These Faces Seem Familiar – Day 22

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 foundation of the world. …’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:34, 40

To inherit the kingdom, I am directed to help the “least of these.” Jesus gives me some examples of those who fall into this category:

  • The hungry and thirsty – The homeless fit neatly into this group. But I don’t need to give to them because they will probably use the money to buy booze or drugs, right?
  • Strangers – Lately there have been several instances of people in town/coming to town who need a place to stay: people who were fleeing Irma, traveling ministry leaders, families of individuals receiving treatment at UF Health, old friends with young children. Yet my house is a bit messy, I don’t want to risk my children not sleeping through the night, and our dog doesn’t do well with strangers. If they understood my situation, they probably wouldn’t even want to come.
  • The naked – I give clothes to Goodwill all the time. Goodwill then provides my clothes to naked people, right? Check that one off the list!
  • The sick – I have a family with small children and it’s flu season, Jesus! It would be irresponsible for me to visit anybody at the hospital (i.e., flu den), let alone talk to my coworker who just sneezed.
  • Prisoners – Don’t those people have free food, television, and on-demand chaplains? Sounds like their needs are taken care of to me.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. …’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, 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 25:41, 45-46

This follow-up warning makes me extremely uncomfortable, but probably not as uncomfortable as Jesus when He is hungry, thirsty, lonely, naked, sick, and in prison. I feel God calling me to meet the needs of the least of these, irrespective of my family situation, health status (current or future), home size, handicaps, bank account, schedule, and especially my judgement of whether the person in question deserves help (spoiler alert: they deserve it!). So I ask you to join me as I attempt to picture the face of Jesus over the faces of those I would sooner not feed, accommodate, clothe, take care of, or visit.

For this season of my life, God has called me to help lead and direct Servant’s ministry to Littlewood Elementary School. Please understand that I am a solid introvert and that this is not something that I would ever choose for myself – it was more of a situation of a door the size of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building opening in front of me. I encourage you to not shy away from opportunities that make you uncomfortable or that you think are incompatible with your personality type. I suspect more and more that Jesus rarely calls us to actions which make us more comfortable, equally comfortable, or even slightly uncomfortable. To follow Him, we must deny ourselves and daily take up our cross. Then, from under our cross, we will more easily see His face.
 
 
 
Justin Smith
 
 

Justin has been a faithful sinner for the last 33 years of his life and continues to find inventive and creative reasons for putting his palm to his forehead and his foot in his mouth. He is devoted to finding ways of taking the abundance of privilege, blessings, and grace that are being dumped over him to point others to Jesus. Though he feels called to Littlewood for now, Justin’s heart also lies in helping the homeless of Gainesville. If you would like to join Servants in reaching out to the least of these at Littlewood, he would love to talk with you – drop him an email at enroth215@gmail.com.


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