Recognizing Jesus

It was about 1:00am and I was tired...very tired. My dear husband had taken a nap earlier and found humor in wrapping himself up in all the covers so I didn't have any. I had spent most of the day reading "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" by Ron Sider so in fairly good humor I told him I felt like a developing nation and he was America. After about 5 minutes in the cold I got irritated...then frustrated...and then belligerent as I tried to push him out of the bed. I know this seems ridiculous but this little event gave me some perspective on the pacifist view that improving the standard of living for those hanging in the balance would significantly decrease the number of people joining the terrorists. I believed it would work before but now I understand why. I didn't have covers and was ready to go find a different bed to sleep in. A horrific number of people in this world don't have food, shelter, or health care and we wonder why they take the side of those who offer them a chance to live...for it isn't hard to understand why people who don't know Jesus would quickly throw ethics out the window in favor of mere survival.

But here's an even bigger lesson...our national security shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not we feed the hungry or seek justice for the oppressed. These actions are absolutely necessary if we love the Lord, for He says when we feed the hungry and visit the imprisoned we feed and visit Him and, even more, when we don't do these things we leave our Jesus starving and lonely. I've gained entirely new perspective on Matthew 7:22-24:

"Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

I sincerely wonder if He says He doesn't know these people because they never took the time to find Him in the people on this earth...the least of these.

Ron Sider says, "Some try to avoid the clear meaning of Jesus' statement by spiritualizing His words. Certainly, as other texts show, He came to open our blinded hearts, to die for our sins, and to free us from the oppression of guilt. But that is not what he means here." He is referring to Luke 4:18-19 but I think that many people believe references in Scripture to "poverty" imply only spiritual poverty and deny that Jesus cares specifically for people in physical poverty. It's comfortable to think that, isn't it? Because we can't fulfill anyone's spiritual poverty so we're off the hook. But that's not at all the only implication.

I used to think that wealthy people would find it difficult to enter the kingdom of God because it would be hard for them to see their need and once they did know Jesus they would have to check their hearts more often to be sure their possessions weren't idols. Now I see that if Christians live luxuriously while their neighbors starve, their possessions can only be idols. If they weren't idols, Christians would readily sell them when they saw their neighbors hungry (and anybody that is aware can be sure their neighbors are hungry)...but they don't, do they? It is harder for them to enter the kingdom because they have so much more of the things they are commanded to live without.

So, I will ask you what I need to ask myself daily. Did I meet Jesus in the least of these today? Did I feed Him when He was hungry? Did He feel welcomed? Or did I choose to spend money on myself while He sat starving by the road? Or, even worse, did I completely avoid places where I might find Him?