Chrissie Prichard, Member of St. Luke’s since 2007 and Outreach Committee Member

Matthew 25: 34-40
“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’” 

“Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’”

“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’”

Reflection:
I remember watching an episode of Undercover Boss years ago. Remember that show? This particular episode featured a hotel executive working undercover as a front desk associate at one of his hotel’s many locations. There was a customer who was particularly rude to him, and one of the storylines of the episode was how surprised he was by the unkindness his associates had to endure from customers. At the end of the show, it was revealed to the customer that she had been speaking with the CEO of the hotel chain. Her response was, “I wouldn’t have acted that way if I had known who I was speaking to!” In other words, she wouldn’t have been rude to someone she felt was important. But someone she didn’t think was important, now that was a different story. 

But let’s not make her the villain in this story. After all, don’t we all have a tendency to treat those we feel are deserving differently than those we feel are less deserving? Didn’t Jesus know we would struggle with a relentless propensity to treat others differently based on our skewed perception of their worthiness? That’s why in Matthew 25 he teaches us that if we love him, we will love all God’s children, including and especially the least of these.

A few years later, I was listening to Dr. Pace’s sermon, and I remember him saying “one of the greatest barometers of how our heart has been transformed by Jesus is how we treat others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves.” The Undercover Boss episode immediately came to my mind. I was deeply convicted and wrote that statement on a sermon notes card and carried it around in my purse until it literally fell apart.

Jesus knew that we would get caught up in our own lives, forgetting about the conditions others might endure and allowing our skewed perception of their worthiness to dictate the way we treat them. And Dr. Pace’s sermon reminds us that God’s love can transform our hearts and allow God’s love to flow through us, giving us the capacity and the desire to treat all of God’s children as we would treat Jesus himself.

Closing Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for teaching us how we should treat others. Please transform our hearts. We pray our “barometers” will indicate hearts transformed by your love, demonstrated by how we treat all of your children, including and especially the least of these. Amen.