August 21st

Terrified

            Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’  Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’  Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25: 37-46

            This passage chills me to my bones. 

            Seriously.  It is terrifying.  Stop for a moment and consider the implications of what Jesus is saying in this text.  Jesus says that there will be judgement.  Everyone knows that.  Jesus says that the small acts of kindness that you do for the poor and the marginalized, the “least of these,” will be credited as righteousness. In caring for His family, we are caring for Him.  Those of us who are Christians and believe in service and social justice know this and breathe this.  We read this passage and feel that we are on rock-solid footing with God because we give of ourselves to those who cannot give back.  Special needs parents are masters of serving “the least of these,” because they live in our houses.  But Jesus does not stop there.

            He says that humanity can be judged wicked not by what they did in life…but by what they did not do.  Read over the passage again.  It does not say that the accursed were oppressing the weak or stealing food from the hungry or falsely convicting the poor.  There is no lying, cheating, stealing or malicious actions of any kind being committed by the cursed.  Instead, they had the opportunity to commit small, simple acts of kindness to the marginalized and they did not.  And that earns them eternal punishment.

            Maybe they were too busy to stop.  Maybe they were too tired to listen.  Maybe they were too overwhelmed with their own lives and problems that they never even considered visiting those who were in jail.  Maybe they could see that someone was hurting after the church service, but this was the only free hour that they had to themselves today and they did not want to spend it taking on the weight of someone else’s problems.

            Can you see why this bothers me?

            Sins of omission…the times where we have the opportunity and ability to do good but choose not to.  Those are the things that Jesus is calling out in this passage as He divides the sheep and the goats.  The dividing bar is not martyrdom.  It is not how many souls we saved or how many quiet times we had or how much we gave to the church.  Jesus’ line is simply this: were we kind and generous to the poor and the weak and the immigrant and the disabled and the convicts?  Did we freely give of ourselves or did we decide that we had given enough and we had no time and no resource for others?

            How many divine appointments do we miss because we are wrapped up in our schedule and our routine and our family’s issues?  How many aching people have I refused to engage in the name of having a manageable life?  How many times could I have offered a cup of water to the thirsty but decided to take it to my son because he is my life?

            I know that there are valid concerns about healthy boundaries.  I know that the need is not the call.  I know that God is bigger than us and able to work through anyone and anything in order to see His will done.  I know all these things and they are valid pieces of the puzzle of our faith.

            But I do not want to forget…cannot forget…what Jesus says in this passage because it is at the heart of our faith and our time here on earth.

            The life that we have been given is no excuse to hold back kindness and generosity to others and the stakes are eternal.

            That terrifies me.

A moment to reflect:

How have you used your family situation to avoid caring for the needy?  Take some time to repent.