"The Least of These"

Matthew 25 tells us that we are to serve “the least of these.” So, who are the least of these? What does that mean exactly? If you look around you will find them everywhere. A hurting neighbor or co-worker, the homeless guy at the corner, the teenage girl who had an abortion, the couple who is going through a divorce, or could it be the person looking back at you in the mirror.
Within the verses of Matthew 25 we find that serving others is not a suggestion, rather it is a command! Actually, Jesus uses some pretty strong language here. He tells us that we are in danger of hell if we refuse to serve others! Look at Matthew 25:41-46, “Then the king will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
‘Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison, and not help you?’ And he will answer, ‘I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Jesus tells us that there is more to our salvation than just going to heaven. We are to spend our lives serving others. We know it is not ‘works’ that saves us, it is the grace of God that saves us, but after we are saved we need to ‘work’ out our salvation as James tells us in chapter 2, verse 26 of his epistle to the church. James tells us that a faith without action is useless, and Jesus says it leads to eternal punishment. Therefore, I think the New Testament is pretty clear that it is our job to serve the world.
Both my generation (I’m 35) and the one behind me, which the Barna Group defines as Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) and Busters (born between 1965 and 1983), have become hostile towards Christianity. It is imperative that we find a way to reach them with the love of Christ. The problem is that they are tired of hearing about Jesus - they want to see Jesus! And I believe that it is our job as Christians to actually be Christ-like. We need to show people who Jesus is. We need to practice what we preach and quit being so judgmental toward a lost and immoral society. It always intrigues me when believers are offended by the sin of unbelievers. We shouldn’t be surprised that a society without Christ is going to be a society with sin. We need to learn how to build relationships with unbelievers and teach them about a God who poured himself into his Son so he could relate to us and show us love and forgiveness. We need to first find forgiveness ourselves and then share that forgiveness of Christ with a hurting and desperate world. We may well be the only “Jesus” some needy person ever sees. As a simple pastor it is my desire that we as Christians begin to really embrace the teachings of Jesus and that we become a Matthew 25 people, serving and loving a lost generation!