THE LEAST OF THESE

Let me start this week’s message by saying this:  Church, please give me your attention!!  In the Book of Matthew, Jesus was giving us some very important instruction on how we as believers are to treat and act toward the poor, the sick and the underprivileged in our society.  Welcome everyone to your 24/7, week long, online church service.  Everyone is welcome in this place.

You know church, for almost three years this ministry has emphasized God’s love, peace, mercy and grace.  This may come as a surprise to some of our self righteous and holier than thou believers.  But these attributes of God are for everyone including the poorest in our land.  The reason I am giving this message today is because I sense an ungodly trend, even in the church world to devalue human life if one is not wealthy or is disabled, or sick, or elderly.  One thing must be clear, my friends.  God values his creation.

Let me repeat myself, God values his creation regardless of their social or monetary status.  Let’s look at God’s point of view on reaching out to and helping the poor.  Or, you might say “to the least of these.”  Jesus is talking in Matthew 25:34.  He says:

“Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. “

This makes it very clear he is talking to all of us, doesn’t it?  We as believers are the blessed, are we not?  Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 25:35-36:

“For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat:  I was thirsty and you gave me drink:  I  was a stranger, and ye took me in:   Naked, and ye clothed me:  I was sick, and you visited me:  I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”

Do you understand, church?  Jesus was pleased that these believers did these things.  Does that not tell you he would be pleased if we did these very same things today?  Nowhere in these scriptures does he say “Do not help the poor regardless of how they got that way.”  No my friends, our mission is to help people.  If you go on to read Matthew 25:37-39, and I strongly suggest you do.  Jesus points out the righteous (true believers) answer him and in paraphrased words said this ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?  Or thirsty and gave you drink?  When did we ever see you as a stranger and help you out?  When did we ever give you clothes or help you overcome your sickness by visiting and help you in any way we could.  Lord, when did we ever visit you in prison for whatever the reason you were there.  When Lord, when?”

Now ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40.  Jesus talking to us regarding the above questions.

“And the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

This is the message of the day, my friends.  Jesus is talking to us as believers, individuals and to the church.  We are not to be judges, we are to be servants.  In today’s society, help for the poor, the underprivileged, the sick and elderly should have always been the top priority for us and our churches.  Unfortunately, our churches in large part have become more concerned with their own wealth and blessing, than the needs of others.  The old saying ‘Lord bless us four and no more’ comes to mind.

In these hard times in the economy churches are turning inward and believing God for their own welfare while decrying the welfare of others.  This, my good church, is wrong and must be corrected today.  The misguided attitude of many believers today is “Why should I help people who may be on drugs, or alcohol or have other addictions or shortcomings.”  The answer is – just for that very reason, my friends. 

When Jesus was on the earth he spread his love, mercy, peace and grace to all.  The goal is to lead people to Jesus, my friends.  Truth be told, many of us were not so lovely when Jesus came into our lives, were we?  Personally, I was a drunk and a very proud liar.  If believers had not taken the time to approach me and yes even helped me financially, this message may not be written today.  It is time we as believers get back to helping everyone, not just our own.  We must change our religious attitudes about those who have less than we do. 

Listen to me.  The heart’s desire of every believer should be to please God.  We should always show honor to God, shouldn’t we?  Well, Proverbs 14:31 shows us one way of doing just that.  Here’s what it says:

“He that oppreseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.”

I’m telling you straight up, church.  We are skating on thin ice when we devalue God’s creation because of their financial status, their health status or their age.  We must do everything in our power to help the poor.  That way, we are showing honor to God.  Another way of helping our fellow men and women is to support government programs designed to help them.  This is not political, my friends.  Good is good and right is right. 

America is a great country and we are and have been blessed of God.  One of the reasons we are blessed is because we have programs to assist and uplift people out of poverty.  Head Start, Student financial aid, Social security, Medicare, Medicaid and such are not entitlements, my friends, they are investments.  They are investments in our children, our students, our sick and our elderly.  Sounds a lot like what Jesus was talking about, doesn’t it?  Government is not the answer.  Only Jesus is the complete answer, but Jesus has given us the way and each of us as individuals, churches and government can all do our part to honor and bless God by our actions.  Let me end this way:  Please turn to I Timothy 6:17-18 and meditate on this.

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.”

These are words of wisdom to us as individuals, also to our churches and to our government.  So our cry to you is ‘help the poor, be one that truly does help the least of these.

GOD BLESS YOU,

Bro. Bob