Living in the Spirit
November 22, 2020
Scripture Reading:
Matthew 25:31-46
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just 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.’
I had an AHA! moment some years ago when I finally realized that God appointed Jesus to be my judge and everyone else’s judge, too. He even took the time to tell us ahead what his judgment criteria would be:
- Feed the hungry
- Provide water for the thirsty,
- Welcome the stranger
- Clothe the naked
- Care for the sick
- Restore the prisoner
The first thing that seems to be missing here is failure to obey laws. While there are laws in the Hebrew Bible that address each of these to one degree or another, Jesus is making the point that we will be judged on our active behavior regarding others, not on how we obey laws or even on how many times we worship or pray or study the Bible. Indeed, all these activities are necessary to support the work that we are called to do but they are not the work. There is also no hint of comparing any of us to anyone else. God knows our hearts and the potential that was instilled in each of us at our creation. We will be judged on how well we fulfilled that potential in loving one another.
Prayer: Lord, help us to honor you by following your example as you loved others. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.