“Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)
Jesus spent a big part of his ministry teaching the disciples the importance of how we treat our brothers. He knew they would be the ones that would teach the world after he was gone. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the entire New Testament, is full of parables and illustrations of what not to do in dealing with others. Jesus was particularly focused on helping the poor and those in need. The parable of “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) and Jesus’ explanation of the “Greatest Commandment” (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31) is a good illustration of how he saw this. But how do we see this today?
The pastor in a local church was retiring, so a search committee was formed to find a new pastor. They listened to different preachers. Finally, they found the one that they liked. He was offered the pastorship of the church and accepted the position. They agree that he would start in three weeks.
The next Sunday, as people were coming into the church, a homeless man came to the door of the church. His clothes were dirty, his hair and beard were unkempt and matted, and he badly needed a bath. One of the ushers came to him and asked, “May I help you?” The man said, “I was praying, and God told me to go to church, so I came here.” The usher was somewhat taken back, but he responded, “Are you sure He told you to come here? The man said, “Yes. The usher then said, “Maybe you misunderstood, why don’t you go back and pray again and see what God tells you.” So, the man said, “Ok” and turned around and left without further conversation.
The following week, the homeless man was again at the door to the church on Sunday morning. He was again met by an usher who asked, “May I help you?” The man responded, “I prayed and God told me to come to church so I came here. The usher said, “Are you sure? You must have misunderstood.” This time the man said, “No. That’s what he told me.” The usher then told him, “Well, if you are going to come to church here, you will have to go and clean up. This is the house of the Lord and you cannot come in here looking like that.” So, the man left.
Now the next week, the ushers had a meeting before the Church Service to discuss what they should do if the homeless man showed up again. Sure enough, he returned to the door of the church as the congregation was entering the church. The ushers asked if they could help him and again, he said, “I prayed, and God told me to go to church, so I came here.” This time the ushers told him, “You do not belong here, but you can stand in the back corner of the church. You cannot sit in any of the pews, and you can’t bother anyone or you will have to leave.” When the service was over, as the homeless man was leaving, no one would speak to him or have anything to do with him. He was rejected by not only the ushers but by the entire congregation of the church.
The following week, the Sunday the new pastor was to start, the homeless man showed up again. After some conversation, the ushers let the man stand in the back corner of the church again, but told him he would not be allowed to come back to the church after today. When the service began, one of the elders of the church came to the pulpit and announced, “The new pastor was supposed to start today, but we have not heard from him”. At that point, the homeless man in the back corner walked out and said: “I’m here”. He then removed his wig, fake beard, and his dirty overcoat to reveal the new pastor. Everyone in the church was stunned. He then walked to the front of the church.
Rather than speaking a harsh or angry tone, he spoke with love and compassion as he said, “Never have I seen a flock more in need of a shepherd and the presence of God than here. For the next four weeks, I will preach and teach about Christ’s commands to love and care for your neighbor. Would you treat Jesus this way if he came to the door of the church? We are here to love each other, not reject each other. We will start today with Jesus’ words from Matthew 25:40, ‘As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”
They had rejected the homeless man and they had rejected Christ. Jesus never thought he was better than anyone. He saw everyone as one of God’s children. When you treat one of God’s children poorly, you treat God poorly.