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‘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 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 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 who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that 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)
Do you remember the days when you entered a restaurant and you would be asked, "Smoking or non?" Airlines for a while asked that as well; and then those days went away. Imagine being asked, as you entered your church, "Sheep or Goat?" While it may never happen, Jesus says the day is coming when you will be judged according to whether you were a sheep or a goat in this life. Sheep to the right; goats on the left. Sheep into eternal glory, goats into eternal punishment. Why?
Jesus, as He leaves earth, wants the church to know that their job is far from over. Once you enter into relationship with Jesus, the work has only started. You've reached a great place, but it's one of responsibility, not privilege. The disciples heard this and learned from it, as should we. How hard is the work? Well, with Jesus living and guiding our hearts, it's not as hard as it should be. The question we must be answering now is "Have I done enough for God and God's people?" Hear what Jesus will say on that day, "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 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." What? When? Jesus will respond, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."
Think about that list: Hunger, Thirst. Welcome. Clothed. Care. Visited. Think about hunger in America on this day of plenty for most. Just this past Sunday, CBS Sunday morning did a report on hunger in our country. It made me weep. There are children and adults who do not know where their next meal will come from. And it has been schools, and some churches, who are trying to bridge the gap between dying of hunger or staying alive. As a district superintendent one year I stressed a simple ministry that we can do in each of our churches, and that was to give a loaf of bread to the hungry in our neighborhoods. At meetings where the pastor was leaving and we were to decide on the new pastor I showed up with ten loaves of bread; five whole wheat, five white. It was a message about our communities. And I asked the members of that committee to please take a loaf to share with a family that might not have bread. At one meeting, one woman said, "There is NO hunger in this community! The government gives food stamps, so no one is hungry!" She was a bit angry, and the looks she got from the rest of the community said, in a nice way, "Dear one, there is hunger." One person seated next to her asked if she could take two loaves because she knew of two families that did not have anything to eat. The rest of the committee took a loaf.
There is thirst in the world as well. We take clean drinking water for granted. Look no further than Flint, Michigan, as one example of a community in our country that does not have safe drinking water. During the time we lived in Corpus Christi, we have over five alerts to boil our water before we drank it, and a couple of those we were told not to drink the water for boiling it would do nothing to kill the harmful materials in it.
Think of people who visit some churches and never get so much as a hello.
Can you count the number of times you visited a prison on one hand?
Do you avoid visiting the sick because you might get sick?
Have you shared a coat with the cold, or a dress for a little girl who has none?
Sheep or Goat? I think we already know.
PRAYER: Loving Father, forgiveness is in my heart for failing in being faithful as I should. Grant me new opportunities to fulfill this that Jesus said will determine my seat in eternity. I want to sit with the sheep, so let me work hard to be a sheep to those in in need. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great, blessed, and safe Thanksgiving! May this day bless you and guide you and yours to do more!
Eradio Valverde
