” 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.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 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?’ “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.’”
Matthew 25:35-40
This text is from one of the so called judgement texts. The Son of man, Jesus, comes together with His angels and sits on the throne of glory. There is a sense of great earnestness on this depiction; mankind has reached some sort of day of accountability. What the Son of man asks is not what we have thought but what we ́ve done. It ́s not the lack of spirituality that is lured into the light, but the lack of humanism. Jesus speech leads our thoughts towards that He personally throughout the ages has walked amongst us disguised as one who is hungry, thirsty, homeless, imprisoned or naked.
To move from thought to action and meet the needs
of one of these is to serve Jesus Himself. It is the will
of God. Amongst the righteous – in other words those that live by His grace and righteousness – this is so natural that they don ́t even have to contemplate about them actually doing it. The person who lives by God ́s mercy becomes merciful. It is nothing you have to force yourself to do. You are just a channel for the love that continually flows towards us.
How do you reach that point? I believe, by starting to practice mercy, to move from just thinking about that there are poor people in our society to starting to meet somebodies needs. Every encounter like this transforms us. And that for a simple reason: It is Jesus Himself you meet in your neighbor. In the flesh. /Tomas Sjödin
Prayer
– I pray that I today do not avoid the one who needs help, but instead do what I can to relieve the need.
