Caring in Whole Not in Part

Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

There is this wonderful little passage that Jesus tells to His disciples at the tail end of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 25. In it He depicts two types of people: #1 those that feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in a stranger, clothe the naked, comfort the sick and visit those in prison, #2 those who don’t. Jesus says, on the day of judgment, that #1 will get the ticket to ride on the J-Train (permission not given by Toby Mac but he doesn’t read my journal, YET) and #2 will get thrown into eternal punishment; presumably the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not sure exactly what that means but whatever it is, it is scary and sounds about as peaceful as being tumble dried with a family of porcupines.

If you are like me, you have probably excluded yourself from among those at the porcupine laundromat because we are decent people. We would certainly not pass over someone who wanted a drink or tell a sick person they should just go find a hospital and stop bothering us. That being the case, we are good, right? Well… not so fast. I am of the opinion, and I think the theology bears out, that there is a much deeper layer that Christ is showing us. And like me also, we may have neglected a few things. You see, if this is all about physical things we do for people then doesn’t that mean that Christ and His sacrifice are unnecessary to our salvation? He says it right in the red letters!! As long as you take care of these people you will be welcomed into the Kingdom with open arms. Or so it seems.

But to believe that would mean we have to throw out almost the entire New Testament (and Old for that matter) to hold on to our faulty conclusion; including the most well-known verse from Tim Tebow 3:16….errr… John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” So if Tim Tebow is right, and we get into the Kingdom by repentance and believing on the sacrifice of Christ to pay the penalty of our sins, what the heck is Jesus talking about here? And what do hungry people have to do with anything? That is why I believe there is another layer.

Go back and read Matthew 25:34-46 for a minute…… seriously it is important. As I mentioned, Jesus points out six different categories of people we are to help. And He addresses the physical need of what should be done to help them. But throughout Jesus’ teaching there is often a spiritual reality beneath the physical imagery; something the disciples frequently ask Jesus to clarify or expound upon. In this case He did not, and so we are left to ask the questions. That explains why for so many years I thought I was doing just fine. I get the physical needs: food and water, place to stay, warm clothes, comfort to the sick, visitation to the prisoners. But what are the spiritual needs and am I meeting those needs?

Let’s just roll through them one by one. First, the hungry. They need food. But they also need to be fed spiritually. Jesus is the Bread of Life, Jesus is the Word, therefore meet their spiritual needs by administering the Word of God in their lives, giving to them the Bread of Life. See how easy that is? Well, they get harder.

Number two, those who are thirsty. They need water. Jesus gives living water and in John 4 says that if you take of His cup you will have a well of water springing up to eternal life. So what am I supposed to do Jesus? Dig wells? No. I mean you can, but they won’t save anyone. Well, yes but not spiritually. Ugh. I should have thought this through before I typed. Digging wells and giving people water is awesome, do that. But it will only have eternal value if it is combined with the giving of living water. In John 7:37-39 Jesus clarifies that the living water is the Holy Spirit. But does that really help me? I can’t tell the Holy Spirit where to go or what to do; John 3:8 says He goes where He wants to go. So how do I spiritually offer someone something to drink? How about by offering them eternal life? Telling others about the sacrifice of Christ, the water of repentance, the washing of the sins, the bathing of the Holy Spirit and receiving of the “sloppy wet” kisses of the Father (don’t worry, David Crowder, also not a fan). Dig a well, yes. As deep as the soul and fill the need by inviting the Holy Spirit to take up residence. Have you ever done that? A little more than just handing out water bottles after a hurricane, huh?

Then there is the stranger. He needs a place to stay; a home. We may not invite strangers into our home much anymore but certainly you would be available to take someone in if given the right circumstances and safety assurances. But what about spiritually? What could a stranger need? Well, pretty much the same thing. They need a home, some place to belong; a family. We can accomplish this by inviting someone to be a part of the Church eternally. That can start by inviting someone to YOUR church, to be a part of YOUR family and to belong as a part of a body of believers where YOU worship. And if that is too much how about just kindly introducing yourself to someone that seems to have a spiritual need. It may not be a mansion built for them, but at least you would represent a place of shelter. I think however you do it, the emphasis is on being spiritually welcoming and eternally minded.

As for the naked, this could get interesting. Not so sure I would recommend welcoming a naked stranger into your home but luckily Jesus separates the two so we don’t get into trouble. First you have to clothe them. And spiritually? Well this is up for interpretation but God not only clothes us in Christ, He also clothed us another time too. Remember its parallel in Scripture? It was in the garden of Eden and He did so because Adam and his wife were naked and ashamed.

Contrary to a sometimes popular opinion, church is not the place for fancy dressed parishioners. It is the place for those who need to be clothed in Christ and a place where the shamed should be able to come in naked and find refuge. Not a place for judgmental stares but a place for warm blankets of love and compassion for those in need of spiritual balm. Back to the answer we have to give the King, you may drop off used clothes at Goodwill but do you sit next to the new visitor who wore shorts because he doesn’t usually go to church and wasn’t aware of your dress code? Do you pray with him? Did you invite him to lunch? Do you view him as equally loved by our Father? Me either sometimes.

As for the sick and those in prison, I want to address them together. Physically they both need comfort and visitors, but why did Jesus separate them out into two groups? Well, once again it is open for opinion but as always I have one. These are the people who can’t leave and we have to go to them. In both cases they are people who we don’t just come across in daily life but we have to be intentional about going out to them. Maybe this is just your neighbor or maybe this is foreign missions, but either way they need you to go to them and bring them comfort and healing. Who is the Healer? Who is the Comforter?

Okay, so you know what they need spiritually but again, why did Jesus separate them? You see I think there are two types of people who need us to go to them. There are the sick: those who are ignorant of their sin and ignorant of the love of Christ. Then there are those in prison: those who are shackled in sin, desperate for a Deliverer but set against Him. We are called to both. It is a little easier to go to those who are unaware than it is to go to those who are belligerently against the message of Christ. It sure would be nice if I could just tell Jesus to send someone else who has that particular gift to go to all the annoying and arrogant but He called all His disciples to go to them. Even to the difficult ones… especially the difficult ones. Do you approach them with the message of salvation or do you turn your eyes to the left and act like you don’t see them? Me too.

Upon further review. I don’t have it all together. Maybe you are feeling the same. Good. I don’t want to be alone with the porcupines. This does not mean, Christian, that you would lose your salvation for pinching your nose rather than giving a Bible to a homeless man. But what it does mean is that if I am not meeting the spiritual needs of those in the world then I am not yet arrived in my relationship with Christ and need to go deeper. Don’t rest on your laurels in your relationship with Christ. Go on foreign missions, visit the darkest penitentiary, hand out encouraging letters in the hospital….but don’t forget WHY you are there. To expose them to the Bread of Life, pour out to them living water, give them a home of belonging, cover their guilt and shame, disciple their ignorance and undo their shackles in the name of Christ. Yes, the porcupines await some, but the love of God awaits you and that is your inspiration to go. I hope to see you out there.