I am not sure if I have ever told you this before, but the first service I ever conducted as a pastor was on the Last Sunday in the Church Year, 2017. Meaning that my first service ever was a service upon the Biblical Readings of today.
I will always remember that service. Not because it was my first though. But because of something I did during the Gospel Reading.
As a newly trained Pastor I wanted to do my best showing the congregation that I was good at reading the Readings. Therefore, I did my best looking up from the script. And I did my best doing gestures. And of course, this led me to pointing right as I spoke of the sheep, left as I spoke of the goats.
Now the architecture of my old church so happened to be that both my dean, my two pastor colleagues, even my organist was positioned to my immediate left meaning that I pointed directly on them as I talked about those who are cursed.
“What a mistake’a to make’a.”
As I realized – which I did the second time I pointed at them – I had to stop the Reading, apologize, which of course led to the entire congregation laughing.
The pointing I of course remember, but the laughing I also remember. And the laughing is the reason why I ever since that day always have been a pastor who loved making side comments.
Some would argue that such comments is an obstruction of the flow in the service. And of course it is. But sometimes obstructions can be beneficial.
I hope you find my obstructions beneficial. And if not, I hope you can live with them and see the purpose behind what I am aiming to do.
Another thing I remember from my first service as a pastor was a feeling of being quite unlucky having to speak about judgment day in my first sermon
Today’s Gospel Reading about judgement day is seemingly harsh. After all, is it not harsh that the entire population of the earth is seemingly split into two groups:
Too me it is harsh. At least at first sight. But I will argue – as I did back then as well – that the text is not all that harsh after all. It only is harsh because of our human tendency of always fearing.
What we fear as we listen to today’s Reading of course is that we will be counted among the goats. And as the group of the sheep seem to be so small and exclusive – demanding, almost impossible to achieve – it seems inevitable that we will be listed among the goats.
But here we should settle our fear and take a break. Because despite us maybe not being able to achieve the status of a sheep, nothing in the reading says that we will end as a goat.
Rather opposite. The goat is mentioned to be just as enclosed a group as the sheep. Just let us recall the description: The sheep are those who are ‘blessed.’ The goats are those who are ‘cursed’.
We might be blessed, but even if we are not, it does not mean that we are cursed. It is not either/or. Something that becomes evident if we put it into an example.
For instance, one is not put in jail if one does not help an old lady crossing the street. It certainly is a good thing to do, but lacking to do so does not lead to punishment. Punishment only happens if you deliberately push the old lady out onto the street.
Hence, being a sheep is helping. But being a goat is not lack of help. Being a goat is deliberately working against help.
This was one way to interpret the seemingly harsh Reading less harsh. Another way of finding less harshness in the Reading, is by interpretating the Reading as Grundtvig did back in 1849.
In a sermon upon the end times from back then Grundtvig said the following:
“This talk of the end times seems hardly able to bear the name of a joyful message.”
But Grundtvig insists on finding the joyful message. After all, as he also says in his sermon:
“Since all the words of our Lord are good, there will also be found in the talk of the end times a good and loving evangelical word.”
The joyful message he finds in doing something that the Danish Philosopher, Løgstrup, later became famous for doing as well: He turns it all around.
Because the talk of goats is harsh. But we forget something as we read. We forget that just as harsh the talk of the goats is, just as joyful is the talk of sheep – if not the latter is more joyful.
What I am trying to say – and what Løgstrup and Grundtvig also tried to say – was that we out of fear often tend to forget the joyful.
Out of fear we do not hear that beside the goats there are sheep as well. And the possibility of sheep being present is more than a joy. It is a miracle.
Despite all fear – despite all sin and all that is broken – goodness is still somehow achievable. Not because of us but because of the goodness of our Lord.
Grundtvig describes this joy like this:
“And what comfort is greater than this? What word is more evangelical, brings us a more joyful message than this:
that everything the enemy threatens us with, everything our own flesh and blood would tempt us toward, is impossible when we rely on the word of faith in our mouth and in our heart.”
In this way Grundtvig – despite of a harsh Reading – ended the church year of 1849 on a happy note. And on that very same happy note I would like to end this church year as well
May we be brought joy in every word of our Lord, and may every Reading help us progress toward the likelihood of the sheep.
For that we pray. Not only for us. But for all.
Lord. Thank you for a good year. Help us grow in peace, joy, and love in the coming.
Amen.
