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Body: When we use our gifts to meet the needs of the "least of these" we are doing it as unto the Lord. Matthew 25:31-46 New Living Translation **The Final Judgment** **31**“But when the Son of Man[a] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. **32**All the nations[b] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. **33**He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. **34**“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 creation of the world. **35**For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. **36**I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ **37**“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? **38**Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? **39**When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ **40**“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’ **41**“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[d] **42**For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. **43**I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ **44**“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?’ **45**“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ **46**“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” In today’s parable the people are divided up at judgment day as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep were on the right and the goats on the left. He speaks to those on his right and says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Then he goes on to say, “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.” The sheep, representing the people who were in right standing with God, were puzzled by this. They said, “When did we ever see you hungry and feed you? When did we ever visit you in prison? And the Lord answered, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” On the other hand, to those on the left, he said, “You didn’t bother to feed me when I was hungry, you didn’t invite me in, you didn’t look after me when I was sick.” They said, “When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or any of these other things?” Jesus answered, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” I don’t think we are always aware of what our role is in the PRACTICAL things toward helping other around us. There are acts of mercy that we all can do every day. An old deacon was leading in prayer using one of his same old phrases which was, “Oh, Lord, touch the needy with Thy Finger.” Suddenly as he was praying, he stopped. The silence caused people to rush over to him and ask if he were ill. “No, “he said, “but something seemed to say to me, “Thou art the finger.” So often we pray and ask God to TOUCH people--to do this and that for them--to meet a variety of needs that WE could assist with. Let’s see what we can get out of this scripture that will help us to be used of God in a greater way this week. 1. The Least of These: We might wonder who Jesus is referring to when he says, “the least of these brothers of mine.” Who do you think would be “the least”? You might say it’s the poor, you might say it’s the homeless, it might be the person who is living apart from society, or the person who is ostracized from society because of crimes they have done, or maybe people who can’t take care of themselves because of drug or alcohol problems. It could be the little child who is abused. It could be anyone who is DIFFERENT FROM ME. One definition of “the least of these” that I thought was good is “anyone who is IGNORED or OVERLOOKED.” This could be anyone at one time or another. People may be quick to say, “that person doesn’t amount to very much, not worth helping, of no value, write that person off.” The “least of them” is not necessarily a “believer” but could be someone who doesn’t even know the Lord yet. It’s like “who is my neighbor?” We may have a picture in our mind of who is the “least”, but we may not be entirely accurate. There are times when we ALL fall into this category. Think of a time when you have been hurting or in need and someone reached out to you or maybe they DIDN’T reach out to you. You might think of a time when you needed someone to talk to and someone was there for you, when you were worried about something, and someone prayed for you or helped you in some way. Or maybe you moved to a new town and needed some friendship. In the book “The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers”, Amy Hollingsworth quotes Fred Rogers on one way that he defined a hero; “To see people who will notice a need in the world and do something about it, and rather than view it with despair they view it with hope. That to me is such an enormous gift in this life. Those are my heroes.” Fred’s mother had always called these people “the helpers.” When Fred was a boy and he was frightened by something, his mother would say, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Fred Rogers did look for the helpers, those who notice a need in the world and do something about it, and they became his heroes, modeling this lesson Jesus taught His disciples, as recorded in Matthew 25. Helpers are people like Dr. Orr, (a friend of Fred), who not only taught theology, but also lived it. Fred remembered one day when Dr. Orr went out to lunch on a winter afternoon and came back without his overcoat. Fred asked him about his missing coat, and Dr. Orr simply replied that he had another one at home. He never let on that he had given it to someone who didn’t have one. “I needed clothes and you clothed me.” Another helper was Henri Nouwen, a prolific writer who taught at Harvard but resigned to become pastor to the disabled members of the L’Arche community in Toronto. Among Heri’s daily responsibilities was the bathing, shaving, dressing, and feeding of a severely disabled man named Adam. In the end, Henri noted, that it was Adam who taught him. Therefore, Fred called Henri a hero. “I was sick, and you and you looked after me.” Father William Wasson, who started a ministry for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” in Mexico. Also considered a hero to Fred. “Father Wasson went to Mexico forty years prior to die. He was very ill. He was in a little parish there, and there were two kids who were stealing from the church’s poor box, and those kids were taken to jail. And Bill Wasson went to that jail and said, ‘Do you think I could take care of those kids at home?’ And they said ‘gladly.’ So he took them home, and two days later the people at the jail called and said, ‘We’ve got two more,’ and he said, ‘Send them over.’ Well in a matter of a month he had about seventeen kids, and he had to move to bigger quarters, and he’s adopted them all, legally adopted all these kids. “In the last twenty-five years he has adopted about six thousand children. Father Wasson went to Mexico to die but instead found a reason to live. “I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Fred Rogers was a helper too. He once went into a maximum-security prison in Pittsburgh and taught a college course in child development. He referred to them as “students” and not “inmates”. Fred was their teacher, but in return he learned from them and forged enduring relationships. “I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Borrowed from: “The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers” STORY: A pastor received a letter one day from some people who had moved there from another town. It read: “When my wife and I moved here three years ago, we felt the need to make contact with a local church. We hoped to make new friends. When we went to church, we heard good sermons but our hope that we would make REAL CONTACT with our fellow Christians in the same pew came to nothing. We often left church as lonely as when we came in.” “I was a stranger and you took me in--or didn’t take me in.” Anyone can be the “least of these” sooner or later. When have you been hungry, thirsty, a stranger in need of hospitality, in need of clothes, sick and in need of a caregiver, in prison and somebody reached out to you? It is a humbling experience when people are willing to do this for us. These six categories pretty well take in the basic areas of our lives. The importance of service when and where service is needed is not overlooked by the Lord. Matthew 10:42 says, “if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for Him. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” The people acted surprised when Jesus said, “you fed me, you did this for me.” They asked, “When did we ever do that?” He said, “when you did it for the least of these you were really doing it for me.” The Cobbler Story: Conrad was a cobbler who had a shoe shop in a tiny village in Europe. He dreamed that the Master (Jesus) would visit him at his little shoe shop. So early in the morning, Conrad got up early and swept, dusted, and got his little shop ready for the visit. He baked some bread and cakes, and he waited with great anticipation for the Master to show up. As the day went by, Conrad saw an old man outside his shop window that had no shoes on his feet, out in the cold. Moved with compassion, he brought the elderly man inside to warm up and gave him shoes for his feet. As Conrad continued to wait for the Master to come, he heard a knock at the door. With great excitement he ran to the door only to see a little old lady. She had a bundle of sticks and had not eaten in some time. At first, Conrad was mad because it was not the Master. But then he was moved with compassion to bring her into the little shop and gave her something to eat, including the cakes and bread he had made for the Master. After she had finished eating, he carried her sticks for her to the edge of the village and hurried back in fear he’d miss the Master, but as he returned, the Master still was not there. As the afternoon passed, Conrad waited. Still no Master appeared. And then there was another soft rap at the door. He thought surely this must be the master. It was a little boy. He asked Conrad to help him find his way home. Conrad didn’t want to leave, but his compassion led him to help the little boy find his way home. As fast as he could, he rushed back to the shop only to find it undisturbed. No Master to be found. Conrad cried in his heart, “Why is it, Lord, Your feet delay? Did You forget this was the day?” Then in the soft stillness of the little shop, Conrad heard a voice, “Lift up your heart, For I have kept My word. Three times I came to your friendly door, three times My shadow was on your floor.” The Master came as the old man with no shoes, the hungry old lady, and the little lost boy. Jesus comes to us in those who do need help, are hurting, hungry, thirsty, lost, sick, or locked up in prison. The Body of Christ is to reach out and help just like Conrad did. (Author unknown) Sometimes we think if we do something for somebody else, we will run short ourselves. Proverbs 28:27 says, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing.” When you invite God into your life, you may be in for some surprises. Anything you do for people; you are REALLY doing for Him. He will bring people across your pathway and opportunities to help--opportunities that may cost you some time and money. I have a challenge for us. In the upcoming weeks find someone who is in more need than you are. It doesn’t matter which scale of need you use. It may be someone who is hungry, someone thirsty, someone who has been stripped bare of outward appearances, who is standing very much alone right now. It could be someone who is in prison right now or someone who is living in a prison of their own making bound up by spiritual or emotional chains that are even stronger than metal prison bars. Find someone who is in more need than you are. It may be a stranger. Welcome that person into your life. It may be someone very different from you. It could be someone in your own family who you are just not connecting with. Ask the Lord to bring someone across your pathway and do something to meet that person’s needs. Think about areas of service where you find yourself serving the most naturally. Think about areas in which you have the most trouble reaching out. In living a thankful life, we will simply offer deeds of kindness to someone who has been overlooked or ignored or someone who is considered “least” in man’s estimation but not in God’s. Let us reach out and touch someone’s life, in a manner that would please God. Using our gifts that He has so richly blessed us with. I would like to close with this story. Finders Keepers A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.” (Author Unknown). Let Us Pray.
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