matthew 25

"Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me." To those he says "Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
And to the others, "as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me, and these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life."

These are Jesus's own words concerning the final judgement. It has huge implications for our life. Clearly there is a specific group, "the least of these" whom how we treat will determine how we treat Christ and how we treat Christ will determine whether we go away into eternal punishment or eternal life.

So who are these "least of these"?

In the same text it says the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick and the imprisoned. In another text, james 1, says religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this, that we visit orphans and widows in their affliction.

Today I went with my youth group to pass out lunches at a homeless shelter. Now, the poor in VA beach dont actually fall into any of these categories necessarily. Some may be hungry but most probably arent. Either way, I met a man named Marvin. He was more or less brilliant. He spoke about DNA, the third reich and world war II and his role in the Coast Guard as someone who interprets and works with morse code. Even if he was lying, he'd have to be pretty smart to make that up. And it was good. It was good just sitting for a while and talking. As we got in the car to leave, I realized that I no longer had that happy feeling of having done something "good." somewhere in the course of the past year, things that I used to get satisfied by and "pat myself on the back for" it no longer happens. Because what does that say if I feel accomplished or selfless for spending time with certain people? That I somehow consider myself superior to them. And I am not. And as I was reading St Teresa of Avila she talked about humility and the only time she ever does anything good is completely the work of God. Its not her at all. So she can praise him for doing good but not herself. Which may seem extreme, but I think its true. There is no room for self love in Christianity. Christ himself had none. Nor can we.

Even more so, spending time with the poor is probably something God told us to do because it benefits us immensely. I was saying in the car, you know God doesnt measure success like we do. We may be speaking to our superiors spiritually when we speak to the poor. I am guessing it is much more possible to be poor in spirit when you're poor by the worlds standards than when you are rich and the poor in spirit-theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We better stick close by them or we might just miss inheritance. I could see the difference, in my desire to spend time with the lord when I got home, an ease and patience in prayer that I RARELY have, and spirit that is just more at peace. After simple listening to a guy named marvin share about his life.

They change us. The poor. And a lot of times they know him. Jesus that is. Better than we do. And when he comes inviting people to the feast, I sure am going to want to be with those who get invited and go, not those who get invited and decline to their busy lives and missions and tasks.