December 17 2005 Mt 25:31-46
December 17, 2005 Matthew 25:31-46
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Matthew 25:35
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.
SOS: Six Opportunities for Service
Take a look at this list. These are very specific behaviors. Jesus and Matthew repeated this list of Six Opportunities for Service four times in this passage (v.35, 37, 42, 44). Repetition is a technique teachers use to emphasize an idea. It seems that Jesus really wanted to impress these six acts of kindness on his listeners and on us. I have heard lots of sermons that focused on repeated ideas and their significance; however, I don’t remember a focus on the SOS. Then again, it is pretty straight forward isn’t it? According to this passage, when our lives are examined, these are the things that will count. How are you doing?
Certainly through our generosity at church and with charitable organizations we all participate in some extent in these activities, but somehow it seems that Christ was asking for us to look into someone’s eyes as we act on these guidelines -- inviting a family with unemployment issues to share a holiday meal, taking a family shopping for school shoes, building a water ram in a remote village in Africa to provide water, hosting a young person who is far from home due to school or work, making hospital visits, volunteering to visit those in the local jail with a word of encouragement. It is not hard to find these opportunities and many others; it is hard to stretch beyond our comfort zone to be the person helping people we don’t know well or whose life choices we disagree with.
The other side of this coin is that almost always, we find great joy and peace when we do extend our hands to help. We find that people with needs are more like us than they are different from us. Nothing is as humbling as knowing that something we have done made a person’s life better that day.
Perhaps Advent is a perfect time to assess how we are doing on these SOS. If we aren’t feeling good about how we have functioned in these areas, opportunities abound throughout the holiday season to do any or all of these behaviors. We know God is calling us to behave in this way. Ask Him who He wants us to share this love with this week. Offer our Christ, who gave all for us, the gift of the SOS this holiday season.
Merciful God, you call us to serve others as your Son serves. Grant us the courage to reach out in your name. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contributed by Judy King
Click here for today’s podcast!
Matthew 25:35
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.
SOS: Six Opportunities for Service
Take a look at this list. These are very specific behaviors. Jesus and Matthew repeated this list of Six Opportunities for Service four times in this passage (v.35, 37, 42, 44). Repetition is a technique teachers use to emphasize an idea. It seems that Jesus really wanted to impress these six acts of kindness on his listeners and on us. I have heard lots of sermons that focused on repeated ideas and their significance; however, I don’t remember a focus on the SOS. Then again, it is pretty straight forward isn’t it? According to this passage, when our lives are examined, these are the things that will count. How are you doing?
Certainly through our generosity at church and with charitable organizations we all participate in some extent in these activities, but somehow it seems that Christ was asking for us to look into someone’s eyes as we act on these guidelines -- inviting a family with unemployment issues to share a holiday meal, taking a family shopping for school shoes, building a water ram in a remote village in Africa to provide water, hosting a young person who is far from home due to school or work, making hospital visits, volunteering to visit those in the local jail with a word of encouragement. It is not hard to find these opportunities and many others; it is hard to stretch beyond our comfort zone to be the person helping people we don’t know well or whose life choices we disagree with.
The other side of this coin is that almost always, we find great joy and peace when we do extend our hands to help. We find that people with needs are more like us than they are different from us. Nothing is as humbling as knowing that something we have done made a person’s life better that day.
Perhaps Advent is a perfect time to assess how we are doing on these SOS. If we aren’t feeling good about how we have functioned in these areas, opportunities abound throughout the holiday season to do any or all of these behaviors. We know God is calling us to behave in this way. Ask Him who He wants us to share this love with this week. Offer our Christ, who gave all for us, the gift of the SOS this holiday season.
Merciful God, you call us to serve others as your Son serves. Grant us the courage to reach out in your name. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contributed by Judy King
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