Today is the day after Thanksgiving, and
forever more, I guess, is going to be known as Black Friday. The name originates from different times in history, but it is now identified more in relation to retail stores working
hard to be “in the black” or at a profit. Because, let’s face it, our culture
revolves around what we can buy, what we can keep, and how we can attain what
we want materially at the cheapest price.
We spent the day before, (hopefully) being thankful for who love us, those
whom we love, and for what we have – compared to those who have less.
So
what about those who have less? Is it
just about people whose home is smaller or whose car is less reliable and not
as pretty? Are those who have less the
ones whose children have to share a bedroom with siblings? Or the children who
don’t have a cellphone by the time they’re 10 years old or who don’t get a car
when they turn 16? Are these the ones
that have less? Or is there more to this
having less?
Let’s
look at this parable that Jesus told in Matthew
25:
“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.’
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.’
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.’
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.’”
So
who are the ones that Jesus, the King in this story, describes as the ones
having less – “the least of these”? They
are the people who may have (only) the clothes on their backs, but maybe they do
not have a warm coat for the winter.
They are the families with food, but food only enough for the children
to eat that day, while their parents skip the day’s meals. They are the people who have water to drink,
but their water is from a polluted source.
They are the people who are sick or dying in a clean hospital, but they’re
without someone to visit them or who are actually going to die alone. They are the new people, the strangers, who
moved into an apartment down the street, but they fled from another homeland and
can’t speak their new country’s language yet and could never read or
write. Or they are the person in prison
who knows nothing more than deep poverty of mind, body, and spirit, who maybe has no
one to visit them, to pray for them, to write to them, or to help them change
their lives.
Where
do I fall in this story that Christ told his followers? I find myself examining my life to see where
I fit into the parable. Am I someone who
feeds the hungry or welcomes the stranger?
Is there more I can do to create a cleaner safer world so that everyone
has a source for clean drinking water?
When do I visit the sick that are not my friends but people I don't know who bear
their illnesses alone? How can I help
more the immigrant and the stranger to feel more at home? How can I reflect Christ’s compassion for those in prison? How can I really see
injustice and do something about it?
I
can continue to ask myself these questions and yet remain in my comfortable
home doing only for those who are near and those who are dear to me. I can pray for all of the least of these, but
I can also give of myself, my time, my resources, and my love for God. Because when I re-read this parable for the third
time, I realized a most important sentence 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.’”
Is this the only reason to do
these good works – to stay out of the fires of hell? Or do I choose to do them, because of my genuine
love for Christ? Do I want to please my
Heavenly Parent, because God loves me so much?
Or do I want to do for others, because it makes me feel good about
myself?
So
there are three things I need to consider:
1.
Do I see the least of these as Jesus’s brothers and sisters – and therefore my own brothers and sisters?
2.
Do I recognize my responsibility in seeking out and physically helping my
sisters and brothers in Christ?
3.
Do I give freely with a heart full of love – from a heart that has always more
to give?
Maybe
on this Black Friday, we can give the money we save, from stores’ lower prices, to a charity. Maybe we can give the time
we save from shopping online to a food pantry or a nursing home. Maybe we can offer ourselves more to Jesus,
our King, and ask Him where we can use our talents for those with less. One thing that won’t be a “maybe” – if we
pray and listen, our Lord will show
us how to have a more giving heart.
💙
