Least

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:40

Many have taught on this verse to encourage love of neighbour. That is all well and good but sometimes the shoe is on the other foot and we find ourselves as one of the least of these

Yeshua taught that the second greatest commandment is to love neighbour as one loves oneself. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is to accept the role as neighbour and allow someone to bless you. Don’t get me wrong. We are to put others ahead of ourselves but we can carry this so far as to corrupt it into a form of pride. “God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:24, James 4:6b, 1 Peter 5:5c) It is not honor but dishonor to turn away grace. We must be humble to receive not only because God hates pride but because a closed hand can receive no gift.

I have been the least of these on more than one occasion. Even as an adult. In 2018, after several stays in both free and paid for mental hospitals I was diagnosed as having schizo-affective depressive type. In the midst of my crisis I was also diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. This makes a lot of sense looking back but having a diagnoses, or two, doesn’t heal past wounds. Contrary to pop wisdom time also does not heal all wounds. From what I have experienced only pursuing Christ as He purses you can lead to lasting healing.

That all being said, the reason I brought up my conditions, is because during my psychosis I was placed in a array of situations where I was at the mercy of others. Looking back at the couple that gave me a bible as I wandered the streets of the Montrose area in Houston or the stranger who put a blanket on me as my voices made me lay on bare pavement in someplace that I don’t know where, I could see the love of God flowing through these strangers. These and a few other instances of friends visiting me why I was in hospital or in the mental hospital are things I could look back on and not allow my faith to be stolen from me.

Even earlier I had people provide for me during times of hunger in college with out my asking for it. The point of all of this is that at any time I could have cut off the flow of grace by closing my hand. I could have stingily refused the compassion of strangers and friends. However by the grace of God I was in a place to receive and in turn as a blessing to those who blessed me as I was a vehicle for them to give unto the least of these.