October 17
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 glorious throne. 32 All 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. 33 He 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. 35 For 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, 36 I 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? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters 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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I 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, ‘Truly I tell you, 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.”
We saw another version of the story of hospitality in the garden in Genesis 2. Now in Matthew 25 we see a story from Jesus about how we show hospitality, which may have been some of the background the writer of Hebrews had in mind when writing those statements in Hebrews 13.1-3. Love of the stranger being lived out as we care for the ones who lack food, water, clothing, shelter, comfort, freedom, etc.
Jesus does not let us off with the easy task of just showing love and care for those whom we already love and care. We would like it to be limited to the ones who are already with us. But Jesus expands it to those who are nothing like us. Telling us we should extend our love of others to the ones who are most in need. Extending our love of others to the ones we might find the hardest to love and even be around. Those who make us uncomfortable, nervous, or even fearful.
What would it look like if we walked to the edge of where we are comfortable, saw those in need of being loved and welcomed who are outside the place where we are comfortable, and stepped one or two steps out? Not waiting for others to step toward us for assistance. Taking the steps beyond our own place of comfort and sat down with another beyond our “safe places”.
Let’s see our place beyond our own comfort and our own desires. Moving out to the edges and just beyond. Stretching our own sense of comfort, and even that of the church. Loving first, because as we have already been loved and welcomed, we love and welcome all.
Song – Come as You Are
Prayer
Almighty God, whose will it is to restore all things in your beloved Son, our Lord and King, grant that the people of the earth, now divided by sin, may be freed and brought together under the rule of Jesus Christ. Show us how we can love the neighbours around us, the ones we may even see as enemies. Change us to be able to love all your people in the way you have loved us and have loved all in our creation. Amen.