The Least of These
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….
[For I was persecuted in my homeland and asked for asylum but you sent me away because I did not have the right papers. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was sick and you rejected me saying I would be a drain on your medical system. I was looking for refuge and you had me deported saying I could be a terrorist.
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you seeking asylum or hungry or thirsty or a stranger or sick and did not minister to you?’]
45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This is what we do (or don’t do) to Jesus when we don’t take the time to get to know his story. It is hard to serve him when all we care about is punishing him for disrupting our lives.
I’ve struggled for awhile with what I think about illegal immigration. As a Long Islander, I felt pretty justified in saying “Those immigrants don’t belong here. They’re breaking the law. They’re criminals. Long Island isn’t safe anymore because of all of them.”
If you don’t know, Long Island has a huge population of illegal immigrants. To be honest, it would be pretty scary sometimes seeing huge groups of them hanging on street corners waiting for someone to hire them for under the table jobs. If you stop your car at the corner, they literally surround your car thinking you’re an employee. So I didn’t grow up with a very good impression of them.
So I struggled with this issue for a long time but once I started taking faith much more seriously in college, the struggle intensified as I wrestled with how my faith affects my political standpoint.
So as someone who’s been on the other side of the line, I have to say, I was completely in the wrong as a Christ follower. No I don’t completely understand politics… but I completely understand what Jesus was saying here in Matthew 25. It’s pretty darn clear.
I’ve always been challenged and absolutely convicted by what Gerry Chappeau has to say about life… so as he puts it, “What guides your political views and decisions? Is it political parties? Or is it Jesus?”.
