Eze. 34:11-16, 20-24; Mat. 25:31-end
I’ll be honest with you, this parable doesn’t sit well with me, for one simple reason… I prefer goats to sheep. And that has nothing to do with the fact I had a pet goat, or that a sheep once tried to jump over me – failed miserably and headbutted me in the side. I just think goats are better – they’re inquisitive and independent, whereas sheep are distant and aloof. A key animal welfare indicator for goats is their human interaction, you enter the pen and time how long it takes them to come and say hello – if they are used to seeing their shepherd and are treated well you will normally find they come over in no time at all. But sheep are easier to look after, they are less likely to escape or stray from their flock… goats, well there’s a reason my goat was called Tinker.
This is a challenging parable, even if you ignore my preference of goats over sheep!! It’s difficult to read, and it can leave you wondering whether or not you are doing enough to be one of those sheep at Jesus’ right. And I think this year it's that bit more challenging. We are currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis with many this winter having to choose whether to put a hot meal on the table or heat their home. This is the first time in my lifetime where I have been really conscious of those choices. Possibly because in the last recession I was only young and not really thinking about where money came from and had no comprehension of how much things costed – a lot has changed since then. Right now, everyone is making cuts, re-evaluating what is a luxury and what is a necessity. And whilst I try very hard not to think about Christmas outside of Advent, many are wondering what their Christmas will look like this year, in the light of the current economical situation we find ourselves in. It is for that reason that this passage feels different this year, because giving to those who have less is harder when we ourselves have less. And it makes us wonder whether we are worthy to be called those sheep and to sit at Jesus’ right.
Today is also the Feast of Christ the King, or the Reign of Christ. A time when we remember the kingship of Jesus. I would suspect that when you think about what a King is, Jesus is probably not your go to… you are more likely to look at our current monarch, or turn to film and tv depictions of Henry the Eighth and other medieval kings. Depicted as powerful figures, well and truly reigning over their subjects. They are powerful figures… and they know it!! And they don’t always use their power and authority well, with some taken a rather ‘my way or the highway’ approach to reigning. But we know that wasn’t the sort of king Jesus was… nor was it the sort of king he needed to be. Christ was sent to earth to be a king, but to serve those whom he met. We would probably find Ezekiel’s imagery of a shepherd a lot easier. And why wouldn’t we, I think we spend more time hearing about Jesus as Good Shepherd than we do a great king.
In that reading from Ezekiel, we hear the importance of the role of a shepherd. The metaphor of a shepherd is popular in describing religious leadership, in fact it is one of the characteristics set out in the ordinal of what a priest should be. There is an autobiography by James Rebanks called ‘A Shepherds Life’ – it’s not overly well known and amongst clergy that I’ve met it seems to fall into 2 categories. They either knew it and have read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested it; or they’ve never come across it. Fairly late into the book James shares the rules of shepherding:
1. it’s not about you, it’s about the sheep and the land,
2. sometimes you can’t win,
3. shut up, and go and do the work.
I feel this is something we can all relate to.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that the first rule of shepherding is the one that most latch on to, though I’m pretty sure that in Parish Ministry the other two are also very accurate!! When I was going through discernment the first rule was what the Diocese of Oxford Vocations Team opted to print on their postcards, as they encouraged people to consider ordained ministry.
Shepherds are seen as nurturing and tender but will fight in defence of their flock. Psalm 23 certainly depicts the shepherd as being armed and ready for battle. But often this metaphor is romanticised – and ignores the value of the sheep to the shepherd. Ultimately, they need to make the shepherd money. The passage from Ezekiel doesn’t shy away from this. It demonstrates that Israel is as valuable to God as nutritious and profitable sheep are valuable to a shepherd.
This metaphor doesn’t necessarily fit with our view of kings – although I think it would be quite easy to picture our current monarch out on the hillside with a crook herding sheep – but it wouldn’t quite fit with the image of a king we regularly see depicted in tv and film.
Which takes us back to today’s Gospel, where the shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep are to be seated at God’s right and the goats on the left.
I’m sure all of us here have been those sheep in this parable, but I wonder how many of us can honestly say that we have never been the goats. Those times when we have been in a rush and hurried passed someone in need, or not answered the phone because we are in the middle of something, and we know the conversation will not be a quick one, or one that we don’t particularly want to have right now. On Friday I saw an advert in a Harvester inviting us to ‘pay forward’ to allow someone else to have a Christmas Dinner. I stopped for a moment as I thought what an amazingly lovely idea it was… but could I afford it. Until I turned the ad over and realised it was only £5.
We can’t all be sheep all of the time. Occasionally we do need to prioritise, even if that means prioritising ourselves over the need of others – however much this gospel seems to talk to the contrary of this. As long as we know that we are sheep at heart. It’s easy to get hung up on the times when we have been less than… less helpful, less Christian, but this is always a human limitation we place on ourselves. We’re not perfect, and trying to attain to perfection will nearly always be to our detriment. We need to be sheep at heart. Feeding the hungry, clothing the cold, helping those with less than us. And not be guilty if every now and then we put our own needs first, with the best of intentions.
Amen
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