The Least of These - Part 2

On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!" (Matthew 25:31-45)

Jesus died for you and for me, and for the leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person lying in the street... Jesus insisted that we love one another as He loves each one of us. Jesus gave His life to love us and He tells us that we also have to give whatever it takes to do good to one another. And in the Gospel Jesus says very clearly: "Love as I have loved you."

Jesus died on the Cross because that is what it took for Him to do good to us - to save us from our selfishness in sin. He gave up everything to do the Father's will - to show us that we too must be willing to give up everything to do God's will - to love one another as He loves each of us. If we are not willing to give whatever it takes to do good to one another, sin is still in us. That is why we too must give to each other until it hurts.

It is not enough for us to say: "I love God," but I also have to love my neighbor. St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don't love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so it is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is not true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.

It hurt Jesus to love us. We have been created in His image for greater things, to love and to be loved. We must "put on Christ" as Scripture tells us. And so, we have been created to love as He loves us. Jesus makes Himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, the unwanted one, and He says, "You did it to Me." On the last day He will say to those on His right, "whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Me, and He will also say to those on His left, whatever you neglected to do for the least of these, you neglected to do it for Me."

When He was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, "I thirst." Jesus is thirsting for our love, and this is the thirst of everyone, poor and rich alike. We all thirst for the love of others, that they go out of their way to avoid harming us and to do good to us. This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts.

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The above is an excerpt from a speech given by Mother Teresa in February, 1994, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. It plainly states that we, as believers in Christ Jesus, must treat one another, our neighbors who are those all around us including the homeless, the overlooked and the oppressed, with the same love that Christ showed us by dying on the cross. Are you living your life as one who is convinced that you are doing all you can to show the love of Christ to your neighbors?

I have been bombarded lately with a burden for those people who do not know who Jesus is. When walking by people I wonder, "Do they know Jesus? And him? And her?" Because if they don't and if I don't do all I can to share the hope that I have found in Jesus with them, will anyone ever?

It's not only the fact that putting faith in Jesus will secure a place in Heaven when they leave this earth (God does not know sin and you cannot enter His presence with the guilt of sin - Jesus is the answer for our sin and he bore it on the cross and enables us to be in God's presence). It's the fact that living here on earth without Jesus creates hopelessness. It creates a false sense of security in the things that our world says is security - money, possessions, sex, success, etc. And why live life with a blindfold on when you can live it with a renewed view of the world? In this world we live in today, I cannot in my lifetime remember a time when the world has needed more hope. Markets are failing, money is worthless, jobs are scarce...

What have you done to those who have nothing? If you have a job in the U.S. you are among the richest 2% of the worlds population. So don't whine about not having anything or not having the perfect job, or best car, or nicest neighborhood to live in. You are blessed. But why? To bless others!

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I am your:
brother
sister
father
son
mother
daughter
friend
neighbor

I AM