The Least of These

Yesterday, I was one of the least of these.

One of my ears has been giving me a great deal of pain since last Saturday...the mind-numbing, sleepless, excruciating kind of pain. Tylenol and a hot pack helped, but obviously life had to go on - and for someone with no health insurance and a decently tight budget, life did go on albeit painfully. A friend gave me some leftover amoxicillin tablets - I know it's bad that they had them leftover, and bad that I took them without a prescription, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do - but after 2 days of this continuous pain it was obvious that they weren't helping at all.

Someone told me about a downtown low cost health clinic called Matthew 25, and I decided to get up early one morning before work and see if they could help. About 4 hours later, I finally was seen by a doctor and given the right medications - all at no cost. That's right - my income is under the federal poverty guidelines, and they gave me healthcare for free. We're not talking about Obamacare or federalized equal healthcare here, we're talking about people donating their time, their energy, and a LOT of their money to help "the least of these."

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy 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.’’’

Matthew 25

The least of these... Right?

I've done some inner-city work before. I've volunteered in a third world country. I've gone into the slums, into the shacks, into the mud huts... I'm used to thinking that the least of these is someone else.

Yesterday, it was me.

I sat in the waiting room, surrounded by a lot of other leasts of these, and realized that we are all the least of these.

Luke 9 tells another story. Jesus' disciples were arguing about which one of them was the most special, the most important, the greatest. Jesus "said to them, 'Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.'"

And don't forget, "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) Radical, hmm?

So what is Jesus saying? That the people around me yesterday - the poor, the sick, the homeless, the immigrants, the single parents, the elderly, and everyone else that was there - might just be the greatest in the Kingdom of God? That maybe, just maybe, that man in the corner with tattoos all over his face might just have more rewards in heaven than the businessman sitting next to me in church on Sunday? And maybe that girl in the wheelchair who doesn't speak English could possibly have a heart so on fire for God, serving and content with what she has, that she'll have more crowns on judgment day than me with my often self-righteous attitude?

Yeah, that's what God said. Ouch.

We're all the least of these.

So what am I doing about that? Do I serve every person, every least of these, every "neighbor" (as defined in Luke 10:25-37), as if they were Jesus?

And here's a mind-blowing concept. Any action can be done for Jesus if done for the right motive. For instance, if I hold a door open for a mom with a stroller, I just held a door open for Jesus! When I held babies at an orphanage in Haiti and got peed on, well, I held a wet stinky Jesus. When traffic is crazy and I slow down to let someone into my lane, I just let Jesus cut in traffic. Sound silly? Yeah, but it's true.

So what does Jesus look like today?