I love today's psalm, it is one of my favorites. John Michael Talbot wrote a beautiful melody to go with it, called Come, Worship the Lord. I have always wondered what tune was used when it was first sung. Many of the psalms were meant to be sung, as is evident by directions such as "for the flutes," or "for the strings." There are other, more cryptic instructions, such as selah, or a maskil within the body of the psalms. The direction Do not destroy is on a few of them. I am not sure whether this is categorizing these psalms as lamentations begging God not to destroy Israel, or perhaps the composer of these psalms did not want them discarded. There is no way to know.

According to my Oxford study bible, selah was probably a liturgical directive, which may have indicated a musical interlude between verses. Thus, if one were to read, or sing, a psalm, it would not be proper to read the direction selah aloud. That would be like singing the word refrain in a song, or like acting in a play and actually reciting the direction, exit, stage left.

Today's readings feature sheep, goats, and first fruits--images from an agricultural perspective. Humboldt County is rural, so many here may understand the analogies, but people from urban settings who hear these readings may have never seen a goat or a sheep up close, so the analogies may be lost on them.

I've never raised sheep or goats, but I have known people who do. Sheep are definitely herd animals. As Jesus said, "My sheep know me." If a stranger walks up to a herd of sheep, they run away. If the shepherd walks into the field, they flock around him or her, with trust.

Goats, on the other hand, tend to be headstrong and disobedient. They are just smart enough to get in trouble. They climb things at the slightest opportunity. Billy-goats mark their territory, so they tend to stink things up. I had a friend whose car was a favorite perch for his goat, which did nasty things to his paint job and caused unspeakable corrosion. Another friend of mine had a couch that smelled because his daughter let the billy-goat in the house. The goat marked his territory on the couch, which is a lot harder to clean than a car. The goat would stand on the back of the couch, playing "king of the hill."

Ezekiel was a priest and prophet who went with his people into exile. At the beginning of this chapter, before today's reading, he prophecies against the shepherds of Israel--in other words, the leaders.

God will seek out the lost sheep of Israel and bring them safely home. God promises to be the shepherd of Israel, seeking the lost, binding up the injured, and strengthening the weak. It all sounds idyllic until the last few sentences. Okay, maybe I'm not strong, but I'm not skinny, either. I don't know about you, but I feel a bit uncomfortable thinking God is going to destroy the fat. On the other hand, if He'd just trim a few pounds off me, I'd be happy. Now you see one of the dangers of reading scriptures literally.

This reading may have more to do with political strength and personal wealth than fat or lean sheep. My Oxford study Bible points out that the image of good and bad sheep and goats might also represent the nations that want to oppress Israel. Ezekiel's message warns us that God will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. I love the line, "I will feed them with justice."

The verses after this reading also talk about God judging between fat and lean sheep, but the important line, I think, is, "Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide. I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep." This whole chapter could be considered apocalyptic in nature, wherein God's sheep--the people who love God--are separated from those who are hard-hearted and disobedient.

Ezekiel's message today comforts the poor, the injured, and the weak. Those of us who are fat or strong may feel a bit uncomfortable. Then again, this message may also be an analogy. Those who have power in this world--the wealthy elite and our political leaders--need to worry about how God views their gifts of wealth and power, and how they have used them. It is easy for those of us in America to forget that in many parts of the world, people are starving, disease-ridden, and war-torn. These people don't have a back-up system if disaster strikes. Many of them have no schooling, no shoes, and no clean water. Even our poor are richer than they. Most of us have no idea what it feels like to have no doctor within twenty miles, or to go without food for days on end.

Ezekiel's message is echoed by the Gospel of Matthew. We are still on the subject of sheep and goats, but Jesus talks not only of God's finding lost sheep and separating sheep from goats. He goes one step further. He explains that God will separate people from people as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. Those who have been compassionate, the righteous, will inherit the kingdom prepared for them, for in treating each other with compassion, they will be rewarded. On the other hand, those who did not act with compassion towards others will be punished with eternal fire. His explanation, "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me," is a bit different from Ezekiel's fat or strong sheep. He preaches against not only those who are well fed and complacent, or those who are powerful. If we do not have compassion for those who need help; if we do not have love in our hearts for others, no matter what they have done; then we have no place in his kingdom. We should be caring for people even if they are in prison, for he says, "I was in prison and you visited me."

By these standards, how many of us would fail? It is not enough to simply assuage our collective consciences by giving turkeys to the poor at Thanksgiving, toys for children at Christmas, or donating to a worthy cause. We should be loving enough to visit the sick, feed and clothe those who are poor, and visit those who are incarcerated for possibly heinous crimes--all year. I don't know about you, but when I consider this, I am uncomfortable. I am afraid to go into a prison to visit someone. It is not just enough to say, "well, we have a welfare system. They should take care of our poor and needy. We have prison chaplains. Isn't that enough?" I'm afraid the answer is "no."

Many of our homeless are on the streets or camped out in forests not because they are lazy, but because they are mentally ill or simply unable to find jobs that pay enough to rent an apartment. Many of them use drugs in ill-advised attempts to escape their problems for a while. When many of the mental hospitals were shut down long ago and it was decided not to institutionalize mentally ill patients who were no danger to themselves or others, those who were unable to cope with life outside of the institutions were simply abandoned. They had the option of receiving prescription drugs for their conditions--if drugs did any good--but they received very little support to make sure they weren't in trouble. Some of the mentally ill will not take drugs unless forced, and what if they cannot afford the drugs?

Thus, we have manic depressives, paranoid schizophrenics, and all manner of other mental patients wandering the streets, until and unless they do something to be noticed by our health care system and prove themselves too dangerous to themselves or others.

I know one person in particular who really needs help, but when given clothing, he rips it into pieces and wears the clothing as rags. He stinks. He panhandles. He is an alcoholic. Any money given to him goes to his habit. For his own good, he should really be institutionalized, but he is considered "not a danger to himself or others." He is not coping well, and it's only a matter of time before the alcohol kills him. He is a danger to himself, but he is killing himself in slow motion.

One of our biggest threats on a spiritual level is that of being judgmental of others. We are often in danger of thinking or saying the wrong thing, echoing Marie Antoinette's shallow dismissal: "Let them eat cake." Only God can see into a person's soul and tell whether he or she is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. None of us can merit heaven, so we must rely on the grace of Our Lord. We cannot rest on faith alone for our salvation, though. As James said in his epistle, "Faith without works is dead." If we are truly following Jesus, then our love of Him should show through us and cause us to be compassionate to one another. Time and time again, I have watched while people whom I knew were poor by our standards helped others who were in one kind of trouble or another. The poor help the poor because they understand what it is like to be in need.

The Pharisees of Jesus' day thought they could follow the Mosaic law and they would be justified before God. Jesus, as always, points out that legalism is not the way to salvation. The way to salvation lies in focusing on God with love before all else. If you love God, and those around you, then you will obey the rules simply because love is in your heart. Remember, as Peter said, "love covers a multitude of sins."

Paul's message in I Corinthians speaks of Christ being the "first fruits" of those who have died. The first fruits are the first harvest of fruit on the trees and in the fields. Later harvests are more sparse. There is, however, another analogy. In Numbers, Chapter 28:26, the first fruits were offered to God. In other words, before you took your portion of the harvest to feed yourself and your family, you would first give a portion to God from the best of the crop. There is also a celebration called "the day of the first fruits," or "Festival of Weeks" which is called Shavuot in Hebrew, but Pentecost in Greek. Shavuot, or Pentecost, comes on the 50th day or seven weeks after the first day of Passover.

The custom in Moses' and Aaron's time was to offer up the first-born of any clean animal, such as a calf or lamb. The first-born sons of Israel were redeemed by the ritual slaughter of other animals, and with grain and salt offerings. Since Jesus is God's first-born son, he is offered up as a willing sacrifice. Paul points out that Adam sinned, bringing death, and Jesus came to offer himself up, bringing life. His resurrection leads to our resurrection, as followers of Christ, and as God's adoptive children.

Paul compares Adam's death through sin and Christ's physical death; with Christ's resurrection and our future life in Christ, if we belong to Christ. Paul says if we belong to Christ, because we must first belong to Christ to be alive in Christ. He predicts that the rulers will all be cast down, and Jesus will rule over all. Death will be destroyed, and the only ruler over Jesus, our Messiah, will be our Creator, God. As in our Gospel reading today, if we have compassion--if we truly love each other as Christ loves us, then we belong to Christ, and if we belong to Christ, we will be alive in Christ.

Amen