17th March 2015

We’re still fighting about it in Hurstville. Is it the Year of the Sheep or the Year of the Goat? The problem is, that the animal in question has horns. “It’s a ram of course,” says one, “and therefore the Year of the Sheep.” “The horns mean that it’s a goat,” bleats another, “and therefore the Year of the Goat!” Thankfully not all are butting heads, and most have come to the neutral position that it really doesn’t matter, so long as everyone is enjoying the pork dumplings!

But it does matter, whether you’re a sheep or a goat. Jesus told a story about the way that people live, and the consequences of their actions, and finished the story by inviting the sheep to walk with Him forever, and directing the goats to wander away from Him forever. And His point was not that some people are lucky enough to be born in a particularly advantageous calendar year, but that some people hear the voice of the Shepherd and do things that show their love for Him, while others close their ears to Him and do things that show a love only for themselves. (Matthew 25).

Happily next year will be the Year of the Monkey, and the debate in Hurstville will have moved on. But the question of whether one is a sheep or a goat remains, and will remain until the Shepherd comes again, in that final year, to divide the two flocks, and to put the sheep to pasture.

DM 17^th March 2015