[Then] the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
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.'
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. For I was hungry and you have me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.'
They will also 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?'
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.'
Matthew 25 : 37-45
I have never understood this, and I am making it my goal to get to the bottom of it. How is it that doing all these good works is doing them to Christ? If I could get that, maybe I'd capture the motivation to spend time on the streets, or in prisons, or at hospitals. I want so badly to find that motivation. I always feel I must do these things, but I am prevented by excuses, fear, and business.
How easy to do these things if I knew to do them would be to speak with you, and be near you, and touch you! How easy if I could grab hold of what you mean here! How are you these people? How is it that I do these things to you?
I need your help (not you-God, you-YOU!); any thoughts on these words? Any past experience with them? Any revelation? Any stories? Anything at all. I just can't get it.
5 comments:
Question for you.....have you ever seen glimpses of 'Jesus-qualities' in other people? His tenderness, compassion, love, wisdom? I think if most of us think then we can think of someone that we know who demonstrates these or some of these qualities. But there are also those people that are in deep sorrow, or are hungry, or are looking to be loved. If you look back to the stories of Jesus there are times when He was all of these things. He still seeks us out today because He is a jealous God and wants us to love Him. He was hungry when Satan tempted Him......He has deep sorrow when we disobey Him. We are all, all of these things, just not all at the same time. We have the same feelings and needs. By giving someone starving a sandwich, (since we are all made in God's image) you are giving it to God. Hmm that might not make sense. There's a song by someone about the fingerprints of God being all over people. He makes us, he forms us, he knows where our paths lead. Why wouldn't He be apart of us then too? I don't know, that thought just kind of came to me. I'm not meaning in an 'accepted Christian' kind of way. If God is everywhere, then wouldn't He be in everything? Just a thought. There's my attempt at a response. :)
Hey Matt! Good thoughts... Just curious if you're looking for some sort of literal metaphysical presence of Christ in the people what we are supposed to help? Something almost akin with the literal presence of Christ that some believe is present in the Eucharist? Well, I may be wrong, but I am not sure that this is what Jesus was getting at. Most of Jesus' instructions to his followers were/are concerned with allegiance to his kingdom ministry (AKA: God restoring shalom to the world). Loving others, along with loving God, are the foundational aspects for what it means to represent God's kingdom here on earth (Mt. 22:37-40). So in the case of this passage, Jesus is elaborating on the nature of his kingdom, where the primary focus is loving those who are normally on the outside of the world's kingdoms.
This may not give you the motivation you are looking for to transcend our busy and often self-absorbed lives, but I think a faith that centers around the question, "what does it mean for me to align myself with God's kingdom in this world?" the motivation may show up through the power of God's spirit working with us, not necessarily the literal presence of Christ in everything around us.
Anyway, these are just some thoughts...
It may not be very helpful, and may only serve to raise more questions, but check out James 2:14-26. Pay special attention to the relationship bertween faith and works, and in particular, look for the direction in which the relationship happens. Is one necessary for the other? Or is one contingent upon the other? How do they interact?
I've personally found that as God changes me, as I rely on him, in those moments (few and far between though they are) in which I have completely surrendered to him, the motivation is there not because I have it but because God gives it to me. The tug of the heart strings to give a homeless man $5, taking a few extra moments to help an old lady cross the street, holding the door open for 5 mins at the shopping mall for a steady stream of people - when I do that for God I do it because he has stirred up in me a joyful heart towards him that I just can't help but do it.
I'll let you read James for yourself. The book of James is one of my fav books, it is SO practical.
My answer is two-fold.
First, as a parent it is easy to understand that a child of yours-especially one that is in some way lesser than others-is truly an extension of your own self (just ask Jen). That being the case, the thought that "what you do unto them you do unto me" makes clear sense. We are all God's kids. The very DNA in each of us IS the image of God. He invented blood, hearts, souls, humanity. We are the extension of God.
Secondly, I think it's important to remember that 'doing' isn't always the point. If you love someone the things you do toward them will naturally (though not always) be out of love. You don't do them 'so that' they see you love them, but you do them 'because' you love them. They may never never notice what you've done, but that was not why you did it anyway. Jesus didn't die 'so that' we'd see that He loved us. He died simply because He loved us. Some people get it, some people never will. I guess my point is-don't strive to 'do' so much, but rather strive to love. I know it sounds cliche, especially in Christian circles but, try looking at people-all people-the way Jesus would. After all, the least of these that are spoken of and that are all around us are our brothers and sisters. We have God's homemade blood in our veins.
Hey, I'm a fellow struggler here Matt. Just a slightly older one :)
I love this passage. It's a favorite reflection of mine, one that I've heard a few times in my church.
I think that one of the important things to consider is that Christ was human. He was divine, for sure, but he was also a human being. And not just any human being, he wasn't wealthy or powerful, his belly wasn't always full. He was, as you often say yourself, spending his time among the least of us.
So consider this - Christ spent his time amongst the beggars, the theives, the hungry, the lonely. Imagine you lived in his time. Imagine walking down a street full of beggars and lepars, and you have inside knowledge, you can identify Christ amongst them. You want to give him food.
But why just him and not the others? Did God not send Christ to be amongst us because he so loved all humans? Because he loved us all as much as his own son? In these terms, what makes these people more special or deserving of food or charity than Christ? Why would you only feed Jesus and not the others? If you feed Jesus and none other, what are your motivations? Is it really to care for someone? Or is it to get attention and win favor with the The Lord?
One of the things that I personally take away from my understanding of Christ, is that because God so loved his son and made him human, he created the potential for divinity in all of us. This isn't to say we're all divine; rather, you may not know what lies in the soul of the man you do not choose to feed.
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