Fr. J. D. Ousley

I have to admit that the Bible passage we heard in the Second Lesson isn't one of my favorites. Talk of eternal judgment makes me uneasy. There seems to be enough fear and guilt in the world already. But I recognize there are valid theological points in it, and I can see why some Christians find it crucial to their faith.

The Gospel text presents the story of the Final Judgment at the end of time. Those Christians who believe the modern Church is too soft on various forms of sin are glad to hear that Christ the King identifies evildoers and sends them to eternal punishment.

And Christians who are committed to helping the poor can also find support for their views in this passage. For notice how people are to be judged: "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." We are judged by whether we minister to our neighbors in need -- ministries to the hungry and homeless are required of those who follow Christ.

Yet the idea of the Final Judgment remains scary: "You are accursed," the Son of Man says, "depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Not exactly "comfortable words!" And while we may agree about serving the poor, we may question the need for judgment and for eternal fire, presided over by the devil and his demons. Even Christians who want the church to take a stand in a sinful world may wonder about a loving God consigning souls to Hell.

And all who hear the words of the Scripture shiver at the prospect that they might be among the goats instead of the sheep.

We should remember though that the passage presents an image: one vision of the Final Judgment. And, since no image can be completely accurate, perhaps we should look beyond the lurid details of this picture of the Final Judgment and try to figure out what Christ is trying to teach us.

To begin with, we can note the one expression from this text that is so powerful that it has passed into our common language: "separating the sheep from the goats."

This figure of speech might be used, for example, by a football coach on his first day of practice, as he looks out at the crowd of athletes on the field, and he tries to pick the boys with good potential out of the throng of less skilled athletes who won't make the team.

The idea is that sheep are valuable -- while goats aren't worth having around.

Why have these words made it into the language? Well, maybe because we are afraid of being separated. Like the boys trying out for the football team, we don't want to think of the possibility that we will be cut from the team.

And, even if I feel that I personally will "make the cut" and go to heaven, I may still be disturbed by the idea that God would make a division between sheep and goats. How could God choose some of us and leave others behind?

Again, though, remember this is an image. Hardly the only image we have of God. Let's look for a moment at our fear. Our fear might be compared to the psychological problem known as "separation anxiety."

Separation anxiety is found in young children who can't stand leaving the presence of their parents. They want to be with mom and dad all the time. The children worry that if their parents leave the room, they may never return.

Now in children, separation anxiety arises naturally as the young ego is formed. For most children, it's just a stage -- a stage of personal development, which they pass through on their way to becoming functional adults.

But spiritual "separation anxiety" is something else. Why don't we want to be among the goats? Because to be separated off from the sheep is to be separated from God.

And notice that this alienation isn't God's fault. As the vision teaches us, separation arises from our failure to serve Christ in others.

Judgment doesn't come because God takes perverse enjoyment in seeing us suffer. We make our own beds of selfishness -- and we have to lie in them.

Looked at this way, judgment no longer seems like a harsh intrusion of primitive religion. Judgment is the force of reality hitting us in our own real lives.

As the spiritual writer, Frederick Buechner, observes, "We are all of us judged every day. We are judged by the face that looks back at us from the bathroom mirror. We are judged by the faces of the people we love."

Isn't this true? Doesn't the spiritual judgment of who we are come to us from the mirror? Aren't many of the judgments we worry about delivered by the people we love?

Spiritual "separation anxiety" includes the terrifying prospect that our bad behavior will make us lose self-respect and the respect of our family and our friends.

Yet, though judgment is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is by no means all of the Gospel. When St. Paul-who never pulled his punches when talking about judgment-when Paul turned to the subject of separation in one of the most famous passages in his writings, his words brought not anxiety but comfort. His message offered a welcome balance to the threat of judgment.

In the Letter to the Romans, Paul wrestled with the complicated problems of the Christian understanding of good and evil. But then, in the midst of one of his most intricate arguments, he stopped to ask the question: "What shall separate us from the Love of Christ?" What indeed will draw us apart from the divine Presence?

Paul gives a long list of horrors faced by the early Christiansand faced by many Christians in the world today: : "tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword."

And then Paul answers his own question: "Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

What about the sheep and the goats? Well, judgment there is, but the judgment is administered with love.

Frederick Buechner gives his own image of how judgment comes from Christ the King:

"Christ's love sees us with terrible clarity and sees us whole. Christ's love so wishes our joy that it is ruthless against everything in us that diminishes our joy. The worst sentence Love can pass is that we behold the suffering which Love endured for our sake, and that suffering of Christ is also our acquittal. The justice and the mercy of the judge are ultimately one."

"The justice and the mercy of the judge are ultimately one."

However we fail in acts of kindness and charity, however we hurt those we love, divine justice and mercy are one. "Nothing ... shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.