10.30.23 - Matthew 25:32
Given the choice I'd take simplicity. Yet, joy is often found in the tensions of complexity. Today, pick a moment to lean into the complexity of people and of life. Mark the change you experience.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
For those of us who believe in a loving God of compassion and grace, it can be difficult to interpret or stomach many scripture passages that depict God’s judgment and eternal rejection of people.
Jesus’ memorable last days parable, “The Sheep and the Goats,” begins with an important detail: “all the nations will be gathered before God.”
All the nations, panta ta ethnei, is an expression of cosmic totality.
Every person, no matter ethnicity or creed, is created by the Lord of the cosmos and given the invitation of God’s grace, and is subject to divine judgment.
At the very least, this tells us that God knows and cares about every human and creature, and God expects the same conduct of all of us.
How could you filter your understanding of difference through a lens of God’s cosmic love?
How might your actions today express the broadness and complexity of God's love?
--Evan Amo