The Least of These

 Read Matthew 25:341-46

Read Isaiah 58

The disciples have been with Jesus for a while. They are convinced that he is the long-awaited Messiah.  They even buy into some of his cut-through-the-red tape, straight-to-the-heart, turn-the-world right-side-up teachings.

Some still were not making sense, but the Spirit of God had not come upon them yet.

But there was this sense of wondering. What is to come? The Messiah is right here, but how does all of this wrap up?  What is it going to be like at the end of the age?

Matthew 25 contains three parables. One is about being ready for his return. One is about giving an account of what we did with what God gave us. And one deals with the administration of love and justice at the end of the age.

The first parable begins with at that time. What time? The end of the age.

The next parable begins with the word again. What does that mean? Here is another parable about the end of the age.

This third parable, however, begins with Jesus's coming in glory. He will be on his throne and surrounded by angels, the crescendo of the end of the age.

It’s not going to be like a certain man or like ten virgins. It’s when the Son of Man comes in his glory. This is first-person stuff.

What happens?

There is a sorting. Jesus compares it to sorting sheep and goats. The people understood sorting animals. This was very much an agrarian society. Hence, other shepherd references in the gospels as well as some of our favorite Psalms.

But there is a sorting here. Understand that sheep are not inherently good, and goats are evil by nature. But there will be a sorting. Mind you, the sheep get the better role here, but nobody left from this teaching and liquidated their holdings in goats.

Remember, a parable lays in parallel the things of this world that people know firsthand with things or concepts or practices in the Kingdom of God. The people understood sorting of animals.

Let’s not try to make the parable allegorical; instead, let’s examine how this sorting is applied to people.

To some—those on his right—Jesus said, come and get your blessings. They have been waiting for you for a long time.

Those on his right ask what did they do to deserve this? Jesus said:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Those labeled righteous were thinking, "When did we do any of that?" I might be in the wrong line.

Jesus told them:

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

There is a song by Everlast called What It’s Like. We will not play it on Sunday morning or even during evening Bible study. Its language is too raw.

Its message cuts to the quick about our human nature but leaves out God as the ultimate remedy. When we see a person in difficult situations, our nature is to condemn them. Sometimes, we scorn them. Sometimes, we just ignore them. We think that we let them off easy by not hearing what I had to say about them and what they are doing.

It hits home for our human nature.

The song's message is basically until we walk a mile in their shoes, we don’t know what it’s like.

It’s not the Joe South version from 50 years ago.

Walk a mile in my shoes

Walk a mile in my shoes

Hey, before you abuse

Criticize and accuse

Walk a mile in my shoes

But some have eyes to see Jesus in people with little in the world. These people help, knowing, “They definitely cannot pay me back.”

But some see, some help, and some deliver compassion and mercy to the least of these, our brothers and sisters.  This is our fruit.

Jesus sees them as those who have lived in his right standing. These acts of compassion do not make us right with God, but they are what God expects of us for being made right with him. These acts are our fruit.

The righteous did this without even thinking about it. Their acts of mercy, compassion, and generosity were no longer second nature. They were first nature, and they did them reflexively.

How can you tell if compassion, generosity, and mercy are your first nature? Do you remember every time that you helped someone?  If you do, it’s still your second nature.

Some who proclaim Jesus is Lord still live with their first nature—human nature. They don’t have eyes to see the least of these brothers and sisters with mercy and compassion. Often, we are judgmental and condemning.

Why? If your human nature governs, condemning is much easier than understanding. To speak the truth in love as Paul directs, we who believe in Jesus Christ and follow him as disciples—must be able to have real conversations even with people we would rather not talk with at all.

We who seek to put the words of our Master into practice share the truth, but we also seek to understand the plight of those with whom we speak.  We have real conversations with people that many don’t even see.

The god of this age—that’s Satan—has blinded unbelievers to the truth. We are believers, and we are not blind.  We must not live as if we are blind. We should have eyes to see Jesus in the person while we truthfully work with the situation.

Those chastised here for not even seeing those whom they should have helped are not delivered to the lost but to us. It is to believers. You have heard this message before. Wake Up! Pay Attention!

The blind cannot see what believers can. We expect to have eyes to see as we live out our salvation. We go into the world with eyes to see the least of these.

But, sometimes, I feel like I should be in line with the goats. That is your old nature wrestling with the new creature that you are in Christ. If you stop seeing Jesus in the least of these around you, your old self is winning in your battle of discipleship.

When you see the least of these brothers and sisters, help them, and then forget about it as easily as you forgot the last time you brushed your teeth or changed the filter on your heater, you might just be winning the battle with the old self.

This parable cautions both the lifetime believer and the new believer never to become callous when we can help another person. That doesn’t mean we open the vault of never-ending money that every church keeps in the secretary’s office.

Throwing money at people is relatively easy and often transactional. Helping people when you can’t just throw money at them is tough.

Getting to know people who don’t fit in the comfort zone of your people—whatever that looks like—is tough. It’s messy.

But those factors do not excuse us from having eyes to see and putting the words of our Master into practice.

Good general concepts there, Tom. How about something specific?

Let’s talk about illegal immigrants. I want everyone entering this country to use the door and abide by the laws that govern those procedures. I would like them to come to America and want to be Americans. That’s me and my thinking.

But that’s not our situation in 2024.  So Christian, what do you do if you encounter a person who is not here legally but is hungry?

Feed him or her or them. Share the good news of life in Jesus Christ with them. It’s that simple.

If they don’t have any clothing, then find them some. It’s not that hard. One of the things that I love about this congregation and the community of believers here in western Oklahoma is that our church building does not have room to store many clothes.

That said, if someone has a need for clothing, I can generally post ages and sizes online, and people respond. We understand a lot about the counsel here.

If we had a room set aside for clothing, people would most likely drop off what they didn’t want any more. Not having a room lets us be purposeful in meeting a specific need, plus we have thrift stores in three surrounding cities.

We try to help them if they are sick. If they need to use the shower in our church building, who among you would say no?

We are not endorsing one immigration policy over another. We are helping the least of these our brothers and sisters.

I have helped families with food and sometimes fuel or a small bill when the father was present but did not have a full-time job. When I mentioned going to use the computers at the state employment office, they said they couldn’t. I realized the situation.

I helped some but also counseled the family that they wouldn’t really have peace until the legality of Dad’s presence in this country was resolved. Immigration is messy and getting messier, but compassion doesn’t care how messy the situation is.

But some grow cold and callous. Working with the least of these brothers and sisters is a messy business. Unless we can enter into the messiness of those who need to see and feel God’s love, we can never truly speak the truth in a spirit of love to them.

Remember, speaking the truth in love is more a measure of our maturity as believers than an essential element of conversational Christianity. We have to have real conversations with people that our human nature doesn’t even want to talk with.

If we only help those who might be able to help us back, we are no different from the godless people of the world.

Will we have eyes to see, and will we be the hands that deliver God's love? Or are our comfort zones just too comfortable?

Know with certainty that there will be a sorting at the end of the age. I want to be in the line where I get a well-done, good, and faithful servant and the one where I am told to receive the inheritance that’s been waiting on me longer than I can imagine.

There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, but what we do in response to this fantastic gift is mostly in our ballpark. That includes compassion and love for people who don’t fit well into our circles, those on society's fringes, for the least of these.

God is always with us, including in our discipleship work, but we have things we have been given to do. Among those things are to be loving, kind, merciful, and generous with the least of these, our brothers and sisters.

Christians, believers, disciples, and children of God—know with certainty that we must have eyes to see and the actions that help the least of these among us if we want to yield to the Potter who is shaping our hearts like his.

Helping the least of these our brothers and sisters and not remembering each instance is a sign of our Christian maturity.  There are good things in store for us when we live in the right standing that Jesus gave us.

Helping the least of these is a win-win. It benefits them and is a litmus test for our growth in God’s grace.

Have eyes to see and the will to act when we come upon the least of these brothers and sisters.

Amen.