Message Title: To The Very Least
Scripture: Matt.25:31-46
I was reading the other day Matt 25:
31-46.
I have read this particular passage
countless times, but this time the question that is asked to Jesus really
struck me.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the holy[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the
throne of His glory. 32 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. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left. 34 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: 35 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; 36 I was
naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and
you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You
drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or
when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 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.’
If we were to go out and feed the
homeless, bring a stranger, into our house, and go visit someone at the
hospital or jail we would remember. They didn’t ask which one were you when I
did all these things.
They asked, “When did I…”
In other words they were unaware they
were doing it while they were doing it.
Jesus is not talking about the
physical part of feeding or clothing of someone he’s speaking, spiritually.
Are we being the church outside of
the church?
Feeding those who are hungry for
something more out life that what they currently have and offering Jesus to
them. Are we telling people who struggle with fear, anxiety, or any other
emotional prison we can find ourselves in about the freedom they can have in
Jesus.
The stranger in this passage means
you may not even know the person. It’s the person who you run into at the park.
It’s the mail person who you said, “Hi” to for years and never invited to
church.
It’s the single parent at the store,
who could have really used someone to say to them, “Good job, I know it’s hard,
but you’re doing great.”
The ones that asked, “When?” were
being the church outside of Church. They are ones who got the reward. They
looked at even the least one and said let me share Jesus with you. They did not
have a big crusade, start a mega ministry. They simply lived out their faith
with all the people around them. And by that they fed, gave drink, and visited
the sick. They even visited people in prison without knowing it. It’s time for
us not to just be the church in church on a Sunday morning or whatever day you
go to church. We need to be the church everywhere, every day and to everyone.
The world is running out of time and
so are you.
The end of the scripture is for those
that didn’t do it, they are told to depart from God into everlasting fire.
41 “Then He will also say to those on the
left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food;
I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me
in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit
Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him,[d] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not
minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Start today. Someone needs to hear about the Christ in you.
Music Worship Leaders:
JW & Sharon Peck
Songs:
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