When Did We See You?
Read Matthew 25:31-46.
I was just finishing at the gas station, having filled up my van and ready to speed off to the next thing when the man approached me. "I'm out of money and need to get somewhere. Can you help me?" I hardly ever carry cash, largely because people tend to come into the office and ask you for cash, so I said to the man, "I'm sorry, I don't have any money with me." "Okay," he said, without arguing, and walked away. I got in my car and drove away...and that's when the voice spoke to my heart. "What if that was Jesus?" Well, I argued, even if it was Jesus, I still didn't have any money. "And how did you pay for your gas?" Oh. That's right. The same credit card that paid for my gas could have paid for his. And, with the goats of Jesus' parable, I had to say, "When did I see you, Lord?"
Much of the time, our waffling between being a sheep and being a goat is not because of desire. Even the goats longed, apparently, to serve Jesus, to do the right thing. They are genuinely surprised that they aren't among the sheep! (And the sheep are just as surprised that they aren't among the goats! But that's a subject for another blog sometime.) Their question is telling. They did all the right things. Like good Pharisees, they went to church, they read their Bible, they probably even dropped a few coins in the offering plate or gave their change to the Salvation Army at Christmas. But Jesus says what they needed to do in addition to all of that is to open their eyes. "When did we see you?" they ask. And Jesus says the same thing to both the sheep and the goats: "I was all around you. You just had to look. Open your eyes and see the need around you. That's where I am."
Mother Teresa perhaps said it best. "I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus."
He is all around us. When we see the least of these, we see Jesus. And whatever we do or don't do to the least of these, we do to Jesus.
I was just finishing at the gas station, having filled up my van and ready to speed off to the next thing when the man approached me. "I'm out of money and need to get somewhere. Can you help me?" I hardly ever carry cash, largely because people tend to come into the office and ask you for cash, so I said to the man, "I'm sorry, I don't have any money with me." "Okay," he said, without arguing, and walked away. I got in my car and drove away...and that's when the voice spoke to my heart. "What if that was Jesus?" Well, I argued, even if it was Jesus, I still didn't have any money. "And how did you pay for your gas?" Oh. That's right. The same credit card that paid for my gas could have paid for his. And, with the goats of Jesus' parable, I had to say, "When did I see you, Lord?"
Much of the time, our waffling between being a sheep and being a goat is not because of desire. Even the goats longed, apparently, to serve Jesus, to do the right thing. They are genuinely surprised that they aren't among the sheep! (And the sheep are just as surprised that they aren't among the goats! But that's a subject for another blog sometime.) Their question is telling. They did all the right things. Like good Pharisees, they went to church, they read their Bible, they probably even dropped a few coins in the offering plate or gave their change to the Salvation Army at Christmas. But Jesus says what they needed to do in addition to all of that is to open their eyes. "When did we see you?" they ask. And Jesus says the same thing to both the sheep and the goats: "I was all around you. You just had to look. Open your eyes and see the need around you. That's where I am."
Mother Teresa perhaps said it best. "I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus."
He is all around us. When we see the least of these, we see Jesus. And whatever we do or don't do to the least of these, we do to Jesus.
It is so hard anymore to know what to do or who to do it for. With multiple people on multiple corners, intersections, exits of highways, walking up and telling you a story you soon figure out can't be true, and so on. I pray for discernment, but it is really troubling because of the overwhelming "demand".
ReplyDeleteFolks on the street corner has become almost an industry itself. Terre Haute has it. Downtown Indy has it. The only real way to help today is to support your church's benevolence fund or support reputable organizations that help out those in need. My time in inner city ministry taught me giving directly to those on the street corner is not good stewardship. I've had friends tell me we should just give and not worry about what "they" do with it, but if we know ways we can give and make sure it actually tries to help...isn't that a better route?
DeleteI agree. This is what I have decided to do. It is still hard to turn away from those faces, like in Egypt.
ReplyDelete