Least of These

There’s a snake in my flowerbed. I saw it 3 weeks ago while pulling weeds. Solution? Ignore the flowerbed. Unfortunately this is not a sustainable solution. It was already in bad shape. You can tell by the fact that a snake was hiding in the weeds. So now what? It’s human nature to ignore situations that are obnoxious, frightening or difficult. A snake in the garden can ruin your day. Best to just leave that alone, right? But what about the flowerbed?

 Jesus taught his disciples to care for the ‘least of these.’ To love one another, to love your neighbor, even to love your enemy. Could there be anything more obnoxious, frightening or difficult? So we put it off because we don’t want to do it and justify our disobedience because we are “frightened.”

 Jesus said in Mathew 25:42-45
… for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

 This beautiful, broken, blessed and struggling world needs tending. The work is not easy but it’s what we are built to do. So let us not allow ourselves to be lazy or frightened. Heaven knows there are snakes in the garden. Remember, that in Christ there is nothing to fear. It is in living out this Gospel that we truly find ourselves.

 See you Sunday!
Missy