Matthew 25:31-46
These verses conclude Jesus’ public teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. In some ways it is showing us what is about to happen. On his way to the cross Jesus is thirsty, he is stripped and his clothes, and he was afflicted and no one offered him compassion. His word of judgment will echo soon, “You did not do it to me.”
Usually, when we read this passage, we can get a romantic view of what it means to work with the poor and needy. I heard a minister that served in an internship in Boston say, “You can find Christ among the poor; but he poor are not very Christ-like.” When I was in high school, my pastor told the story of a family he was struggling to get groceries for. He ended up give of his own limited budget to feed this family stuck in a motel room. When he delivered the groceries, they did not stop watching TV to help him bring in the bags, and then they looked through the bags and said, “We prefer Maxwell House Coffee.” He no longer had joy in serving.
In all of the churches I’ve served in, there are many people who are jaundiced in their view of helping others because of experiences like my previous pastor. And we hear the words of the Savior here then we can understand the confusion of the righteous, “When did we see you?” Because many of those given clothes, food, money for housing, etc. are not grateful. Does that mean they were not Jesus? No, it just means that often we are not thanked and rewarded until we stand before the Savior.
I see this going back to the fulfillment of the Law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Very simply, I am to make sure my neighbor is OK. I do not work at the community meal, the food bank, or the prison ministry so that I can rack up hours or brownie points that will get me on Christ’s right hand. I do it because loving God is so inexorably linked to loving my neighbor. Out of that heart of Love, I naturally make sure that my neighbor, the stranger, and the foreigner are doing OK while I am taking care of myself.
Pastor Greg
