the passage is unclear about the terms of this contract. Do we avoid being cast out by helping “the least of these” every time there’s been an opportunity? That would mean complete, unfailing self-sacrifice from birth. Or does it mean that if we do each of those requirements once, our ticket to heaven is punched? Luckily, in the context of the rest of the gospels, neither of those is probably true. God’s grace is endless, and Jesus’ sacrifice rescues us from our persistent failure to care for one another. Moreover, all of us are both “the least” (selfish, arrogant, greedy, etc.) and the most (loving, generous, compassionate, etc.).
Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest who founded Homeboy Industries for gang members to come to terms with their criminal histories, takes a grace-filled approach. In a podcast conversation with Father James Martin, Boyle says, “For forty-two years I’ve walked with gang members, and I can say, definitively, I’ve never met an evil person, and I’ve never even met a bad person. I’ve met wounded people, broken people, despondent people, traumatized people, mentally ill people, and addicted people. But I’ve never met anybody evil or bad. I think if I can understand what a broken, wounded person is, how much more so the God of love.” Boyle dismissed the idea that the separation of the sheep and goats is some kind of test to separate the good people from the bad people. He claims that “we’re all unshakeably good. The journey is to discover your goodness.” Boyle comes to this conclusion because he believes that God’s greatest joy is to love us. To serve “the least of these” is to enter into a relationship with each other and our vulnerabilities, to reveal the innate love and goodness that comes from being loved by God.
Questions for Reflection:
- How do you read this section of Matthew chapter 25? How does it fit with other messages we read of being justified by faith, etc.?
- How does the notion of relationship figure into your acts of service? How does being in relationship with those in need change the nature and purpose of serving?
Prayer:
Lord, all of us are both sheep and goats. Teach us every day the value of being in relationship with others through service. And in those acts of service, grant us insight into your perfect love for us so that we might keep growing closer to you. Amen.
The fascinating conversation with Father Boyle can be found here:
https://www.americamagazine.org/thespirituallife/
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