The Dilemma of the Sheep and the Goats

This Sunday's Gospel reading is Matthew 25:31-46 and contains the prediction of the separation of the sheep from the goats.

‘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.’

The message of the importance of charity is clear, but the dilemma revisionist preachers face this Sunday is that they have to revise the parts of this reading that do not fit the message they want to send to their sheep. You see, the revisionist preacher wants to focus on how his sheep are really good at bringing meals to each other when a member is sick, and how their congregation welcomes "strangers" (meaning: LGBTs), but they have to do this while studiously avoiding all of Jesus' talk about Hell and damnation.

Or maybe that is no dilemma at all to the devoted revisionist.

Yeah, no problem at all. In fact, I have heard it handled quite easily in the past. The revisionist preacher starts out with a story about their Thanksgiving family dinner and how they treated the rest of their family and then they find a way to tie it into the first part of the Gospel reading all the while ignoring the harshness of the second half. Presto, change-o, Biblical Jesus becomes revisionist Jesus.

This season is the time in which we all express our thankfulness for God's blessing, not the least of which is the fact that He deems to save us from the eternal damnation and Hell fire awaiting those who reject Him.

Like it or not, we need to be continually reminded of this.