The Least Of These

Matthew 25:34-46 (NASB)
³⁴  "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are 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 something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
³⁶  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, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
³⁸  'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
³⁹  'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
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.'
⁴¹  "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
⁴⁴  "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
⁴⁵  "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
⁴⁶  "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

It is easy to forget the least of these. Whether it be the elderly who are no longer able to be active and visible in society, those living in poverty, or forgotten people groups who have never heard the name of Jesus. 

It is much easier for churches to target the upwardly mobile, the successful, the middle class, atnd the people who are most like us. It is a greater challenge to go after the down and out, the homeless, the unlovely and unwanted. 

Saturday afternoon I took a wrong turn outside of downtown Fort Worth and found myself driving through a  less than desirable part of town. I saw people passed out on the sidewalks, Others stumbling along seemingly intoxicated. I saw what I can only describe as a tent city where people have made homes. All their belongings kept in garbage bags. Clothes were dirty and tattered. Does Jesus love these? 

Only a few doors down I saw a rescue mission. God is using someone to reach out to the least of these. 

I shared an email from a friend who has a daughter in Athens, Greece ministering to Iranian refugees. They are the least of these. 

God has called me to make  trips back to Honduras in the near future to minister to the Chorti Indians who make up some of the least of these. They live in poverty and most have never heard the name of Jesus. 

My friend Keith works with a ministry called Church Under The Tree. They minister to unlovely and unsavory students and are making a great impact on the least of these. 

The least of these are all around us. Some walked across stages this past Friday night or Saturday graduating from high school. They will slip through the cracks forgotten, ill equipped to find a good job, and unable and uninterested in furthering their education. I wonder what will happen to them. While the crowds applauded the accomplishments of the elite the least of these slipped by unnoticed and uncelebrated. 

God knows their name. He created them with purpose and sent Jesus to the cross to redeem them. May I never shrink back from loving the least of these.