From Matthew 5: All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. ' 44 Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? ' 45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. ' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
And from Luke 6: 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 "Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
"Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 "But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 "Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Yeah, those two.
I don't like that Jesus.
What doesn't Jesus say in these two passages?
- He doesn't say poor "in spirit", or any other such modifiers that'd let us off the hook.
- He doesn't say "unless doing so would violate your political convictions".
- He doesn't say "unless doing so would perpetuate the cycle of poverty and dependence".
- And he doesn't say (this is a biggy), "but I will forgive you, so don't worry about it".
What is my response?
Well, the first response is to turn the page to more appealing passages in the scriptures. Skip over that passage. Problem is then you get to other sayings such as: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
The second response is to try and avoid personal responsibility by claiming a collective righteousness. I may not do anything to help the poor, the hungry, the naked or the stranger, but my Church and Nation do.
Another such response is to simply declare that "Jesus didn't actually say that."
There are many such responses.
In the end though, doesn't it boil down to this? If Jesus is Lord we ought to pay attention to what he says.
I remember once what a Bible Camp director said. During staff training he would begin by asking the counselors what was the most important thing they would do that summer. Typical responses from all the first time counselors centered around "sharing the love of Jesus with the campers". "NO!" was his response. "Keep them safe! You can't tell a dead camper anything about Jesus."
Why are we to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, offer a drink to the thirsty, etc.? Because you can't show the love of Jesus to a dead person. Sure they may be drug addicts, or illegal immigrants, or any other outcast. But if they are dead, their lot in life has no chance of improving.
Actually, it will. Isn't that what the Luke passage says. The poor will inherit the Kingdom of God, the hungry will be filled, etc.
Bottom line. Jesus cares about these things. He is concerned about the powerless. And, he has expectations for those of us who have means. We are to be concerned with those who do not. And its not only Jesus, but it was part of the Law in the Jewish Scriptures as well.
The Gospel is a comfort to the afflicted and an affliction to the comfortable.
But I'd like to think of these passages not as condemnation, but as a calling. "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
How might we who have been so blessed respond faithfully to Jesus? And how might our hearts reflect the love of God?
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