Imagine you walked into a restaurant and ordered a steak. Twenty minutes later, the waiter comes back and puts a plate of spaghetti in front of you, claiming it’s the best spaghetti you will ever try. Would you be happy with that? No, like me you would send it back because it wasn’t what you ordered. It wasn’t even close.
Often, this is similar to what we have done with what God asks of us as Christ followers. In scripture we find precisely what He requires of us, and yet too often we give a lot of our attention and energy to good things, like the spaghetti, but it’s not what he asked of us.
Recorded in the 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells three profound parables about what will happen at the culmination of it all and through them we find some very clear instructions.
The first is of ten ladies, five of whom were expectant and ready for Jesus’ return and five whom were unprepared and were preoccupied with other things.
Next in the lineup is a story of three men, two of whom were faithful in putting to work what the master had entrusted to them, but one who had been faithless, lazy and wicked with what had been given to him. And it’s on the back of these two narratives that Jesus launches into his third successive parable of the end.
He tells us that all the nations will gather before him and that there will be a form of judgement where he will separate people into two groups, those he calls “sheep” to his right and “goats” to his left.
What follows next is fascinating.
Jesus tells us that he will say to those on his right, the sheep, that they are welcome to enter into his kingdom and into the fullness of their inheritance, because when he was hungry they gave him something to eat, when he was thirsty they gave him something to drink. When he was a stranger they invited him in, when he needed clothes they clothed him, when he was sick they looked after him, and when he was in prison they came to visit him.
Jesus goes on in a masterful way to describe the shocked look on their faces and in their response, by articulating what they will say to this, “but Lord when did we ever do these things for you?” In a sense saying, this is the first time seeing you in the flesh Jesus, have you got this wrong?
Jesus will answer this by saying whenever you did this for the least of my brothers or sisters you did it to me.
Then comes the scary part. Jesus says to the “goats” on his left, “depart from me…for eternity”. Why? Because when I was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, in need of clothes, sick and in prison, you did nothing to meet these needs.
Similar protestations from this crowd will occur, saying “if we saw you in need Jesus, we would have definitely done something, but we never saw you!” To which Jesus replies, “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Three stories in rapid succession, one about devotion and longing for Jesus, the next about faithfulness with what he has given in response to Him and the third about who are truly his followers and who are not.
I love how these parables are linked and run almost haphazardly into each other. I think what Jesus is doing here, is somehow saying that our devotion and love for Him, and our outworking of our gifts and talents here on earth, both find their real traction in not some ethereal worship setting, nor in a sterile church environment but actually in the mess and brokenness of the lives of the downcast, forgotten, abused and even vilified people in our societies.
On top of that, take note of something profound from the last story. Jesus, the King, the judge, in all his glory, seated on the throne, over all and above all, associates himself with the disenfranchised, lowly, marginalized, ill-equipped people of this world, saying when you look after them, you are doing it for me, or better still, your regard for them is evidence of your submission and love for me.
I’ve often used the excuse to wiggle my way out of getting my hands dirty by saying something like, “it’s just not my gifting”. As I read the stories above though, this type of response to Jesus is not just to those with a specific gifting or heart, but rather for anyone who claims to love Jesus. “If you did it for them, you did it for me”
These are not qualifications to get into heaven, this is evidence of the faith that’s already in you.
If you love Jesus, this is what you do. If you want to grow, this is what you do.
Finally, in the Old Testament book of Micah, we find the people of God had become distracted with what God asked of them. In chapter six, verse eight, the prophet Micah brings God’s order back into super clear, HD focus by saying, “This is what the Lord requires of you, to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Next week we have Red Week, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to put our devotion and resources into action, or said another way, putting feet to our faith as we visit the sick and lonely, feed the poor and bless our city like never before.
This is a golden opportunity to put aside the spaghetti, no matter how good it is, and get back to the steak.
Devotion and faithfulness to Jesus must outwork itself in showing love to the least of these.