Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23
“Jesus comes to us in the poor. What finally counts is not whether we know Jesus and His words, but whether we live our lives in the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the spirit of love. Jesus Himself makes this clear when He speaks about the last judgment.
These people will ask, “Lord when did we see You hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?” and Jesus will answer, “In so far as you did this to one of the least…of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:37, 40).
This is our great challenge and consolation. Jesus comes to us in the poor, the sick, the dying, the prisoners, the lonely, the disabled, the rejected. There we meet him, and there the door to God’s house is opened for us.”
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York: HarperCollins, 1997) daily reading for 4 August.
Both today’s biblical text and reading may shock some folks who think going to heaven is just about knowing Jesus. He Himself said that those who know and love Him will also obey Him and do what He says.
In the last parable in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus Himself said what separates us as sheep from the goats is what we do with the the poor. This is “our great challenge and consolation” as Nouwen put it.
What about you? The closer Jenni and I get to Jesus, the closer we find ourselves to the poor, the broken, and the hurting. We are realizing we can’t help everyone but we can serve those around us.
As we approach Lent, take a few minutes and think about the poor around you. Pray about how you might show them the Spirit of Jesus through some specific activity, as an act of love. Follow God’s leading in serving the poor.