Loving God, in the midst of all expected of this dear reader, may the loudest and strongest voice, be Yours; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Matthew 25: 31 "When he (Jesus) finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. 32 Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, 33 putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35 And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 39 40 Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. 42 And why? Because - I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.' 44 "Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?' 45 "He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me - you failed to do it to me.' 46 "Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward." (The Message)
The demands of our job or our schooling can prioritze our life. I need to do this and I have to complete that. I don't have time for churchy things! Yet, can you imagine some students prioritizing their lives not around school but around this passage? Yes, it actually has and does happen. The ones I'm referring to were some interesting students. Their leader would awaken early and spend about an hour on his knees in prayer. Yes, one hour. Then he would spend about an hour in reading his Bible. Yep, one hour. Then he would join his friends for about an hour of worship. Then to breakfast. Then to class. After school was when the interesting part would happen. They had a schedule for what they would do to comply with this list of demands from Jesus. They would visit orphanages. They would visit jails. They would visit hospitals. They would visit widows. They actually took Jesus serious about these demands being important for the life of the believer.
The list we place up on top of most Christian lives include the words worship, prayer, Bible study, etc. This list given by Jesus very honestly comes as a result of a great and earnest relationship with Him: Feeding the hungry. Giving water to the thirsty. Helping the homeless. Clothing the naked. Visiting the sick and the prisoner. And to make it more powerful and urgent, Jesus says, "That was me whom you helped or neglected to help." Ouch. Was that you, Lord, on the street asking for money or in the homeless shelter that took the bowl of soup and thanked me and the shelter for doing this? "Yes," Jesus will reply to you and me, "That was me. Thank you again."
That group of students were mocked for their goodness by other students. They were called "holy rollers," and because they always had their Bible, "Bible Moths," and one smart alec even thought to call them, "A bunch of Methodists!" Yes, that's who we are. Thank you, Jesus. And thank you, John and Charles Wesley, and all of those of the Holy Club who started a movement that became a church that needs to become a movement again.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to go beyond the self and society imposed demands of my time. Help me go beyond the constraints of comfort and restraints that I or my church place on me. I want to go where You would have me go, to be the Church for all, especially the you's in the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and prisoner. Give me not only the courage and boldness to do this, but Your grace and peace. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
