Serving The Least Of These

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 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 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 welcomed me, 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? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

In this video I used pictures I have taken, because this is the world I live in. These are the people and places that I serve. God called us out of the blue to come here and serve as His hands and feet to His children, to bring them to Him. People say they admire us and don’t think they could do what we have done – leave everything behind and go to a place where everything is so different. We are just trying to be obedient to what God has told us to do. We have this calling on our lives.

But what about you? God may never call you to a third world country, but He does call you to serve right where you are. To look outside yourself and around at those you interact with everyday. There are those who are hurting and thirsty for Living Water even when they don’t know it, you can point them to the only One that can heal them and quench their thirst. Sometimes just a kind word can change a heart, lift spirits and turn someone around from the trouble they are headed. YOU can be the love of Jesus in their day or even their life.

Those that are hungry and seek to fill that hunger with the things of this world, with drugs, with everything but God. They need the Word of God to feed them, we as Christ followers are to represent Him and share with them His Word, direct them to the places they can be fed.

Clothe the naked has to do (my opinion) with dignity, how we should treat the “least of these”. The down and out, those who people have put aside, deemed unworthy of respect and help. The homeless that have mental illnesses, the veterans that can’t get work because of the things they have seen in war and the injuries that they got protecting our freedom. “And if not for the grace of God there go I”. There are too many people getting government money for free, but there are also too many one step away from that because they can’t hold things together with their minimum wage jobs that they work hard for. Dignity and respect for others no matter their income level, race, culture, religion or sex.

Visit the sick. Do you know how many people are in nursing homes – both young people who are sick and the elderly –  that have no one that visits them? We’ve been to many nursing homes through the years and it would break my heart to see the lonely and broken-hearted that have no one to comfort them. The same with hospitals. We should visit the sick, whether in those places or our neighbors and co-workers, help others at a time of need. Many church members just expect the Pastor to do all the visiting. I don’t see that in this verse, I believe Jesus was talking to all of us.

We probably have the hardest time with visiting those in prison. I think that before God moved us here this was a calling God placed on me. It’s not the most pleasant thing to do for me, it breaks my heart to see men and women who really never had a chance from the beginning of their lives end up where they are. Of course there are just evil people in prisons but you would be surprised at how many never had a loving family, came from abuse, or just made a stupid split second decision that changed their life forever. When we were involved with prison ministry the men and women connected with us because we understood that God’s Grace is the only reason we are not where they are. You may not have lived a life like Christian and I have so ministering to prisoners may not be your calling. If you have and God changed your life then I urge you to pray about it. If you have skills that could help someone when they get out, give your time for them. If you know of church groups, half way homes or counselors. I believe it is important to not only share the gospel with them but to give them something they can use when they get out to live a better life. “I will pray for you” doesn’t go very far when they walk out the doors with twenty dollars and nowhere to go but back to the life they knew before.

Everyone has a calling on their lives, serving those around us wherever God has placed us. Where you are right now is not an accident, and the people who cross your path are not coincidences. Ask Him today how He would have you be His hands and feet right where you are. As the scripture goes “Bloom where you are planted”.

*The song is Kings & Queens from the same titled CD by Audio Adrenaline

** The video quality may not be the best, I made it a small file and still took two days to load!