Part of Repentance and Renewal for many (if not all) of us is recognizing how we respond to others. Jesus said that following Him was all about loving God and loving others. How do you do with the least of those around you? Those with no voice and very few advocates?
Read Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I grew up being taught not to give a beggar money, because they would just go buy booze, and not to look them in the eye because they might attack you. My attitude developed to a point that I would just ignore the homeless or condemn them as lazy vagrants to be kept in the shadows. Perhaps if I was feeling especially generous, I would come down from my $50K+ salary perch to 'bless' them with enough money to buy them a hamburger I would never eat.
During the past week, God has shown me that this is completely opposite from His heart for humanity. All people are God's creation, worthy of love, dignity and compassion...especially the "least of these". They are worthy of the same grace God gave to me through Christ. The "least of these" are NOT worthy of my judgment or condemnation.
I challenge you to meditate and pray on those who are the "least of these" that God places in your path. If you give $5 to a homeless man, do you give it freely, or with strings attached (i.e. "only if you use it to buy food")? Do you show the homeless man that you consider him a person by speaking to him, asking his name? Do you "know what's best for him" and offer a ride to the shelter, or do you take the time to ask him what he actually needs...then help meet that need?
Christ's words extend beyond the homeless...the single mom trying to make it, the chronically sick with no visitors, the elderly with no family. All of us can drive to certain parts of Corpus Christi, turn on the news, or just look into our own lives and see people broken hearted, oppressed, homeless, depressed, jobless. Unconditional love has no strings attached, and while you might feel taken advantage of, this love is the essence of Christ's death.
I imagine most of the 'goats' will be those just like me: that praised God Sunday morning, then neglected the "least of these" on my way home. Will you take Christ's message beyond reading your Bible by actually doing what it says?
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