“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40
Good morning, friends and neighbors. We live in a time of great prosperity. We have new cars in the driveway. The refrigerators hum in our kitchens. Our future looks brighter than a June morning. But in the midst of this Great American Century, we must be careful not to let the glare of our own success blind us to the person standing in the shadows.
There is a profound mystery at the heart of our faith. A teaching from the Divine that turns the social ladder right on its head. It is this: Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Now, we often go looking for the Divine in the high places. We look for majesty in the cathedral spires, or we look for power in the thunder of the clouds. But this morning’s truth tells us something different. It tells us that the Divine chooses to wear a humble disguise.
Think of the least of these in our own town. The man sitting on the park bench who’s fallen on hard times. The widow, struggling to keep her garden tidy. The child from the wrong side of the tracks with a hole in his shoe.
When you offer a handshake to the forgotten, or a hot meal to the hungry, you aren’t just being a good citizen or a decent fellow. You are actually reaching out and touching the Divine. Every act of kindness to the lowly is a direct gift to the Divine.
Friends, we often worry about how we stand in the eyes of our community. We want the boss to think we’re industrious. We want the neighbors to see us as respectable. But the real audit of our souls happens when no one is watching, except the Divine.
If we are important people who treat the unimportant with indifference, we are missing the point of our existence. If we tip our hats to the Mayor but turn our backs on the vagrant, we have turned our backs on the Divine. You see, the way we treat the person who can do absolutely nothing for us is the truest measure of our character.
As you go back to your tidy homes and your busy offices this week, I want to challenge you. Look for the least among us. Don’t look at them as a burden or a social problem to be solved by a committee. Look at them through the eyes of the Divine. Treat the delivery boy with the same respect you’d show a bank president. Keep an eye out for the lonely soul who doesn’t get many visitors. Remember that when you serve others, you are being served by the peace that only the Divine can provide. Let us not just be a community of good neighbors, but a community that recognizes the sacred in every face we pass on the sidewalk.
Amen.
