“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” [Matthew 25.31-46]
This passage of Scripture should scare the living daylights out of us! Why? Because it should make us question our conventional religious service to God! Let's dive in...
First. the King (representative of Jesus) is the One doing the dividing of sheep and goats. He is not asking the sheep and goats to segregate themselves according to their own self-evaluation - He is doing the separating.
Imagine the surprise of the "sheep" (as determined by the King's selection) when they realized their being selected had as much to do with their treatment of others as it did the King Himself. In fact, the King Himself stated that their treatment of others was indeed their treatment of Him and 'why' they were considered sheep! ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
But here's the scary part... Imagine also the "uh-oh" moment of all those who considered themselves sheep but found themselves in the goat category. And why were they considered goats? Why, with all their respect of and focus on God did they end up on the "goat" side? The Faithful King gave His crystal clear answer: because they did not treat others with the same respect and focus as they feigned to give the King.
Now, let's discuss something that is not particularly addressed in the passage above, but begs to be explored... What do hunger, thirst, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned all have in common? Need. Need is not however limited to these things. Need is very much the condition of a person who does not know Christ! As seen in the life and ministry of Jesus, meeting physical needs provided the segue to meeting spiritual needs. This gives credence to those today who "are the miracle" to meet the physical needs of others because they effectively present God in doing so.
BUT! What about the needy? Does the fact that they have needs mean they are God? No. It means they are a portal to God (for us) just in the same way we are a portal to God (for them) in meeting their needs! Jesus Christ is the only way to God and so, for us to obediently meet others' needs is 'Christ unto them.' And, as the King in the story above stated, for us to obediently meet others' needs is also 'unto Christ.'
So, why should this scare us? Because most today are so busy living life (including being religious) that little time and effort is given to being "Christ unto" and "unto Christ" as it pertains to others. Our modern estimation of others is based on how they compliment our lives instead of how we might compliment theirs (sadly, this is prevalent in our families too). The reason most of us don't find ourselves in natural soul-winning situations is because we have done nothing on behalf of others to find ourselves in that position!
The "faith" in helping a needy person is found in the fact that nothing can be expected in return. That is the model established by Jesus on the Cross. And, because Jesus is the only way to heaven, that model is the only way we will effectively show Jesus to others. And, consequently, it is the only way others will see Jesus in us!
Father, forgive us for making life about ourselves. Only Your Word gives us the Truth of selfless giving - nothing in the world compares. Thank You for Jesus! May I find Him as He works through me revealing Himself to others.
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