“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, what
you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me.’”
Matthew 25:37, 40
The other day my daughter
texted me about something that had occurred in the Harris Teeter parking
lot. She was getting out of her car when
a homeless woman approached her, asking if she would be willing to allow her to
wash her windshield for a penny. Caroline
said that she was such a sweet woman, agreed to the terms and gave her some
money. She understood well that this
woman wanted to earn her money, instead of receiving a handout. Caroline said that while in the store she
began to feel like she wanted to do more so she bought some bottled waters, a
few hoagies and some bags of chips. Upon
returning to her car, the woman was standing there crying because another driver
had accidentally run over her backpack which contained Windex and cloths no
doubt. Thankfully, the driver of the car
also gave her some money to replace the contents of her backpack. Caroline said the woman began to apologize
for crying and asked her if she had done a good job on her window.
The experience lingered in
her heart and mind into the following day where she felt like she had not done
enough. I told her that it seemed she
did everything for that woman that the Holy Spirit had prompted her to do. I also told her that God uses many people to
care for His children and that she could be assured her part was blessed. The next morning when I was walking, the
above verse came to mind and I could almost see the woman and my daughter exchanging
gifts. Caroline gave her physical
provision, and the homeless woman gave Caroline spiritual provision. It was an opportunity for Caroline to be
obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, growing in her faith. For the woman, it was a gift of being visible
to someone, receiving compassion and provision for the moment. It was an opportunity for the woman to feel
proud of an accomplishment. It was a
moment in time between two women who were brought together by God for a gift
exchange, and both received the blessing.
When we show others
kindness, gentleness and engagement we remind them that God sends the community
of Christ into the toughest set of circumstances. When we take the time to meet people where
they are we exemplify the walk of Christ.
When we share the resources that God has given to us, He will multiply
the offerings. One of the greatest gifts
we can give another is to meet them eye to eye, heart to heart and show the
love that Christ has shown us. After
all, we will one day stand before the throne and give an account for all the
beautiful ways we served Christ while on earth.
So, as we walk out this
beautiful Sunday I pray that each of us will have the opportunity to show
kindness to those who are less fortunate, and who knows…we just might be entertaining an angel.
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some
people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2
No comments:
Post a Comment