"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 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.'" - Matthew 25:37, 38, 40
A few weeks ago, it was the beginning of our vacation, and we had stopped on our way to Florida. My daughter, Calley, was walking back toward the McDonald's and me with one of the homeless bags that our church puts together. The homeless bags are gallon-sized ziploc bags with a Bible, water, crackers, and other small encouragements. I couldn't see anyone that Calley might give the bag to until I stepped beyond the garbage can. But on the other side of the garbage can was a small man with very weathered skin, who looked very much like a leprechaun.
In a few moments, all three of my kids and I were visiting with the homeless man, whose name was Carl Novack. Like another man we know, Carl had lost his wife and children in a car accident. So he wandered.
Carl was very nice and well-spoken and asked for nothing. But he was very appreciative when we gave him the homeless bag. He talked about the Lord and clearly knew Jesus personally. And Carl smiled a huge smile when we shared a number of very nice golf shirts that had been given to my son and me by Bob and Barbara Terlep and my brother, Ben DeGreen, Jr. Carl told us that he would wear the shirts in the evening which was when he enjoyed singing Country and Western to no one in particular.
The point of all this in connection with today's Bible verse is not that we were righteous, but instead that Carl Novack was like Jesus. Overall, Carl gave us much more encouragement and inspiration to hope and kindness and faith and perseverance. Carl gave us much more spiritually than we gave him materially with a homeless bag and shirts.
I would've missed him altogether. But Calley spotted him because she was looking. And all of us were blessed by one who was certainly like Jesus to us. And who knows; maybe he was.
"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 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.'" - Matthew 25:37, 38, 40
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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