Finding the Hole in Me

In the Old Testament the prophet Micah stated three things that God requires of us. Jesus restated those same things as His mission: Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness. They are the three parts of our Gospel, both surrounding the center and emanating from it. The center is Jesus, and we are His ambassadors as we take on His mission through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is filled with verses on poverty and injustice. But do we have trouble recognizing the value of those who mercy and justice would impact? Do we read the verses without seeing the people?

When Jesus was near the end of His ministry He began teaching about the end of the age, warning us to be ready. He said there would be a judgment. He used the metaphor in Matthew 25 of sheep & goats - the righteous sheep going on one side to life eternal and the evil goats on the other side – to eternal judgment. What was it that made the difference? What made the sheep righteous?

“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.”
Matthew 25:35,36

When did those righteous sheep see Jesus hungry or thirsty or sick? When they saw the people He loved, “the least” who were in need. The goats saw the people, too – and they walked by.

Jesus says in this passage that we will be judged by our walk and not our talk. He invited the righteous sheep into His Kingdom based on what they did, and the goats were sent to eternal judgment based on what they did not do - not on what they did wrong. If this was the only story about this subject, we might be able to pass it over.

But every scene of judgment in the New Testament is made on the basis of deeds.

I know what you’re thinking: “Wait a minute! I thought salvation was free! A gift of God! Not by works! Etc. etc.” True.

How can we be saved by grace, yet judged by works? The answer is simple. At the final judgment, the only thing that will really matter is our relationship with Jesus - which is demonstrated by our walk with Him. The idea that we can just say a prayer is not what Jesus taught. He asked us to live His life.

Some think it’s just about living a moral life. Not true. God forgives us, not so that we can develop moral certitude, but so that we can develop servanthood. Of course God wants us to live a moral life, but morals aren’t the Good News. Faithfulness, mercy & justice, the attributes and mission of Jesus, are the Gospel.

The sheep (in Matthew 25) acted in tangible ways to those in need. The goats may have been great people, but they didn’t act toward those who God loves with mercy. It never says they were morally impure. The goats are punished for the good they did not do. Their behavior betrays their lack of care for Jesus, because they didn’t care about what Jesus cared about.

Jesus taught that what we do to the least, we do to Him. Mother Teresa said that every time she looked into the eyes of someone in desperate need, she saw Jesus. She changed her piece of the world, because within the eyes of people she saw her Lord.

The hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick, those without clothes, the imprisoned -
from the person living in an American ghetto to the person in absolute squalor in another part of the world: to Jesus, they are all His family. And Jesus, through us, offers hope.

Why do we get energized when we work to feed or clothe or visit or comfort? It’s not a matter of expunging guilt. It’s the Spirit of God in us, celebrating mercy and justice!

It’s what we were designed to do - it’s our purpose – to be the Gospel.