Christ is the shepherd for everyone on the earth. He is aware and attentive to his flock at all times of the day and night. He is aware of who is lost, hurt, wandering, and astray. His hand is stretched out to them constantly in an attempt to pull them to safely home. His prayers to the Father are directed at them, His directions to the flock, who are gathered, is to help aid those who need help, and bring them back safely. There is no place that a lost sheep can go that Christ doesn’t have the power to rescue them, if they will accept the invitation and grab His hand. He is all powerful, all knowing, and full of mercy. His love goes beyond the bounds that we can comprehend.
Mathew 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
So if it’s not the sinner or the broken, the poor or the needy that are the goats, then who does does Christ put at the left side, who does he say, you never knew me?
It is those who know him, but don’t follow him. How do we follow Christ? It is not a check list of things to do that put us above another. It’s the complete opposite–it is doing those things that Christ does that puts us at the same level as others, so that we become the hands of the Savior. We reach out and help those who are hurting, addicted, lonely, needy, hungry, thirsty, afraid, sinning, and wandering. As we do this, it is as if we are serving Christ himself.
“Sometimes as members of the Church we segment, separate, and apply the gospel in our lives by creating lengthy checklists of individual topics to study and tasks to accomplish. But such an approach potentially can constrain our understanding and vision. We must be careful because pharisaical focus upon checklists can divert us from drawing closer to the Lord.
The purpose and purification, the happiness and joy, and the continuing conversion and protection that come from “yielding [our] hearts unto God” and “[receiving] his image in [our] countenances” cannot be obtained merely by performing and checking off all the spiritual things we are supposed to do. Rather, the power of the Savior’s gospel to transform and bless us flows from discerning and applying the interrelatedness of its doctrine, principles, and practices. Only as we gather together in one all things in Christ, with firm focus upon Him, can gospel truths synergistically enable us to become what God desires us to become and endure valiantly to the end.” -David A. Bednar
The parable clearly states that Christ will separate the goats from the flock. It is not our job to judge who is truly “good” and who is truly “bad”. We all have goat moments, and we all have sheep moments. However, we want our sheep moments to define us, not as the Pharisees would, just in public for all to see. We want to be a sheep in the morning, at night, and every hour in between. God knows our thoughts and our hearts, he will rightly be the only judge of who is a sheep and who is a goat hiding in sheep clothing.
When God places the sheep at his right hand, there is a lot of strong symbolism to the “right hand” and follow Christ. We raise our right hand to sustain those called to serve in the church, we take the sacrament with our right hand, Christ stood on the right hand of the Father. Isaiah tells us that God will uphold us with his righteous right hand during our trials and through the storms of life.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
As he hold us with His righteous right hand durning difficult times, he requires us to do the same for others. We are to watch out for the other sheep and come to their aid when they are hurt, lost, wandering, or in need of food, shelter, and other care. In many cases we are Christ’s righteous right hand, because he needs us to serve and help others. I remember when my friend had lost her son, she was in a desperate situation, many came to her rescue to bring food, clean, help with kids, and much more. Those sheep were the ones that kept her afloat during this difficult time. We, too, can lift those around us by paying attention to other’s needs, and by asking the Lord who needs our help.
Mathew 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mathew 25:40 …Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
As we love God, the love for others will come naturally, for that is the example he has set for us. I can’t think of a more important place to let this attitude of love in others start than in the home. For one, the end result is huge. Who we are in our homes will multiply quickly to who our children are, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so forth. It’s the greatest ripple effect of changing lives; one person at a time. Then as we set the example, we go out to help others, then our children do, then grandchildren, and then great grandchildren, leading a never ending cycle of love. The BIG picture is amazing, and our impact great. My brother Jeff told me a story about a girl back in high-school who understood how to succor others with a sincere heart. She set an example to him of the kind of person he wanted to be, making a huge impact on his life. Her example helped him to make better choices. Imagine how many other lives she changed in high-school, and throughout life as she spread the light of Christ through her actions.
For the purpose of this post we will call her Ann. Ann was the captain of the cheerleaders, she was beautiful and talented. She asked my brother out on his sixteenth birthday. He tells the story of how scared he was, he could hardly handle it, yet he was so excited at the same time. It was a simple date, they got hot chocolate, played on the playground, and had a great time. The next day they met in the hall and they were walking and talking, and then my brother cut out to go to his biology class. Just like any other guy would do, he opened the door to his class, then looked back and watched her walk down the hallway. He couldn’t help but have a crush on her tender, kind heart, besides the fact that she was beautiful. As he watched her, she stopped by this guy who was walking all alone. You could just see it, he resonated loneliness, he didn’t have any friends and you could see that he was hurting. Ann stopped, introduced herself to him, and asked if she could walk with him to class. Ann did it in such a way, that was sincere, it was as if SHE WANTED TO WALK WITH HIM. It wasn’t as if this was a huge favor, or that she was doing the best deed of the day. He wasn’t a charity case, she was privileged to walk with him, and he could feel that. It wasn’t awkward, or weird, she just wanted to be genuinely kind, and to be his friend.
This made such a impact on my bother, he continued the story of how at that moment he went from “she’s so cute”, to that’s the type of girl I want to marry. From that point on in his life he decided he wanted to be the kind of guy that a girl like that would want to marry. At this time of my brother’s life, he was hanging with a crowd that wasn’t acting in the way that he knew he should act, and definitely not in the way that a girl like Ann would act. His friends were crude in their actions and words. My brother remembers having opportunities to act the same way, he made decisions based on what he wanted. He would think to himself do I want to be with this girl and do these things for the moment, or wait for someone like Ann. He wanted to wait. He made better decisions from that point on in his life.
This girl at high-school lifted others, while setting an example for many more. I am positive she will never know the impact she had on the kids in high-school, but I guarantee it was great. What started out as being kind and helping one lonely boy have hope, also altered the direction of another boys life. This is such a simple example of how we are the Lord’s hands when we choose to follow him. The things we do to succor others will be magnified. Lives will be changed. Our lives will be changed as well.
“A child should learn not merely to love, but to be a loving person—to make love his stance in the world. ‘Love’ may come and go, but a loving person, like the sun itself, never loses his or her sustaining warmth.” (Reader’s Digest, June 1981, p. 164.) -L. Tom Perry
-Sherri Jorgensen
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