A lot of sporting events for young kids end up with everyone who participates getting a ribbon or medal without really recognizing a “first place” champion. This “everybody wins” mindset is pretty common. A new soccer league inEnglandhas taken this to a new level. In an effort to relieve the pressure of competition and the embarrassment of losing, this league is limiting scoring for all teams with youth under age 16 to 1 point. So every game ends up 1-0 or a draw. For kids 11 and under, scoring is being eliminated all together. Some think this will focus on the “fun” of the game and athletic development without giving so much emphasis to winning and losing. But here’s the thing that most parents know: no matter what the rules say, kids know the score.
So do Vikings fans. Though lately they rather wish they didn’t.
It comes very natural for us to keep score. And not just in athletic events. We do this in other areas of our life too. If you’re married, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Husbands and wives can get very good at keeping score. One girls weekend for Team Wife” = one day of golf for “Team Husband.” One dinner prep = one dinner clean up. We like to keep things very even and we know when one side is getting ahead. When our kids were little and they needed attention at night or at bedtime I remember thinking “who’s turn is it?” It didn’t take long even in a sleep-deprived half-awake state to remember the score. And I’m pretty sure I was almost always behind.
We do this in other relationships too. It’s not exactly a graceful way to live or relate to others. Friends do it. Students do it. Siblings do it. We all do it. So we might expect that this “keeping score” mentality could slip into the way we think about our relationship with God. And it does. We keep track of sins and good deeds like our faith is a big game or competition to try to win our life and salvation. We like to identify who’s ahead and who’s got some catching up to do. “Look at her. She does so much for her family and community. She’s really wracking up the points! This one on the other hand should be trying a little harder.” This way of thinking gets even more personal and more twisted when it becomes, “Look at me . . . “
Today’s Gospel seems to set us up for more of this kind of thinking. Jesus tells a parable of the final judgment. And it looks at first like we have dueling teams: Sheep and Goats. One on each side. With God as the great scorekeeper. Jesus is on his throne as judge and all the points are in and its time to tally things up! Sheep did well, lots of good works. They win. Goats performed poorly, did not do much good. They lose.
This can’t be the message of the parable! We know that our relationship with God isn’t about keeping score. We know from Scripture that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast. We maintain with the Apostle Paul that one is justified by faith apart from works. This is the clear message of the Gospel. So how does Jesus story fit into our understanding of grace? After all, the parable does not mention forgiveness or faith or the cross or any of the actions of God that bring us life and salvation.
But the parable delivers good news and not just about the final judgment on the last day but about our life right now. Jesus parables always turn our thinking upside down and this story of the sheep and goats is filled with surprise.
Just look at how surprised the sheep are! The good things they did were not done to earn salvation or entrance into heaven. They weren’t even aware they had done them! Listen to their shocked response when the Judge calls them out on their good works: “When did we give food or clothing or shelter? When did we visit the sick or imprisoned?” They don’t remember doing any of it. Caring for other people is such a part of their redeemed nature, that these good works came naturally, perhaps even unconsciously – like a good tree that naturally produces good fruit. It doesn’t have to “think” about it. It does it because of what it is. And the sheep who were called and gathered by their Good Shepherd and nurtured with HIS own love produced good things without even knowing it and without trying so hard.
There are parallel judgment stories in ancient literature that are similar to Jesus’ story but differ in one very significant way. In Jewish Rabbinical literature and in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, those who were saved at the Last Judgment BOASTED of their good works. We see quite the opposite reaction when Jesus tells us the truth. Those who belonged to their Good Shepherd had no idea of what they had done and therefore had no reliance on themselves.
Note also in Jesus’ parable that the sheep are invited to receive an inheritance – not their earnings. An inheritance is determined by the giver, not the receiver. It was Jesus who earned this inheritance when he gave himself for us. Life and salvation, a paradise in heaven – these are given completely by grace to those who belong to him. The sheep didn’t win it by doing good things. They received what had been won FOR them on the cross when Jesus himself settled the score!
And finally, there is something about the good works the sheep did and who they were really doing it for that adds to the surprise of grace in this story. It was for the least – it was in the smallest of things that they showed that they belonged to the shepherd. Not in great impressive works that drew a lot of attention, but in daily work, in mundane activities that seemed insignificant at the time – it was precisely when their attention was off of self and focused on Christ that they were serving the King and living out their faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “We don’t know our works, only God knows our works. And all we know is God’s work.”
This parable is placed in Matthew’s Gospel right before Matthew tells the story of Jesus passion. In his life and death Jesus stood with the least of all, with all the world’s outcasts and losers — and he voluntarily and deliberately identifies with them. This is the story we must remember – when the shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. When the King descended from his throne to rescue the helpless. When the righteous judge became the condemned criminal. This is God’s work.
When we look away from ourselves and to him who has accomplished all things for us
When we focus on HIS works and not on our works
When we forget about the score and live in grace,
then we are recognized as sheep belonging to the shepherd and then Christ is present among us.
Jesus’ parable gives a picture of the last day when the grace of God finally reveals those who belong to Christ. But what does it look like now? What does it mean for us to live without keeping score? St. Augustinesaid, “Love God and do what you please.” That’s what the sheep do. They just belong to God and they let his love shape them into people who find living for others the only way to live. They are free to embrace a selfless life – a Christ-centered life – a life of serving and loving and caring. They don’t need to keep score because they already know where they belong – where they have always belonged: at God’s right hand.
