Sheep and Goat Socks - October 26
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44; Ecclus. 19:4-17; Rev. 11:1-14; Luke 11:14-26
My friend Grey went to the Holy Land several years ago and brought back a gift of socks for me. The left sock had goats and the right sock had sheep printed on the fabric. He sent me a little note of encouragement. “John, this is so you can remember that the sheep are on the right and the goats are on the left because Jesus said, ‘But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him, all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left’ (Matthew 25:31-33).” Grey was sure to say, as long as you put your socks on the correct feet, you will never forget how Jesus will divide us.
Today’s Gospel from Luke is a different message from the Gospel of Matthew. As the crowd is taunting Jesus and making some bold accusations about him, Jesus turns and says to the crowd, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house.” It is hard for me not to read this passage and think about our current state of affairs, the upcoming election, and our tendency as humans to project blame on each other. We, like many others, too often see the world as sheep and goats, where division is necessary to weed out the impure or incorrect beliefs of others. Maybe that is why many of us have found hope in the Episcopal Church, which her best days, has been a place where we are bound in common worship and not necessarily common belief. We can sit next to someone we disagree with, love them, value them, and find our common bond in Jesus Christ. I see this same practice lived out in our online worship as we greet each other with love and warmth.
A few months after I received the socks from Grey. I stood in front of the congregation where I had grown up, attending church weekly and school chapel a few times a week. This time I was wearing some sheep and goats on my feet and was invited to preach from the Gospel of Matthew. As I walked to the pulpit without my shoes on, looking down at my toes and then out in the congregation, it was clear as ever that Jesus didn’t come to divide us against each other. We all have both sheepness and goatness within ourselves.
It’s a divisive time, and Jesus’s words are a reminder that our kingdom can become a desert and our houses can collapse. But this division isn’t from competing political views or a differing of opinions. It comes from failing to recognize that each other are necessary for our common thriving. We need each other. May we remember that not only these next few weeks but for the ages to come.
- John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What does Christianity unity look like to you? How can a faith community find unity in a divisive time?
Daily Challenge: If sheepness and goatness could be the division within our own selves, spend time considering what Jesus is trying to push out of your life and what Jesus is trying to cultivate.