The Least of These

God has been working something out in my heart the past few months, so I decided it was time to blog/process my heart. I hope you'll follow me on this journey! If you've got your Bible handy, turn with me to the 31st verse of 25th chapter of Matthew... ;) About a month ago, I started working at Cornerstone Assistance Network, still case managing homeless participants. This is a strongly faith based organization, which I absolutely adore. In my interview with my supervisor, she verbalized a question that had been on my heart for the past few months..."Who are 'the least of these' that Jesus refers to in Matthew 25?"

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

In my life, "the least of these" has typically fallen into two categories: the homeless/hungry, or orphans/widows. Afterall, in Matthew 25:35 Jesus says,

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’"

Yep, sounds like a homeless or impoverished soul to me...I volunteer with the homeless and work with them in my day to day job, so we're good there, whew! And in James 1:27 we learn that

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Yep, orphans...widows...I volunteer at Gladney Center for Adoption, have traveled to Zambia, Africa twice to minister to orphans, and my husband and I financially support 3 orphans overseas...check! And that's when conviction set in...I got comfortable with my definition of who "the least of these" must be, and Jesus gently asked, "are you sure that's it...?" In my transition between working at Catholic Charities and Cornerstone, I was blessed to work at a private practice psychiatrist office. This experience allowed me to branch out of working with those below the poverty line, and to work in an office where most of the clientele was very affluent, and way above the poverty line. What did my clients at Catholic Charities, and the clients at this private practice have in common? Their pain. Brokenness. Emptiness. Hurts. The need for a Savior. It turned out that one of the only differences between these two types of clients was their bank account. God keeps using Jesus's encounter with Zacchaeus to teach me powerful life lessons:

"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy" (Luke 19:1-2).

*light bulb moment* Zacchaeus definitely did not fall into the category of homeless, hungry or orphaned...but Jesus took time to "seek and save [this] lost" man (Luke 19:10). So. Who are the least of these? Matthew 9:12 confirms that my definition did not match up to Jesus's and was not near broad enough:

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In my three years as a social worker, I have encountered many clients who knew Jesus as their Savior, they were just down on their luck and needed help getting back on their feet again (idea for future post: be humbled, this could happen to ANY of us!). And in my years on this earth, I have encountered many who had all of their physical needs met, but did not have the hope of The Savior. My mantra has become, "I live to bring Jesus's hope to the hopeless." Thank you Jesus for sharing your vision with me; for showing me that anyone who does not know and love You is among the hopeless. The least of these is not limited to the poor - the least of these are those souls that do not yet know You; poor, wealthy, or otherwise. Let me be faithful in loving ALL the least of these, and in pointing them to Your eternal hope. My favorite song right now is called "Kings and Queens" by Audio Adrenaline. A profound line from the song that is constantly on my heart says, "If not us, who will be like Jesus to the least of these?"

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." (Isaiah 61:1)