"...whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." - John 4:14 KJV
Many who are familiar with our ministry know that one of our foundational Scriptures is Matthew 25:31-46. Christ says there will come a day when He will judge the nations, and that all those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers, care for the sick, clothe the naked and visit those in prison will inherit the Kingdom of God prepared since the foundation of the world. Christ calls the strangers, the hungry and thirsty, the prisoners and the naked “the least of these brothers of Mine.” He says that what we do for the “least of these,” we do for Him. Christ also teaches that those who do not help “the least of these” will be cast into everlasting punishment.
Christ is not giving us a recipe for eternal life. If that were the case, He would be contradicting many other Scriptures that teach us that we are saved by grace through faith alone when we are still in our sins, not by any good works we have done (John 6:28-29, Romans 1:17, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:3-6). What Christ is doing is stating an axiomatic fact, that those who are truly saved will be visible by their acts of mercy towards the “least of these” for Jesus’ sake. Elsewhere in Scripture, we are told that one of Christ’s major complaints about the Pharisees was that they did not practice mercy for Jesus’ sake, but only for religious ritual. As Jesus says, quoting form Hosea, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:5). True Christians will be known by their acts of mercy towards the “least of these”.
If Christians know that helping the “least of these” will not help them earn their way to Heaven, why do they do it? Why do Christians keep God’s command to practice mercy, not just sacrifice? One explanation is that the Holy Spirit compels and enables Christians to obey God. In the crucifixion of Christ, God did the following: He “condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). We are enabled to overcome our sinful opposition by the power of the Holy Spirit and compelled by our Spirit-informed consciences to practice mercy to the “least of these”.
One way the Holy Spirit enables and compels Christians to practice mercy to the “least of these” is to give them a deep awareness of the fact that they were once hungry and in need of Jesus, the “bread of life” (John 6:41), thirsty and in need of “living water” (John 4), imprisoned by their own sin (Galatians 3:22), sick with sin coursing through their veins (Isaiah 53:5), and naked and needing to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ (Romans 13:14). In this miserable state, Christians were shown God’s love in the person and work and Jesus Christ, and they were born again into the light of God with new, real, satisfying lives grounded in peace with their Maker. The Bible says, “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The Christian does not love God first and thereby earn his salvation. Neither does the Christian love other people first and earn his salvation. The Christian is loved by God first and such perfect Divine love transforms his life.
A picture of God’s amazing love is found in Hosea 3. Hosea, a prophet of God, is told by God to purchase his wife when she was being auctioned off as a slave after having lived as a prostitute. Hosea writes, “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and loved the raisin cakes of the pagans.” The love of God for those whom He has chosen is the same as the love of Hosea for his wife. Even when Christians were truly unlovable and unworthy of any blessing, let alone salvation, having committed spiritual (or literal) adultery and having been consumed with the many pleasures of God’s creation rather than God the gracious Giver all of good, and having exchanged the truth of God for a lie, God loved us—in the midst of this unlovable state—and purchased us with the precious blood of His one and only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing this love, the Christian is compelled to love others who are unlovable.
The Christian identifies with the “least of these” in a very real way, if not physically, then definitely spiritually. This is in accord with the second of Jesus’ Greatest Commandments: to love our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, we are commanded to treat our neighbors as we would like others to treat us. Until we look at the “least of these” and are reminded of ourselves, we will be unlikely to love them as our neighbors; they will be less than neighbors, almost less than human, almost like an unlovable slave on the auction block whom no one wants. Christians’ practice of mercy towards “the least of these” goes far beyond loving their neighbors, moreover. Such works are also in obedience to the greatest commandment as well, for Jesus said of the “least of these” that they were his “brothers” and that by serving them, we serve Christ. What better way to love the Lord our God with our hearts, souls, minds and strength! (See Mark 12:28-31)
How is it that the “least of these” are Christ’s brothers? Are they all already saved and thereby Christ’s brothers by adoption as all Christians are? This can’t be true, for the Bible says that all are born estranged from their Creator and under God’s wrath because of their sin. The only way to become a child of God and brother of Christ is to be born again (Ephesians 2:19). Christ, therefore, must be identifying with the “least of these” in some other way. Isaiah 53 comes to mind here. Speaking of Christ, the Bible says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-3). It seems that Jesus called the “least of these” his brothers because He experienced much of what they experience. Many have no beauty or majesty to attract us to them. They are often physically undesirable. Many who pass them by don’t even want to look at them for fear that one look might take away from their “abundant” life. They are despised and rejected. Many are acquainted with sorrow and grief as they have been abandoned by family and friends. When the Christian shows mercy to the “least of these” they show mercy to Christ. Now, the comparison only goes so far, as Christ was innocent vis-ŕ-vis God’s law and the “least of these” are not. Yet we do see why Christ made acts of mercy towards the “least of these” a presiding characteristic of those who will inherit eternal life.
It should not be surprising that another foundational Scripture of LWWDC is principally focused on the spiritual health of the “least of these,” not merely their physical health. Christ teaches that there is a unique commonality between those who live on the street, despised and rejected by men, and those who are ripe for the harvest of God, yes, for being invited to the Kingdom of God.
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."In this parable, Christ teaches us that many who reject the Gospel when it is freely offered to them are those more focused on the pleasures of the world than on God’s Kingdom. Like Esau, many refuse to forsake all things for Christ (verse 33) because they love the things of the world more than they love the gracious Giver of all good things in the world. It only makes sense then that those who possess very little in this life are less likely to forsake God for worldly pleasures. Many of the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame are hungry for Jesus Christ and an eternity of worshipping their Savior in paradise. In reaching out to the “least of these” in Washington DC, we trust that those seats at the great banquet in heaven that were rejected by those living the “abundant” life in will be taken by the “least of these” for the glory of God!
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' " (Luke 14:15-24)
Ryan George
Originally published in The Living Water Letter, November 2004,
by Living Water of Washington DC.
Last revised: November 10, 2004.