Sometimes life seems like a waiting room for the triage unit.  If you take the time to look around, you find yourself surrounded by hurt, broken, suffering people.  And much like when we wait for the emergency room, we too often choose to just keep our head down or focus on our own pain.  Maybe we pick up a magazine and distract ourselves so we don’t have to make eye contact with anyone else.

In the world we live, you don’t have to look very hard to find suffering.  From the faces in pictures and television ads of those starving in third world countries to the man or woman standing in front of Wal-Mart with a sign explaining his situation and need, we seem to be surrounded by heartache and despair.  Even within the, church there are those enduring broken relationships, trying to cope with hard times and dealing with  death and medical issues.

Last year, I read a book called “Crazy Love” by a guy named Francis Chan.  Chan was a minister at a mega-church in southern California who transitioned away from ministry to serve the needs he saw around him more effectively.  In his book, Chan unpacks Matthew 25 and asks the question, “If you actually saw Jesus starving, what would you do for him?”

In Matthew 25:42-43 Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” 

In verse 44, the condemned people protested, saying that they never saw Christ in any of these positions of need. Jesus responds, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

If we take the words of Jesus seriously, this is a very convicting passage.  Unlike those in the waiting room, Jesus does not give us the option of ignoring others, explaining away the need, or distracting ourselves. 

As I accompanied a group of 18 young people to Joplin last month, I saw the face of Jesus.  He was homeless.  He was hungry.  He was in need. 

He was wondering how things were going to turn out.  He was out of work, waiting on insurance money, and living with relatives.

As we canvassed neighborhoods and asked how we could meet the needs of those affected by the tornadoes, I am sure of one thing—we   weren’t the only ones who saw the face of    Jesus in the midst of tragedy.

Advertisement