There is no getting around it, no avoiding it.  Some days, I am a goat.  I make excuses for not seeing the face of Jesus in the person asking for money at the stop light.  I buy something I want, but do not need, when I could give the money to charity.  I could offer up a litany of examples of times that I am a goat. 

Reading these gospel passages, I think about my friend Noe.  He volunteers at Casa Juan Diego in El Paso, Texas.  This shelter is for immigrants cleared to enter the United States.  They arrive with nothing but the clothing they are wearing.  Noe, and all the other volunteers, welcome the strangers, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and do their best to comfort these least among us.  But if some days I am a goat, even if I join Noe in his work, where does this vision of the last judgement leave me?  How do I reconcile a God that I imagine as Pure Love with the imagery of eternal punishment?  What is a goat to do? 

At the last judgement, the sheep are invited to inherit the kingdom that has been prepared from the foundation of the world.  God has been planning a homecoming from the beginning of time.  I imagine it will start with a celebration, perhaps like the one in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus’ audience is shocked by the generosity of the father (God).  He gives his younger son an inheritance that does not belong to him, because He loves him.  Even more shocking the Father welcomes him back with a celebration, because He loves him.  Once the party starts, the Father goes outside to invite in the self-righteous older brother, because He loves him. Jesus is telling us more than a story of two brothers.  Jesus is telling us about the nature of the (Prodigal) God.  The Holy One that is over-the-top, bonkers in love with humanity.  God squanders His love, lavishing it on both sheep and goats.  I wonder, will God join in the judgement day celebration with the sheep and come outside looking for the goats? 
Reading this gospel message again, I find myself reflecting on this story within the context of Salvation History.  That is when I notice who is sitting on the throne.  Jesus.  The One that broke into our reality.  Chose to die for us that we might have eternal life.  Our advocate.  He opened our eyes to see God as the One that loves us “more than the person who loves us the most.”  Is this reading a forgone conclusion for sheep and goats? Perhaps it is Jesus’ way of hoping we will choose God’s Love and then do our best, as His sheep, to respond to the needs of others.

For those of us goats that have not turned back to God on the day of judgement, Jesus sends us off to eternal punishment.  That is a very long time, longer than I can imagine, but it is a measurement of time.   What is eternity for God, the Alpha and the Omega, who is beyond space and time? In the story of the lost sheep the good shepherd leaves the 99 and goes in search of the one.  What will God do during eternity?  Celebrate with the sheep and continue searching for the goats? 

I am accountable for those times when I consciously or unconsciously chose to be a goat.  I am called by God and I am expected to listen to that call.  However, nothing I do will enable me to earn a place among the sheep.  God’s love is my only assurance.  Pure Love knows when I wander off and comes looking for me.  Love sits next to me joining in my laughter and tears.  Love looks at me and loves me before I accept love, repent, and join in the work of the sheep.  On the day of judgement, standing in front of Pure Love, if I find myself among the goats I hope I will not try to rationalize when I did not see Jesus.  Rather, I hope I come to my senses and ask forgiveness.  I have this same hope for any other goats standing around me.  I trust that Pure Love will then invite us into the celebration.