“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
We were ordering pizza. At a little walk-up restaurant on the side of the road. We had spent our day exploring and wanted nothing more than to fill our bellies with the food we all missed the most. As we waited, there were numerous street vendors selling all kinds of unique jewelry. Being the tourists that we are, naturally we began to glance through the potential souvenir options.
“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. 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, 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.’
I was clutching a bottle of water and glancing down at the countless rings and bracelets by my feet when a slightly scary looking woman and her boyfriend approached me. They gestured towards my water, and I knew they wanted it. But me, being hot and selfish, was reluctant to release the half-filled, plastic water bottle I had just purchased.
“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? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
I declined as politely as I could, but watched them get noticeably upset. So, I just awkwardly walked away as they angrily crossed the street. I began striking up a conversation with a woman passing out heart health flyers on the street, but could not get the faces of the disappointed couple out of my head. As I talked with Julie, the heart health promoter, I saw out of the corner of my eye that the couple had returned and were only a few feet from me talking to some of their friends.
“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.’ “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. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.’
Why didn’t you give me something to drink? I knew it was God. I knew He wanted them to have the water. So, with my tail hung between my legs, I humbly walked over to them, apologized, and handed the bottle over. They were overjoyed. They gave my fist bumps and high fives, bright smiles covered their faces (and mine, too). It was that simple.
“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?’ “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.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I think too often we overcomplicate what it looks like to spread the Kingdom of God. We make it out to be this huge, lofty task that follows a certain formula. But that isn’t it at all. Look at the life of Jesus. He walked around with 12 misfits, fed and healed people, and told stories that rarely made sense to His audience. There weren’t charts and data depicting the most effective and efficient forms of ministry. There was not any set of steps, rules, or formulas to follow. He followed the voice of the Father and let love guide every interaction. That, I am convinced, is all it takes to spread the Kingdom. Lesson learned.
Matthew 25:31-46
