Sunday, July 27, 2008 
Scripture reading: Matthew 25: 31-40; 28:18-20
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for 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, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”
18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’*
Sermon Title: "THAT POOR OLD GOAT" Sunday, July 27, 2008
Rev. Kris Steele: As a way of introducing
this sermon title to you, I would like to share with
you an incident that occurred when I was a sophomore
in high school.
John Ray was my very best friend. He was one of
those guys who would literally give you the shirt off
his back. My hope would be everyone at one point in
their life would have a friend like John. He was
loyal and funny, free-spirited and dedicated, but like
most 16-year-olds, not entirely committed to doing
everything his parents asked him to do.
It was on a warm Friday afternoon when John
approached me with this uh-oh look on his face. He
told me his dad left on a business trip three days
earlier and asked him to take care of this sick goat
that was penned up in the family barn.
John confessed he forgot all about that goat
until that very moment and asked me if I would be
willing to come over and check on that goat with him.
So around four o'clock on that hot day, John Ray and I
headed over to the barn to check on that sick,
neglected goat.
The moment John opened the barn door, I knew
something was wrong. The stench was almost
unbearable. With nose and mouth covered and flies
buzzing all around, John and I entered the barn only
to discover the animal laying on its side, tongue
hanging out, legs stiff as a board, and its belly
swollen four or five times its normal size.
I looked at my friend and said I think your goat
is dead. Now John immediately went into denial and
said, no, no, he's just sleeping. I told John I think
we're too late. Still in denial, John said maybe he
just needs something to eat. So John grabbed a feed
bucket and climbed into the pen and put some food
right in front of that goat's face, the goat didn't
eat.
In a panic, John took a rope and tied it around
the front legs of that goat and began dragging it
around the inside of that pen. John's thought process
was if I could just get him up on his feet, maybe
he'll be okay. Perhaps my friend was just trying to
give the appearance he had done everything he could
and that he had actually been taking care of that goat
all along because he didn't want to disappoint his
father. John was later reprimanded because he failed
to do what his father had asked him to do.
I wonder how many times have I failed to do what
my father has asked me to do? I want us to take
seriously the responsibility that God has given us to
care for those who are in need.
In complete contrast to that poor old goat, I
want us to be aware of what is going on around us,
aware of the opportunities that exist to help others,
aware of those who are hurting, lonely or discouraged,
aware that the responsibility to serve Christ extends
well beyond the walls of this church.
I want us to be aware that in this community
there are problems that need to be solved. It's not
really about us, it's about them, it's about Him. I
also, unlike the goat, want us to possess a hunger, a
desire to reach out and make a difference, an appetite
to set free those who are trapped by sin and/or
addiction.
Finally, I want us to be a church that's full of
activity. I want us to be busy bees doing God's work,
active when it comes to responding to God's call. It
is our duty as His children to be active in feeding
the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the
homeless, and comforting those who are sick.
We need to be active in making new friends and
inviting people to come to our church. I want Wesley
to be active in pointing others to Christ and
expanding His kingdom. Active by making a tangible
difference in our world today.
Sometimes ministry is not comfortable or
convenient, and sometimes it's confusing. I read this
story about a young man who was an all-American
football player in college. He went on to play
professional football for a few years and then came
back as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
One of his main responsibilities would be to recruit
players, but before he made his first recruitment
trip, he visited with the head coach, the same coach
for whom he had played when he was in college some
years before. Now the head coach had been coaching
for many, many years. He was widely known and
respected all across the country.
The new young coach said to him, I'm about to go
out on my first recruiting trip, tell me what kind of
players do you want me to recruit. The old coach
leaned back in his chair and said, son, I've been at
this job for a long time, and over the years I've
noticed that there are several different kinds of
players.
For example, you would find some players when
they get knocked down, they just stay down, that's not
the kind of players we want. You will find some
players who get knocked down and then they get right
back up, but when they get knocked down a second time
they just stay down, that's not the kind of players we
want. There are some players who get knocked down and
knocked down and knocked down, and every time they get
right back up.
At this point the young coach got excited and
said, Now that's the kind of players we want, isn't
it, Coach? No, said the old coach, we want the one
doing all the knocking down. That's what we need on
our church team, people who are willing to tackle some
very prominent issues in society today.
We need people who are willing to knock down
walls of hostility, prejudice, and the walls of abuse.
We need people who are willing to tackle the issues of
poverty by reaching out and building relationships
with children and with families in our community who
are caught in some very challenging situations.
Jesus was a wall-breaker. He tackled some very
important issues, even some of the very issues that
we're talking about today. In fact, his entire
ministry was about knocking down walls -- walls of
isolation, division, hostility, and stereo types.
You know the name of Jesus means saviour or the
Lord's helper, but did you know that Jesus is the
Greek name for Joshua in the Hebrew language? Do you
remember who Joshua was? Joshua was the one who
caused walls to come tumbling down.
Do you remember the Battle of Jericho and the
walls came tumbling down? Jesus is well named not
only because he is our saviour and our example, but he
is also a wall-breaker. Jesus said go and make
disciples because when you don't do it for one of the
least of these, Jesus said, you do it to me. So in
the name of the Father, who gives us responsibility,
in the name of the Son who gives us an example, and in
the name of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the power,
amen.