Father Tim Lemlin
While browsing around in the attic, Junior discovered an old report card that belonged to his Dad. He brought it downstairs and compared it with the one he had just received at school and which he intended to show when his Dad was in a good mood. When his Dad was seated in his easy chair, Junior approached. "Hey Dad, look at this old report card of yours and then look at the one I just got. Your grades aren't any better than mine."
Looking at both of the cards his Dad replied, "You're right, son. I guess the only fair thing to do now is give you what my Dad gave me."
The story that we hear today in Matthew's gospel about the sheep and the goats reflects a very different picture of God than Jesus generally uses. Yet, it also maintains a basic way of life that is evident in all of Jesus' teachings. The image that Jesus uses to portray God is one of forgiveness and mercy. God's love isn't dependent upon our actions. The judgment scene found in Matthew 25, however, seems to lack this forgiveness and mercy, and everything seems to be based upon the way in which one acts toward others.
Some scripture scholars also question the division that is made between the sheep and the goats. The stories and parables of Jesus, that we know are less changed by others, don't divide groups. Jesus speaks of good and evil dwelling together. No person, from Jesus' perspective, is completely good or completely evil. Both co-exist within us. Further, he says in his stories that to try to rid ourselves of evil is to do violence to what is good within us. He speaks, instead, of the process of transformation.
Transformation isn't something that we do. We can't transform ourselves. Transformation is something that happens to us. This is the element in today's story that captures the basic way of life that Jesus teaches. It is a transformation that results from our becoming more aware of who we truly are: a daughter or a son of God. As a daughter or son of God, we take on traits of God, much like the traits we take on from our parents. Our facial expressions, manner of walking and speaking, worldview, and how we relate to others, are all influenced by our parents. Some are learned, and some are genetically passed onto to us. Most go unnoticed until someone points them out, or we suddenly find ourselves using the same words as our parents use.
The difference between the traits that we receive from our parents and those that we receive from God is that those we receive from God more truly reflect who we are. Our parental traits are filled with biases and degrees of unawareness. God's traits clearly reveal who we are and fill us with awareness.
Our gospel story reveals two kinds of people that, in reality, dwell within each of us. One does acts of kindness in order to feel good about themselves, and to gain respect in the eyes of others and God. This first group is saying that they make conscious efforts to live a good life. They simply don't see God in their everyday life. God is reserved for special occasions or sacred places, like a church. God is completely external.
The other does acts of kindness without knowing that they are acting kindly. They are simply acting toward others in a way that comes naturally to them. It isn't something that they plan. They are simply being themselves.
This is the process of transformation. The God who dwells within us responds to the God who dwells in others. Though we have the ability to stifle this response, it most often happens without our full awareness. The gospel writer John speaks of it as "love responding to love."
I once had a person tell me that we can't love unconditionally. We always have a motive for acting in a loving way. It makes us feel good about ourselves. Initially I didn't know how to respond. I was divided. I knew that on one level this assessment was correct. Yet, something continued to nag me. I felt like the human person was being sold short. Today my response would be that it is true that I can't love unconditionally. The God who dwells within me, however, can. When God responds to God, the ego (the "I") is not in the way and my actions toward others are transformed.
Both then are true. We are those who respond to love and we are those who fail to respond to love. The process of transformation is ongoing. It isn't important when we arrive at complete transformation. It is only important that we are part of the process.
