Who Are “The Least of These?”
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Matthew 25:31-49
31 “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. 32 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, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
34 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, 35 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, 36 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.’
37 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? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 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.’
41 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, 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’
44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”
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Separating the Sheep from the Goats
In this passage from Matthew, Jesus is teaching his disciples about separating sheep from goats. Jesus is teaching us, here and now, about how we will be judged. It’s a very direct passage, and – because it is Jesus talking – we should take it very seriously.
What is the context for this passage? This scripture is from Matthew Chapter 25. If we go back two chapters to Matthew 23, we find that Jesus is preaching a well-known sermon, in which he denounces the scholars of the law and the Pharisees – famously calling them hypocrites.
Then, at the beginning of Matthew 24, some time after this sermon about Pharisees has concluded, Jesus is sitting alone on the Mount of Olives. There is no crowd, it is just Jesus and his disciples. The disciples ask “what will it be like, when the Kingdom of Heaven arrives?”
Jesus teaches a lesson about the Kingdom of Heaven. He tells us of signs it is coming, and that no one knows the hour or the day. He warns us of false prophets, and to stay the course. Then, right before the passage we’re considering today, he tells an interesting parable.
In my Bible, this parable is called “The Master’s Gold.” It is about a master and his three servants. The Master is going on a long journey, and he needs his servants to take care of his gold while he’s away.
To one servant he gives five bags of gold. To another, two bags. And to the third servant, the master gives one bag of gold. The servants with five and two bags of the master’s gold take them to the bank and earn interest, so their gold doubles.
But the servant with only one bag of gold digs a hole and hides the gold in a field. He does not put the master’s money to work, so he earns no interest and the gold does not grow. When the master returns, he gets double the gold from the servants he had given 5 and 2 bags.
But the servant who had 1 bag of gold brings only 1 bag back to the master, because he has hidden it out in a field and it has not grown while the master is away. The master is furious. “‘You wicked, lazy servant!” says the master.
THE MASTER IS ANGRY WITH THE SERVANT BECAUSE HE ENTRUSTED THE SERVANT WITH HIS GOLD AND THE SERVANT MERELY KEPT IT SAFE INSTEAD OF INVESTING IT. YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF: WHAT EXACTLY IS WRONG WITH THAT?
Didn’t the servant keep the master’s gold safe and sound? Didn’t he give the gold back to the master? It’s not like the servant LOST the master’s gold or something like that. It’s not like the servant went out and spent it. Is Jesus being pro-financial advisor here? Or something else?
In Matthew 25, immediately following the parable of the bags of gold – and still in the context of discussing the Kingdom of Heaven – Jesus teaches us the parable of the sheep and the goats from today’s scripture lesson. We’ll return to the bags of gold, so keep that in mind.
What’s going on with today’s passage about the sheep and the goats? Like most parables, it is fairly straightforward on the surface. Jesus is teaching his disciples about how we will be judged. We’re told that all people will be separated into two groups: the sheep and the goats.
The sheep are the righteous. The sheep will inherit the kingdom. The sheep will find eternal life in salvation. The goats, on the other hand, are the accursed. The goats will inherit “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
WHY ARE THE SHEEP CALLED RIGHTEOUS AND THE GOATS THE ACCURSED? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? THE DIFFERENCE IS SERVICE. THE SHEEP FED THE HUNGRY, GAVE DRINK TO THE THIRSTY, WELCOMED STRANGERS, AND CARED FOR THE SICK.
THE SHEEP EVEN WENT BEYOND SIMPLY TAKING CARE OF THOSE WITH MATERIAL NEEDS. THEY EVEN VISITED THOSE IN PRISON. IN SHORT, THE SHEEP SAW NO BOUNDARY TO THOSE THEY SHOULD SERVE.
The goats, on the other hand, gave NO food to the hungry, gave NOTHING to drink to those who thirst, did NOT welcome strangers, FAILED to cloth those in need, and NEGLECTED to care for the sick or visit those in prison.
You see, this passage very clearly offers us a calling to serve. But it offers us two other things as well. THIS PASSAGE OFFERS US A CALLING, A PROMISE, AND A BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGING THE WORLD.
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Beyond Self-Interest
To start to explain how this passage really works, I’d like to take a brief detour through history. I’ve been reading this truly fascinating book by Rodney Stark called THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY.
Stark is a professor of sociology and religion, and he studies how religions change and shape the societies they operate within. So he’s sort of an historian of religion, but from the perspective of society. Not just what happened, but how what happened affected people.
You might remember that about a month ago I told you about the Emperor Julian, and how he told his pagan priests they needed to be more like Christians? That Julian was upset because Christians took care of ALL the poor, not only their own? That is from this same book.
The past few weeks, I’ve been reading about some major catastrophes that happened in ancient Rome. Two of these were two major plagues: the first plague was a smallpox plague in 165, and the second plague was likely measles and happened in 251.
When I use the word “plague,” I do so very purposefully. From contemporary accounts by historians and physicians alive at the time, we now understand that around ONE QUARTER TO ONE THIRD OF THE ENTIRE ROMAN EMPIRE DIED from these diseases.
Now, people in Rome at the time didn’t understand that there were such things as germs or viruses. But ancient Romans most certainly DID understand the idea of contagion. They understood that if you stayed around a sick person, you might get sick too.
ANCIENT ROMANS MOST CERTAINLY UNDERSTOOD CONTAGION. YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW THIS FOR SURE? BECAUSE WE KNOW FROM ACCOUNTS AT THE TIME THAT EVERYONE WHO COULD GET AWAY FROM SICK PEOPLE DID SO. IMMEDIATELY.
At the height of the second plague, we have a letter that survives describing the scene. “At the very onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead…hoping to avoid the fatal disease.”
The scene is horrendous. We’re told of people tossing out those close to them – even their family members – out into the street to get them away from the healthy. Sometimes even before they were dead. It seems the general populace did anything to save themselves.
There is another example of this from history, and I have to admit this one is kind of funny. There is a famous classical physician named Galen who lived through the first epidemic. When the disease first broke out, he started writing a very detailed description of its symptoms.
But Galen’s account is only halfway finished. He just sort of stops writing his description – which survives today – of the symptoms as they develop around only the first few days. Why? Did Galen die or something? Nope. He fled to his country estate in Turkey, literally mid-study.
These epidemics were a mess in the ancient Roman empire. And the prevailing religion at the time – paganism – offered no consolation whatsoever. You see, pagan beliefs are all about exchange. This for that. “I sacrifice this dove to Mars, and I will be victorious in battle.”
In ancient Rome, pagan gods just sort of tolerated people. They seemed annoyed by people most of the time – unless they wanted to borrow someone’s wife or something. The gods demanded worship and sacrifice, and in exchange they could be enticed to return the favor.
So when the plagues hit, the pagans in the Roman empire panicked. Those who were wealthy or powerful – the emperor, senators, and those like the physician Galen – hightailed it out of town to their country estates. Those who were left tossed family members outside to die.
And the pagan priests left too. They saw that no amount of sacrifice could appease the gods, so they split. To the pagans, this was like one of the Old Testament plagues in ancient Egypt. One of them actually wrote at the time “I wish it were only the first-born who perished.”
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Faith Working Through Love
So what did the early Christians do? Well, if you came here to hear a story in which the Christians are the heroes, you came to the right place! Because during these plagues in ancient Rome – while the pagans fled – the Christians stayed behind, and cared for the sick.
A letter survives from the second plague, which reads “Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves, and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ.”
WHY WOULD THE CHRISTIANS PUT THEMSELVES IN HARM’S WAY TO HELP THE SICK AND DYING? WHILE THE PAGANS FLED, AND THOSE WHO DIDN’T TOSSED SICK PEOPLE OUT IN THE STREET TO DIE, WHY DIDN’T THE CHRISTIANS DO THE SAME?
Were the Christians just dumb? I’m sure it seemed so to others at the time. Imagine the pagans who couldn’t afford to flee from the cities. The emperor at the time of the first plague writes that in Rome alone, 5,000 dead were being wheeled out of the city every day.
Imagine those pagans who had to stay in Rome. For days, months, years, you see carts and wagons carrying corpses out of the city to dump the bodies of those dead from plague. 5,000 dead every day.
And yet out in the streets, around the fountains where the sick thronged for water – the very places everyone else avoided – you would see the Christians. Finding the sick. Taking them back to their own homes. Nursing them to health.
Modern medical experts believe that conscientious nursing – without ANY MEDICATIONS WHATSOEVER – could at times cut the mortality rate of most diseases by two-thirds or even more. Did the Christians staying to take care of the sick and dying matter? You bet.
WHY DID THE EARLY CHRISTIANS TAKE CARE OF THE SICK, EVEN AT THEIR OWN PERIL? BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN A LIFE AFTER DEATH. BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN A GOD WHO LOVED HUMANITY – GOD DIDN’T JUST TOLERATE PEOPLE, HE LOVED THEM.
YOU SEE, THESE EARLY CHRISTIANS UNDERSTOOD THAT BECAUSE GOD LOVES HUMANITY, HE CAN ONLY BE PLEASED WHEN WE LOVE EACH OTHER AS WELL. THAT BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS, WE TOO ARE CALLED TO SACRIFICE.
Remember I mentioned this passage from Matthew OFFERS US A CALLING, A PROMISE, AND A BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGING THE WORLD? THIS IS THE CALLING. WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE. WE ARE CALLED TO SERVICE.
Why are we called to love? Because God loves us. Why are we called to sacrifice our own well-being for that of others? Because Jesus sacrificed Himself to save us. Indeed, we are called to “all those who in every place call on the same of Jesus,” to quote 1 Corinthians 1:2.
THIS IS THE CALLING. WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE AND SERVICE. AND THE PROMISE IS RELATED TO THIS CALLING. BECAUSE THE PROMISE IS THAT IN SHOWING SUCH LOVE, AND IN DOING SUCH SERVICE, WE WILL LOVE AND SERVE JESUS HIMSELF.
Notice what Jesus tells us in our passage from Matthew 25. When the Lord addresses the sheep, the righteous, those who will inherit the Kingdom, he commends them, saying “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
When he addresses the goats, the accursed, those who will inherit the eternal fires of damnation, he admonishes them, saying “just as you DID NOT DO IT to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you DID NOT DO IT to me.”
THIS IS THE PROMISE. WE ARE CALLED TO FEED THE HUNGRY, CARE FOR THE SICK, AND GENERALLY ATTEND TO THE NEEDS OF THOSE IN TROUBLE BECAUSE JESUS PROMISES THAT THOSE WHO DO SO WILL SERVE JESUS HIMSELF.
We’re taught in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus is the grace of God incarnate – God’s grace made flesh. In this passage from Matthew, we’re told directly that serving those in need is the same as serving Christ Himself. We encounter grace when we serve.
LET ME SUMMARIZE WHERE WE ARE THUS FAR. WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS GOD LOVES US, AND TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN SACRIFICE AS JESUS DID. AND WE’RE PROMISED THAT IN DOING SO, WE WILL ENCOUNTER GRACE.
This promise, by the way, is central to the way we do faith in the Methodist tradition. We understand that we are saved by faith alone, but that we continue to receive grace well past our baptism or confirmation.
You see, John Wesley taught that we continue to receive grace after salvation has come to us. We encounter grace in two ways. First, through our private faith lives: praying continually, glorifying God in worship and praise, and seeking God in devotion. All are taught in scripture.
BUT AS METHODISTS, WE ARE CALLED TO MORE THAN BELIEVING WITH OUR HEARTS. WE ARE CALLED TO CONFESS WITH OUR VERY LIVES. WE AIM TO UNDERSTAND GOD AND GOD’S CALLING FOR US SO THAT WE CAN PARTICIPATE IN GOD’S WORK.
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Service Subverts Social Structures (the 4 Ss)
Let’s come back to the parable of the master’s gold. The master is angry with the servant who took the gold the master gave him and hid it in a hole to keep it safe instead of investing it and helping it grow and multiply while the master is away.
Personally, I don’t think this parable of Jesus is about money. I don’t see it as some sort of thinly-veiled advertisement for Charles Schwab. What I do see in this parable very directly are two themes we see in other well-known parables of Jesus.
First, I see the theme of something growing. I recognize “the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed” from the Gospels. I am reminded that “if a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” I think of the sower of seeds as well.
If God is the master, and you have been entrusted with His gold, what is that gold to you? What is the most important thing to you in this life? Perhaps your life itself? Perhaps that which was given out of pure love and grace by God, allowing you to find salvation through Jesus?
This is the second theme I see in this parable of the master’s gold: hiding your valuables away. Wanting to keep them safe at the expense of all else. Wanting to be miserly about the gifts God has given to you. Wanting to keep those gifts all to yourself.
We’re taught in the Sermon on the Mount not to “light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, put it on its stand, so it can give light to everyone in the house. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
THE PARABLE OF THE MASTER’S GOLD SEEMS TO ME TO BE ABOUT NOT HIDING AWAY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN, BUT INSTEAD SHARING IT, SPREADING IT AROUND. NOT KEEPING IT SAFE SOMEWHERE, BUT PLANTING IT HERE AND THERE, THAT IT MAY GROW.
You see, here we are getting to the third thing today’s passage from Matthew offers us. WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE CALLING TO LOVE AND SERVICE, AND THE PROMISE OF GRACE. NOW WE ARE GETTING INTO THE BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGING THE WORLD.
But before we go there, let me be clear on one thing. If our focus in faith is ONLY on our personal lives, we are missing out. If we take the master’s gold and hide it away, wanting to keep it safe, we are like the servant who fails to grow the gold for the master.
Of course, we are called to acts of personal piety through our private faith lives: praying continually, glorifying God in worship and praise, and seeking God in devotion. All these are taught in scripture, and they are all important for building and maintaining our faith.
BUT WE ARE CALLED TO MORE THAN SIMPLY KEEPING OUR PERSONAL FAITH LIVES SAFE. WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE AND SERVICE. WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE PROMISED TO ENCOUNTER GOD’S GRACE THROUGH THOSE ACTIVITIES.
Another absolutely marvelous thing happens when we express our faith through love. When we serve others, we allow God to work at the level of society, not only in our individual hearts. Let’s come back to those plagues in ancient Rome.
This is what happened. Because the Christians nursed the sick, those sick cared for by Christians died at a far lower rate than everyone else – because remember, basic nursing can cut the mortality rate by two-thirds or more.
The Christians were doing this service joyfully, because (1) they believed in eternal glory after this life, and (2) they knew they were called to sacrifice, in love and service, and promised that they would encounter the grace of God through that sacrifice of love and service.
Those pagans who survived the plagues were most likely taken care of by Christians, because the nursing Christians provided ensured those under their care were more likely to live. Almost all of those pagans who were sick and survived converted to Christianity.
Meanwhile, those who were NOT sick witnessed what the Christians were doing. They looked out the windows of their homes, and they saw two things. They saw the sick dying in the streets, and the wagons of dead bodies being carried past every day.
But they ALSO saw the Christians out there, nursing the ill. The pagans who weren’t sick saw their own people – the senators, the priests, the wealthy – flee contagion to save their own skins, but they saw the Christians who remained, caring for those in need.
So many of these pagans who were never ill but saw WHAT THE CHRISTIANS WERE DOING WITH THEIR BELIEFS also converted. The pagans came to know about the Christian belief system – and not necessarily because the Christians were preaching to the pagans.
THE PAGANS SAW THE CHRISTIANS’ FAITH BECAUSE THEY SAW THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WORKING THROUGH LOVE. Matthew 28:19 reads “go and make disciples of all nations.” AS CHRISTIANS, THAT’S ABOUT HOW WE BEHAVE, NOT ONLY WHAT WE BELIEVE.
SERVICE SUBVERTS SOCIAL STRUCTURES. It breaks down divisions in society. Rich and poor. Sick and healthy. Black and white. Haves and have nots. SERVICE EVEN BREAKS DOWN – CRUCIALLY! – THE DIVISION BETWEEN CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN.
