Rejoice in Every Small Act of Kindness

Matthew 25:31-46

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats - In part the King says ‘to those who have fed, clothed, nursed and visited me – you will live in the Kingdom of God forever.’ And ‘to those who have not fed, clothed, nursed and visited me, you are cursed into the eternal fire.’ It seems the King is sorting people like we sort good socks from those with holes in them. Are the socks with holes in them not repairable, can they not be mended? I certainly hope so, for I know very few (if any) people in my life that don’t have a few holes in them.

Parables such as this are difficult for me to wrap my brain around. Incredibly, the Bible says that Jesus told parables to make the lessons easier for us to understand – HUH?? To that I just scratch my head. How can we ALWAYS feed, water, clothe nurse or visit people. How often have I driven down an exit ramp past a person holding a sign saying ‘I will work for food’? How many times have I let that person in my car, brought them to my home, had them rake some leaves, and then given them a meal? Isn’t that what Jesus is asking me to do? How many people do I walk by with my eyes cast down, so as not to make eye contact, on the streets of New Haven, Harford, or New York City with their hands out? How many of those have I helped. Not many is the sad answer. I had one guy stop me in the Linens and Things parking lot one day – he said ‘I’m just parked over there (pointing to the left) and I ran out of gas, my wife needs to get our baby home to eat – can you spare anything at all.’ In my wallet I had a $50 bill; I certainly could not give him that. But I knew I had some money in my car that I keep on hand for quick stops at McDonald’s for the kids. So, I grabbed some singles and handful of quarters and gave them to him. He seemed very thankful, and I was happy to help him. I started walking into the store and looked back; I noticed that he was not walking to where he said he was parked, but the opposite direction. Initially, I was a little annoyed, thinking I was scammed, which is why I hold back on helping people I don’t know, but then I thought, so what if he was lying, perhaps he will buy himself lunch with that handful of pocket change and that will help him make it through another day.

Still not completely understanding the parable I read it again, searched other translations looking for a clue as to how I might be sorted to the right with the sheep and not to the left with the goats. And there it was, in ALL the translations ‘Lord, when did we see you, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick or in prison?’ And the Lord said to them 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for ONE of the least of these you did for me. I don’t have to take care of everyone, but I do have to take care of the ones I can. If I can’t take a person home with me, surely someone else in the line of traffic can help that person. But, if someone calls me because they need my help with feeding an elderly member of community, or someone who is recovering from an illness I can do that. That is my part in darning the holes in my sock. We are all called to help in different ways, we just have to accept what we can do and have faith in God that he has tapped others to help in the ways we cannot. I’m still hopeful that I will be welcomed in the Kingdom of God. – Stacey Wadey

Practice –rejoice in every small act of kindness, for in them Christ is served.