The Least of These...
When was the last time you saw someone who was in need? What did they look like? What did they need? Where were they? What was the circumstance? Take a few minutes to capture the detail of what happened and your reaction...
Now read the story in Matthew 25:31-40. It’s obvious that Jesus is teaching the people about the “end times”, what it will be like when the King, Jesus himself, returns. As he describes how the people of the world will be separated into two groups: the blessed and the cursed, or the sheep and the goats, Jesus is also teaching us about obedient love. The first group of people Jesus describes are the ones “blessed by my Father in heaven”, or the sheep. They are about to receive their inheritance (heaven) that the Father has been preparing since the creation of the world. (imagine how crazy awesome that will be?) Then something interesting happens: Jesus begins to speak about the things that the “righteous ones” were doing with their lives--what their lives were all about. He lists what they did for Him: feeding Him when He was hungry; giving Him water when He was thirsty; welcoming Him into their homes; clothing Him when He was in need; caring for Him when He was sick; visiting Him when He was in prison. What is intriguing about this is after Jesus listed all of this, these righteous ones replied in an unusual way by inquiring of the King, “when did we do these things for You?” They then re-list the acts of love Jesus was blessing them for doing, unable to recall when they did any of these things for Jesus--they honestly don’t remember! Jesus then replies, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” vs 40.
What does this cause you to think? Who are the least of these?
The challenge for us, in the story, and in our lives, is for us to see where we fit in. The righteous ones were being obedient out of love--not because they were trying to earn anything. They didn’t even realize they were doing it when they were doing it.
I would propose that we cannot begin to understand the least of these until we look in the mirror and understand that the least of these is each of us! We are the least of these lost and broken without a Savior we are condemned and lost. We are the least of these that God has redeemed. Until we understand this and come to terms with this fact we have no lens to even see the least of these and we miss it. Our tendency is to look at people and categorize them as “us” and “them” especially when we talk of the least of these.
Everything changes when God’s love for us is understood and digested. It is only then out of love we begin to love everyone, especially the least of these.
This is the ministry that Jesus has called us to each and every day! From yesterday talking with a woman that has been abused physically and verbally since age 8 and has never really been loved. As a result she has made lifestyle choices that have caused addiction and pain as well as an aftermath of broken relationships. She came through our doors wanting help to make it through the day and experience real life change in Jesus. Last week there was a man who pulled into our parking lot broken with a 10 year old child asking for help to pray wanting God in his life. When I asked how he knew to come to our church he told me that he had been in this parking lot before for an MMA fight we put on months earlier. He heard about God’s love and that living for Jesus can change everything. These two have been overlooked by many and don’t fit in to most churches because of their background and the way they look or because of their struggles. They are the least of these.
The flip side of the story in Matthew 25 is the second group of people that Jesus calls the goats--those who are unrighteous before God. They are also called the cursed because they did not believe in Jesus. As a result they failed to see things as Jesus does and love the way Jesus loves. They missed it completely, as much as the righteous got it and didn’t even know they were doing it, the unrighteous missed it and didn’t realize that they weren’t doing it.
Now to be sure, we must understand that it wasn’t about the “things” they did. It was about loving God and believing in Jesus and this changed the way they loved and what they loved. Flip over to Matthew 22 and we read about the greatest commandment. “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind, and your soul...” We believe in Jesus and we are assured of eternal life, and we love God with everything that makes us, us! That changes the way we see everything. The sheep were simply following Jesus, loving God, and loving what He loves--their neighbor. No matter if their neighbor was an addict, divorced multiple times, or didn’t look or smell right they simply loved. They were following the voice of their Shepherd Jesus and caring for those He cared for in His name, obediently loving others simply out of their love for God. The righteousness of the righteous came from Jesus and the result was following Him and doing things in His name that they didn’t even realize that they were doing. They saw the least of these and loved them as Jesus loves them.
The implications of these verses when fully understood can cause a complete shift in thinking, especially as to what it means to follow Jesus. What does that really look like to love what God loves and live as Jesus lived? Where do you fit in with the least of these? So I end where we began, asking the question: when was the last time you saw the least of these and how did you respond? How can you make a difference in the name of Jesus, sharing His love with all people? What does it look like to live life loving the least of these? How does this change the way you live and love?
Now read the story in Matthew 25:31-40. It’s obvious that Jesus is teaching the people about the “end times”, what it will be like when the King, Jesus himself, returns. As he describes how the people of the world will be separated into two groups: the blessed and the cursed, or the sheep and the goats, Jesus is also teaching us about obedient love. The first group of people Jesus describes are the ones “blessed by my Father in heaven”, or the sheep. They are about to receive their inheritance (heaven) that the Father has been preparing since the creation of the world. (imagine how crazy awesome that will be?) Then something interesting happens: Jesus begins to speak about the things that the “righteous ones” were doing with their lives--what their lives were all about. He lists what they did for Him: feeding Him when He was hungry; giving Him water when He was thirsty; welcoming Him into their homes; clothing Him when He was in need; caring for Him when He was sick; visiting Him when He was in prison. What is intriguing about this is after Jesus listed all of this, these righteous ones replied in an unusual way by inquiring of the King, “when did we do these things for You?” They then re-list the acts of love Jesus was blessing them for doing, unable to recall when they did any of these things for Jesus--they honestly don’t remember! Jesus then replies, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” vs 40.
What does this cause you to think? Who are the least of these?
The challenge for us, in the story, and in our lives, is for us to see where we fit in. The righteous ones were being obedient out of love--not because they were trying to earn anything. They didn’t even realize they were doing it when they were doing it.
I would propose that we cannot begin to understand the least of these until we look in the mirror and understand that the least of these is each of us! We are the least of these lost and broken without a Savior we are condemned and lost. We are the least of these that God has redeemed. Until we understand this and come to terms with this fact we have no lens to even see the least of these and we miss it. Our tendency is to look at people and categorize them as “us” and “them” especially when we talk of the least of these.
Everything changes when God’s love for us is understood and digested. It is only then out of love we begin to love everyone, especially the least of these.
This is the ministry that Jesus has called us to each and every day! From yesterday talking with a woman that has been abused physically and verbally since age 8 and has never really been loved. As a result she has made lifestyle choices that have caused addiction and pain as well as an aftermath of broken relationships. She came through our doors wanting help to make it through the day and experience real life change in Jesus. Last week there was a man who pulled into our parking lot broken with a 10 year old child asking for help to pray wanting God in his life. When I asked how he knew to come to our church he told me that he had been in this parking lot before for an MMA fight we put on months earlier. He heard about God’s love and that living for Jesus can change everything. These two have been overlooked by many and don’t fit in to most churches because of their background and the way they look or because of their struggles. They are the least of these.
The flip side of the story in Matthew 25 is the second group of people that Jesus calls the goats--those who are unrighteous before God. They are also called the cursed because they did not believe in Jesus. As a result they failed to see things as Jesus does and love the way Jesus loves. They missed it completely, as much as the righteous got it and didn’t even know they were doing it, the unrighteous missed it and didn’t realize that they weren’t doing it.
Now to be sure, we must understand that it wasn’t about the “things” they did. It was about loving God and believing in Jesus and this changed the way they loved and what they loved. Flip over to Matthew 22 and we read about the greatest commandment. “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind, and your soul...” We believe in Jesus and we are assured of eternal life, and we love God with everything that makes us, us! That changes the way we see everything. The sheep were simply following Jesus, loving God, and loving what He loves--their neighbor. No matter if their neighbor was an addict, divorced multiple times, or didn’t look or smell right they simply loved. They were following the voice of their Shepherd Jesus and caring for those He cared for in His name, obediently loving others simply out of their love for God. The righteousness of the righteous came from Jesus and the result was following Him and doing things in His name that they didn’t even realize that they were doing. They saw the least of these and loved them as Jesus loves them.
The implications of these verses when fully understood can cause a complete shift in thinking, especially as to what it means to follow Jesus. What does that really look like to love what God loves and live as Jesus lived? Where do you fit in with the least of these? So I end where we began, asking the question: when was the last time you saw the least of these and how did you respond? How can you make a difference in the name of Jesus, sharing His love with all people? What does it look like to live life loving the least of these? How does this change the way you live and love?
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