Of all the Gospels read throughout this past year, this is the one that absolutely should have our ears perked up in attention. The reason is simple, while other Gospel readings have focused on what we are to be aware of in Gods teaching, this one is about the consequences of whether we put any of that into practice.
The parable of the separation of the sheep and the goats is purely about who our Lord will find as having followed His commands, and who did not. In the case of those who will be seen as not having done so, there are really two areas that we should be concerned with. The first is whether we deliberately did not follow what was taught, in other words, did we rebel against Gods teaching in favor of our own preferred way of living our lives. This is usually fairly clear cut, in particular for those of us fortunate enough to have been taught specifically what our Lord said. Yet there is another area of concern, in this second category the question is whether we did anything at all about what we were taught, or did we simply go on about our lives as if nothing had been said or taught? This is perhaps the more dangerous of the two, because it is insidiously easy to fall into this category without perhaps even realizing it.
The end result of our time here on earth though will be the same for all, in that we will ALL stand before our Lord and be accountable for our actions whether good or bad, or perhaps our inactions whether deliberate or simply due to sloth. It is worth noting incidentally, that sloth can be either an actual inclination toward laziness and apathy, or an inclination toward inaction due to placing our focus on other things that distract us from taking righteous action. When we are so busy with ourselves and our own concerns that we brush past those in need without rendering any kind of acknowledgement or assistance, we are as guilty as though we had blown past them in a deliberate attempt at avoidance of helping them (conscious inaction). This is the incredibly dangerous subtlety that we must be vigilant against. We need to truly be on watch, for we will know neither the day nor the hour that we will be called to judgement, the only thing we can count on for sure, is that we WILL be judged.
The Deacons Bench 