Devotion 10.26.20

 "...Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40

There was a superintendent in these here parts who I spoke with a few years ago.  We were both close to the end of our careers, but I enjoyed visiting with him annually.  He was both a good man and a man who expressed his faith openly.  His faith clearly guided his work as a school leader.  

When we spoke, we were talking education philosophy, and he said, "I work with staff all the time, and we are clear on one thing: It's not the students we know that I think about in my work, but it is the one of least concern - that kid who is not involved in much, whose story we don't really know.  He's the one who comes and goes quietly and goes unnoticed. He makes enough of a grade to stay off the radar, but really, he is the student of least concern.  That's who we need to search out and see how we can teach them and help them better." That stuck with me the day he shared that, and I began immediately looking at people very differently.

The passage in Matthew is one of the clearest pieces of evidence of what we will hear on the day of judgement as we are divided - sheep from the goats (not the "greatest of all time" acronym either).  It's the worst passage to teach with adults for me, because the questions come from a justification standpoint immediately.  "Okay, so, when I drive past a guy with a sign that says, 'Out of money, no work, need help' and I don't stop or give him money, does that mean I've not done what Jesus is asking here?"

You can wrestle with that as well because my answer is always about faith and salvation.  In fact, the note in the study bible is very clear:  Salvation is the result of faith in Christ, not works.  "Scripture teaches that people do good works in God's sight only after they have come to faith and been justified by Christ. Good works are the result of salvation, not its cause." So, in this world, we will blow it from time to time, but in the big picture, do we spend time seeking out that person of "least concern?"

In the pastors' continuing series on people who have a passion for the gospel and God's work as His people, Pastor Dan used yesterday's observation of the Reformation to remind us of the gospel and Luther's desire to get people to understand that it is faith alone, grace alone, and scripture alone.  Yet as God's people, we do have a role to play in the least of these among us.  We pray that God opens our eyes and our hearts to be servants to the least of these and that we recognize the opportunities as they arise.