In Matthew 25, we read, beginning in verse
40, And the king shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, Ye have
done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on
the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed
into everlasting fire, Prepared for the devil and
his angels.
For I was hungered, and ye gave me
no meat.
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink.
I was a stranger, and ye took me
not in, Naked, and ye clothed me not,
Sick and in prison, and ye visited me
not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord,
when saw we thee a-hungered, or a
-thirst, Or a stranger, or naked, or sick,
or in prison, And did not minister unto
thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it
not to one of the least of these
men, Ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,
But the righteous into life eternal.
If we are face to face with a
person in need, And we have the means
to meet that need, And to help them,
and we refuse to help them, Or alleviate
their need, Because we have a bias against
them, Then that is a very dangerous place
to be.
We reject, not them, But we reject the
Christ who represents them.
We feel we are safe, Because we have
already done our duty Of tithing to our
church, And this frees us from any other
financial responsibility Toward another.
We are like the priest passing through Jericho,
Who, when he saw a man in need,
He passed by on the other side.
The priest chose not to help the man
in need, Because of his bias toward him.
We are like the Levite passing through Jericho,
Who looked on the man lying in the
gutter, And saw his need, But he too
refused to help, Because of his bias against
him, So he passed by on the other
side.
Both these men were religious men, Who made
their religious offerings Each week in the temple,
And they assumed that was all That was
required of them In their service to God.
They were religious men, Engaged in religious work,
But they weren't doing God's work, For it
was Christ lying there, Wounded, stripped, and half
-dead, But he was no concern to them,
And Christ's words ring in their ear, You
did it, not to me.