Sheep, Goats, and Undocumented People
““But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.””
(Matthew 25:31-46 NLT-SE)
This chilling passage in Matthew should be one that gets the attention of anyone who claims to be a Christian.
What it is basically saying is that the tests of true faith are the actions that a person takes toward people at some sort of societal disadvantage.
Most Protestant commentators believe Jesus here is speaking specifically about how we treat our fellow Christians.
Accepting that interpretation does not then allow us to abuse the foreigner and the stranger among us…many of those who come here from Central and South America are devout Christians.
“One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””
(Luke 10:25-29 NLT-SE)
In this passage, eternal life is again at the forefront…and love of neighbor was said to be one of the requirements.
When the “expert in religious law” (we have a bunch of those around today) cast about for a loophole to keep hating some people, asking “who is my neighbor?”, Jesus specifically responded with the tale of the Good Samaritan…Samaritans being despised foreigners and idolators. The Samaritan was closer to eternal life than the religious expert.
Many have reduced the Christian faith to a set of doctrinal propositions.
All through the Gospels and the narrative of the entire Bible, God says your actions will prove whether or not you really believe the doctrinal propositions.
Here’s what I’m saying and what I’m not saying.
I’m not saying God commands open borders. I am saying that any immigration policy has to be formed in justice and compassion for all concerned.
I am saying that if you cheer at families ripped apart by mass deportations and want an “Alligator Alcatraz” tee shirt…your soul is in grave danger…no matter what doctrinal propositions you think will save you.
Our tremendous affluence as a country, the low cost of our goods — even now with staggering inflation! –, the cornucopia of foodstuffs available in our markets, the restaurant and home care services that so many of us take for granted almost as our birthright, the care of our children, frail and elderly: made possible by immigrants, documented and undocumented, doing tasks at indecently low wages and under horrible and dangerous conditions. Make no mistake: the treatment that these immigrants are receiving is not a judgment against them, BUT AGAINST US!
Robert F,
Well said and amen!
I have no desire to go to Christian ‘heaven’.
Streets of gold and jewel encrusted vistas just ain’t my thing.
The Jewish version of an after-life (Olam-Ha-Ba) is far more appealing to me.
And yes, deeds count way more than an abstract confession of ‘faith’.
The other thing that people who use the interpretation of the Matthew 25 passage to justify their disregard of the welfare of the poor, needy, and immigrant, also obstinately ignore, is that many of these poor, needy, and immigrants who they choose to throw to the wayside are actually their Christian brothers and sisters, the very people they say the passage is referring to that they are supposed to care for.
Catholic priests have been prohibited from providing counseling to detainees of so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp in Florida for several weeks.
Freedom of religion for me, not for thee.