Will I be a sheep or a goat?  I would like to think I will be in the group on the right, that I am one known by Jesus, one invited to come and inherit the kingdom.  By extension, I certainly do not want to be with those told to depart.  One thing that troubles me is that both sides seem surprised by Jesus’s pronouncement.  The sheep are unaware of the good they had done, and the goats apparently assumed they had been good enough.  In fact, the goats argue, in essence:  “Hold on!  We did a pretty good job following the commandments.”  But the Savior’s emphasis asks, “How did you do with the greatest commandments?  Did you love God totally?  Did you love your neighbor as yourself?”  The goats, a notoriously stubborn lot, may still think that they did well enough in those areas, but clearly Jesus does not agree.
You might ask, how could anyone fail to see the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and the imprisoned?  It occurs to me that the goats, at least some, have built walls that separate them from these “other” people.  Even more, the walls make it so the goats can not even see these “others” and thus can ignore how much need is present.  There can be a number of factors involved in creating these barriers. 

The very human tendency to judge provides a variety of construction materials for building walls.  When we view someone only by their flaws or weaknesses, real or imagined, we may assume that an individual’s circumstances are deserved.  Cancel culture encourages us to revile, or at least ignore, them.  The sheep (i.e., the ones who will inherit the kingdom), though, do not judge (Matthew 7: 1-2) but instead come alongside to help.  They recognize that struggling souls desperately need to experience God’s love. 

Judging also can lead us to treat those who have hurt us, or maybe just those with whom we disagree, as enemies.  In turn, we may dehumanize these enemies instead of loving them (Matthew 5:44).  Bishop Desmond Tutu has written that humanizing our enemies allows us to realize that they have agency, that they can choose to do differently.  This does not let them off the hook for past behavior, but it offers a path to restabilizing a relationship so that just peace can happen.  Jesus repeatedly tells us to forgive, even if we don’t feel the offender deserves to be forgiven.  Even if a healthy relationship does not result, the person offering forgiveness experiences healing and relief from turning this pain and grief over to God.  The sheep remove the walls, and in so doing promote peace, unity and healing.
One less obvious barrier can be our own privilege.  In our safe homes, as we climb into our warm beds after snacking on leftovers, it can be easy to forget that there are far too many in our communities who have no home, who don’t have enough food for a meal (let alone leftovers).  There are children for whom their homes are not places of safety.  There are people battling illness who cannot afford medicine and food.  Sadly, I can go on and on. 

As we focus on our jobs, getting our kids to soccer practice, planning a nice vacation, etc., we may not even be aware of the barrier that has emerged to separate us.  If we are aware, we may be so overwhelmed by how much suffering exists, we may not know what to do; or we may choose not to do certain things because doing them will make us feel uncomfortable.  The best way I know to chip away at this barrier is to open up to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Surprisingly, perhaps, is the idea that our own faith can be the source of barriers.  I suspect a good percentage of the goats Jesus dismisses were devout, faithful souls whose misguided adherence to some of God’s commandments was not founded on love.  To borrow from our Leviticus reading, they may have been happy to reprove a brother, but in so doing incurred sin by not following the commandment to love their neighbor.  How many times did Jesus challenge the Pharisees, a group known for piety, who objected to how Jesus conducted his affairs?  And how often did Jesus extend mercy and kindness to the “unacceptable” folks who needed his healing and love?  The sheep provide food, drink, welcome, clothes, compassion and love to the vulnerable.

Paul tells us (Ephesians 2:14) that Christ, who is our peace, breaks down the dividing walls.  May we follow His example.
Loving God, remove the barriers so that keep us from loving our neighbors and our enemies.  Let all of our words, thoughts and acts find favor before you, O Lord, our rock and redeemer.