Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Ezekiel 34:20

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.

Matthew 25:32-33

It is a little bit confusing holding these various readings together. Who is being judged? Who is being praised?

Ezekiel was writing in a time when the people of Israel were in Exile. The shepherds who had failed to do their job were mostly the Kings of Israel and Judah. The imagery of shepherd is often used in the Old Testament to depict the Kings and leaders. The religious leaders also had their role of shepherding and they too were found wanting.
So Ezekiel wanting to bring hope to the people in exile proclaims God as the Shepherd who will come and look for the sheep himself. God would do what the shepherds had failed to do. He would bring them back to their own land. The sheep are the people of Israel who have been taken into exile.

But in the same breath as talking about caring for the sheep God threatens to destroy the fat and strong sheep. It is perhaps possible that Ezekiel’s words are aimed at the Babylonians who had brought his people into exile. It is also possible that among the Hebrew people in exile some have used their skills to feature their own nests without paying heed to other Hebrew people. We have heroic images of the Hebrew people in exile. Mordecai and Esther in the story of Esther comes across as great Hebrew people. Daniel and the three young men prepared to risk their lives for their faith are the other strong images from the exile.
Presumable these stories became part of the Hebrew cannon because they were indeed heroic people. They were heroic in a time of profound persecution. But presumable Ezekiel was conscious of many more in leadership roles in exile for whom their own survival out weighted their duty towards their kinsmen.

Matthew’s Gospel appears obvious on the surface but perhaps we read it differently to the original audience. The early Christians would have easily identified themselves with the brothers of Christ who could be found thirsty, hungry, naked, sick, in prison or as a refugee. The early Christians were persecuted and probably bear more resemblance to Christians in Egypt today than to us. The judgement of the sheep and the goats was the judgement on the non-Christians who cared for them or failed to care for them.
The word nations used at the beginning of the story is ethnos in Greek. It is the same word used later in chapter 28. Go and make disciples of all nations.
Those being judged then would be the non-Christians. Some reached out with generosity and love to the Christian community. Others treated them indifferently. I suspect that this was not the interpretation that led Mother Teresa to Calcutta. I believe she saw this Gospel reading as a message to treat all human beings as if Christ himself is present, especially the needy. The Christian Church in the west would do well to follow her lead. It would not be too hard to see western Christianity among the fat and the strong that Ezekiel talked about. It would not be too hard to see many leaders in the west as shepherds that have failed the sheep. They are leaders who have not let God be the king and themselves “princes” leading on his behalf. So in a fat and strong western Christianity Mother Teresa’s interpretation makes enormous sense. It may not be the understanding of the early Church.

Jensen (Preaching Matthew’s Gospel): “In Jesus’ eschatological vision we discover that when Jesus does come into our heart, he brings all of needy humanity along with him!” [p. 222] 1.

1. This quote from Jensen’s book and many of the ideas and thoughts for this sermon also come from Brian Stroffregen’s Exegetical notes

In all of this then we need to hear judgement against leaders who fail to care for their people. We need to hear judgement against those who elbow their way into positions of power and wealth. We need to hear judgement against those who failed to care for the God’s people when they are in desperate need. We need to hear judgement against all who fail to reach out in love to anyone who is in desperate need.

What are the implications for us in all of this?

I believe we need to challenge our political leaders and corporate leaders. Too often we feel powerless but it is surprising how effective a letter can be to a politician. Those who are share holders may find that you are able to be more assertive than you imagine when CEOs decide they need huge pay rises. If enough mum and dad share holders start dumping shares of unscrupulous companies the message gets through eventually.

We need to be careful that we ourselves do not become fat and strong. We probably feel that the chances of that are very low. But it depends on who we compare ourselves to. Do we make sure we buy fair trade products wherever possible? Our fatness and strength may more in relation to the person manufacturing our i-phones or the person growing our coffee.

On the whole in this country we have set up government structures to care for the poor, the hungry, the sick and those in prison. We need to keep and eye on all of these structures to make sure they provide the loving care we expect. It is tempting when hospitals are understaffed or underfunded just to blame the government. It is important that we do not shirk our own responsibilities by dropping everything in the governments lap.

To my mind one of the biggest issues we still need to reflect on is our care of refugees. Among the thirsty, the hungry and the naked are the “strangers”. These “strangers” are foreigners seeking refuge. By the grace of God our high court has declared that we can not send refugees to Malaysia for processing. The policy of mandatory detention that both major parties have embraced is hardly welcoming of these “strangers” in the Gospel. I believe we as a nation need to keep writing to our politicians until this policy is dramatically changed. The early Christians fled persecution and when as refugees to neighbouring countries. The sheep cared for them and welcomed them. The goats did not welcome them. As Christians for whom the tables are now turned we should remember the early church and show greater solidarity. If this story in Matthew’s Gospel is not enough to convince us then surely Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan will jolt us into action.

Let us pray
Lord Jesus we never recognize you in the needy
Help us to see with your eyes.
And Lord, give those of us who are leaders your spirit
of servant leadership. Amen