· Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
· Psalm 95:1-7a (7)
· Ephesians 1:15-23
· Matthew 25:31-46
I read a draft sermon on the sheep and the goats by a United Methodist preacher named John Meunier. He was talking about how John Wesley used to do everything Jesus said: feed the hungry, visit the sick and the prisoners, etc. But he didn't "feel" anything. Then, Wesley wrote, one day he was at a meeting, and while listening to the speaker, "his heart was strangely warmed" and he knew that Christ loved him and died for him. So afterwards he kept on doing exactly what he had been doing before, except he did it in the knowledge that Christ loved him. So John Meunier concludes that before this meeting, John Wesley was a goat, even though he acted like a sheep, and after the meeting, he was a sheep.
It's a pretty standard tale, but I think his interpretation is completely wrong.
First of all, as we know, the word of God creates what it declares. If Jesus said that the sheep are saved, then the sheep are saved, whether they care for their brother out of duty or because they know in their heart that God loves them. Yes, we are saved by faith; but what Christ is declaring here is that this caring habit is faith.
Second, and it's actually the same thing explained by science, we know that there are at least three independent chemical processes in the brain that produce the feeling of communion with God. Each of these processes can be triggered by something that has nothing to do with God. A combination of prostrations, chanting and incense can do it, hence these rituals are found in many ancient religions, including Orthodox Christian denominations. A highly charged speech, with loud music and emotional appeals, can do it, and this is used in revivalism. A complex partial seizure can do it. Or just stimulating the right part of the brain with electricity. And like many brain processes, the "presence of God" processes are more active in some people than in others. In fact in some people, they're overactive to a dysfunctional extent. Some people get ringing in their ears because of a dysfunctional brain process, and other people constantly think God is talking to them, because of a dysfunctional brain process.
This is not to say that God never talks to us, but what it does mean is that we cannot rely on our feeling of connection with God to define our faith. No matter what anyone tells you, it is not that feeling of God that makes your faith real or meaningful, much less acceptable to God. Consider Martin Luther. His faith was highly intellectual. Did Martin Luther get the feeling of God? I don't know. But he based his faith on thinking rationally about the Scripture. Martin Luther read through the whole Bible twice a year, because he wanted to look at everything in the Scripture and ask himself "What is this? What does it mean?" He believed because it made sense to him, as I believe because it makes sense to me.
How we feel our faith is not a measure of how acceptable it is to God. Whether we are highly intellectual and choose to believe on rational grounds, or we have epilepsy and believe because we had a revelation during a seizure, or we were born again because of an altar call, we cannot say that our faith is more or less acceptable to God than the next guy's. But what Jesus is telling us here, and what he showed throughout his life, what his word creates as it declares, is that the faith that is acceptable to God manifests itself in caring for our neighbour. This is the faith that God wants from you: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Notice that God does not say to the sheep, "you danced in the Spirit, you answered altar calls, you put big fistfuls of money in the plate, you spoke in tongues." No. That is not the faith God is looking for.
A corollary is that this tells us how God will speak to us. That feeling in our brain does not mean God is speaking. If we want to be close to God we do not need this feeling. What we need is to look around us for someone who is hungry, thirsty, alone, naked, sick or in prison, or otherwise in distress and in need of our help. Jesus declares, and his word creates: "just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." So when you speak to your brother in distress, you are speaking to Jesus, and when they speak to you, Jesus is speaking to you. And this is what Christ has declared is the "right" faith. If your brain is not chemically excited, that's quite all right; but if you do not help your brother in need, you do not have faith.
As an undignified analogy, consider this: when I go to take a piss, it doesn't matter whether I feel joyful, calm, blessed, repentant or otherwise; it doesn't matter if I get a burning sensation when I pee; and it doesn't matter whether I've been drinking water, tea, beer or Lamb's 151. As long as I urinate, I know my kidneys are working. Anything else is just a matter of personal preference. But if I can't urinate, then I know my kidneys aren't working. Likewise with faith. As long as these manifestations come out, your faith is working. If nothing comes out, your faith might feel good and righteous to you, but it's not the faith Christ is looking for.
Yes, we are saved by faith and not by works. We are not saved by giving money to the church, by slaying the infidels, by wearing a hair shirt, by speaking in tongues. We are not even saved because we do what Jesus told us. Yet these specific behaviours that he describes are still necessary, not to acquire salvation, but because they are inseparable from the faith that Christ wants from us. If you are moved to do these things in the name of the Lord, you have the faith that saves. If you are not moved to do these things, your faith might feel good to you, but it isn't what Jesus asked from you. He might save you anyway, because he can do that, but don't get too cocky about your being saved, because it's not in the bag yet.
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