Day 213 “The stranger you help is the child of the God you serve.”

Day 213 Matthew 25:31-40 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy 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 them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” But Lord, what about all of the classes I led, or the theological discussions I held, or the many Church and social events, why haven't you mentioned them? I have all of these degrees from seminary; I've read the books and listened to the scholars, doesn't that count? Why don't you mention that, Lord? You see, unfortunately, there are many who profess to believe in and follow Christ who truly cannot relate to the qualities and actions Jesus speaks of rewarding for. They have been so wrapped up in being educated about the Word or the Lord that they have never acted out what He says to do. Does it not make sense that, when inspiring a passage that speaks of who He will bless and reward upon His return, He doesn't mention many of the things some churches and religious leaders place the greatest value upon? When did we make the learning of God more important than the representation of God? Please notice, I said more important; I am not for a second advocating the end of pursuit of the study of the Word or education; however, when it becomes more important than, or the primary focus of, our efforts, we have mixed up our priorities. We must balance our lives well between the Word of God and the God of the Word, we must have both Word and Spirit leading us, one without the other leaves us unbalanced. Dare I say that those who focus upon education, programs, and inspiration for their benefit more than they focus upon extending a helping hand to the children of God have become truly selfish and are in need of a wake-up call? Today, I hear so much talk about community and culture and further discussion from our youth, yet in many places such focus has crippled the church from being effective at reaching out to those in need. We become so introspective and concerned for those who, all too often, are struggling with the same sin and addictions that have plagued them most of their life that we never reach out to those Christ would consider being "the least of these." Believe me when I say that a healthy and vibrant church is important; just how that is defined for some of us would be viewed very differently, but, all in all, I would say a healthy church is a balanced church, and the same could be said for us as individual believers. We should desire to be faithful to the study of the Word, fellowship, and reaching out to those in need and, yes, even the criminals, not just each other; after all, isn't reaching out to each other just a little too easy? He did mention strangers, naked people, the sick, and criminals, not the brothers and sisters in the pews beside you, unless they, too, of course, are in need. I don't know about you, but this passage packs a powerful punch, one that should inspire conversation, one that should cause us to desire to be stretched beyond our comfortable limits, and one that could and would change the world if we all got on board. Oh, and by the way, if you are thinking of using the old standby phrase that says “I don't think I'm called to do this,” you might want to reconsider, we’re all called to live this way. Remember, these are the ones He will be rewarding; His Word says so! Daily Prayer: Father, I pray that You would give us eyes to see and ears to hear in order that we might be more effective for You in this world. Show us those in need, and give us the strength to be bold enough to help them out. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. “The stranger you help is the child of the God you serve.” Gene Burroughs, Pastor