When did we ever see you…
Matthew 25:31-46 The Message The Sheep and the Goats 31-33 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
When did we ever see you….?
When was the last time you saw the Master? Did you see him in the face of a child? Did you see him in the face of a loved one, or in their struggles or brokenness? How about the people you don’t know? Did you see the Master there?
So many times the Master is waiting to see me there, helping the sick or homeless or hurting. And I walk or drive right on by. I have my excuses, just as you do. I can’t stop because….
Many of us don’t even carry cash anymore. That certainly makes it easy to say that we have nothing to give. Now that’s not to say that we can always help, or that we don’t sometimes help. Most of you reading this probably give to charitable causes and that’s great. So do I. It’s a lot easier to write a check than to place a McDonalds Happy Meal into someone’s hand. But does that make it that much easier to not “see” the person right there in front of us? Suffering people often make non-suffering people feel uncomfortable. Why is that?
And yet, when we “see” someone helping another person, or find ourselves personally helping someone, it’s an incredible moment of grace. God is working through the helper, extending grace to both the helper and the “helpee”. Then we truly see him.
Matthew quotes from Isaiah about “spiritual dullness”.
Matthew 13:13b-15 New International Version 13 “Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
Just visually seeing is not enough. If it has no impact on you; if it does not result in some type of action or reaction, did you really see it? If you did, what will you do about it? To Jesus seeing is doing. When did we see him?
