Matthew 25:31-46
“But when
I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I
shall sit upon my throne of glory. And all the nations shall be gathered before
me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats, and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left. “Then I,
the King, shall say to those at my right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, into the
Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. For I was hungry
and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you
invited me into your homes; naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and
you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we
ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? Or
a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? When did we ever see you
sick or in prison, and visit you?’ “And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When
you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’ Then I will turn
to those on my 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
wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink; a
stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me;
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 I will answer, ‘When you refused to
help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.’ “And they
shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting
life.”
Food for thought!
This
is one of the most vivid parables Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson is crystal
clear--that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need;
judgement will be according to how we treated each other's needs. Yes, God's
judgment will not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we
have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, or on the number of prayers
we have made, not even on the creed we have professed or the church we went to.
It will depend on the deeds we have done in life. God's judgement will depend
on the help that we have given.
There are some things that this parable teaches us about the help which we must give.
(i) It must be help in simple things. The things which Jesus picks out--giving a hungry man a meal, or a thirsty man a drink, welcoming a stranger, cheering the sick, visiting the prisoner--are things which anyone can do. It is not a question of giving away thousands of dollars or of writing our names in the annals of history; it is a case of giving simple help to the people we meet every day. There never was a parable which so opened the way to heaven to the simplest people.
(ii) It must be help which is uncalculating. Those who helped did not think that they were helping Christ and thus piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop themselves. It was the natural, instinctive, quite uncalculating reaction of the loving heart.
On the other hand, the attitude of those who failed to help was; "If we had known it was you we would gladly have helped; but we thought it was only some common man who was not worth helping." It is still true that there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and publicity; but to help like that is not to help, it is to build self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is disguised selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is that which is given for nothing but the sake of helping.
This Lent, let us think of some ways we can use our mind, our energy, our money and our time. Is there something constructive that we can do that could make a difference in someone's life? Remember, “little things can mean a lot.”
There are some things that this parable teaches us about the help which we must give.
(i) It must be help in simple things. The things which Jesus picks out--giving a hungry man a meal, or a thirsty man a drink, welcoming a stranger, cheering the sick, visiting the prisoner--are things which anyone can do. It is not a question of giving away thousands of dollars or of writing our names in the annals of history; it is a case of giving simple help to the people we meet every day. There never was a parable which so opened the way to heaven to the simplest people.
(ii) It must be help which is uncalculating. Those who helped did not think that they were helping Christ and thus piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop themselves. It was the natural, instinctive, quite uncalculating reaction of the loving heart.
On the other hand, the attitude of those who failed to help was; "If we had known it was you we would gladly have helped; but we thought it was only some common man who was not worth helping." It is still true that there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and publicity; but to help like that is not to help, it is to build self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is disguised selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is that which is given for nothing but the sake of helping.
This Lent, let us think of some ways we can use our mind, our energy, our money and our time. Is there something constructive that we can do that could make a difference in someone's life? Remember, “little things can mean a lot.”
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