When did we give you a drink Lord, or feed or cloth you, or visit you? We should pray that if we each ask that question, His response will be that when we did that for the least of His brothers, we did that for Him. To receive that answer should be our lifelong goal. To have purposely lived a life of compassion for others; and taking care of their needs. This is not the easy path, but then it is not supposed to be. Taking that path means very often we will deny ourselves, so that we can focus on the needs of our brothers and sisters, yet that is exactly what we are called to do. If we are to follow our Lord, we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and then follow after Him. Like sheep, we will follow Him through that narrower gate if we do this. There is no shortage of need out there right now. Perhaps now more than any time in recent history, there are people who need compassion. There are many who are lonely and afraid, because they are isolated – in a sense imprisoned. There are many who are ill, and lack visitation because of the pandemic, yet there are ways to reach out to at least communicate and console them. There are many who need the basics of life – like food, water, clothing, and shelter, and these days the resources needed to sanitize ourselves and the things we come in contact with. This last one is especially important, as we saw not that long ago people having to go without because of a frenzy of buying that lead to shortages. Our generosity is needed now more than ever. There is a moral imperative that we distribute God’s gifts in such a way that all can exist. We cannot hoard, we cannot ignore, we cannot be too busy to get involved, else we risk traveling through that wide gate that so many follow because of its ease, and yet leads to destruction.
Our Lord is coming back one day to judge, and even now he is working to wipe out His enemies. The question is, are we helping Him? Before He hands over the kingdom to His Father, He must first destroy all the powers that work against Him. Every sovereignty, every authority and power that is not aligned with the message of Christ and working to follow His example and teaching must first be destroyed. All the institutions of greed, malice, and callous action must succumb. What will be left are those that are His true followers. Those who care for the sheep and are oriented toward true service to them. That list is remarkably short these days, and we need to be sure we are on the right side of it. We must make choices about not only our personal actions, but who we support to do so as well. We must be alert to where our affiliations take us, and if they are in line with Jesus teachings. We must each decide, how we are going to use the time we have here on earth. Are we going to follow the world and its pursuit of strength and power, or are we looking to care for the meek, the vulnerable, the most humble of the sheep, and be welcomed into Gods kingdom?
Podcast Link
The Deacons Bench 