A Call to Help Those in Need

Those who think of God as being so loving that everyone is going to heaven are missing a significant portion of scripture. Matthew 25 is a section of scripture that focuses on our call to use the gifts He has given us, and to show “mercy more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6),” for that is what God desires.

It doesn’t matter how great or how little the talents we have, we are expected to use them for His glory.

It is unacceptable to sit by and not use what He has given us (Matt. 25:29-30).

And those talents are also to be used to help out “the lease of these my brothers and sisters (Matt. 25:40).” The parable of the sheep and the goats should open the eyes of every believer to understand that we can’t just help those “like us.”

Jesus calls us to help the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, homeless, sick and imprisoned. It can be easy for us to get caught up in our Christian bubble and not realize the challenges that face those around us who are different from us. Mounce mentions that

“although the New Testament clearly teaches that deeds of kindness in an of themselves do not secure salvation, it also teaches that when faith is real it must of necessity express itself in a life of concern for others.”

Robert Mounce New International Biblical Commentary Matthew, p. 236

As we seek to become multiethnic, we reach out to those who are strangers to us. We get a different perspective on joy and suffering. An example is the challenges that have gone on with police brutality recently. For those who are not African-American, we might feel bad for those who are suffering injustice,

but are we “mourning with those who mourn (Rom. 12:15)?”

As we develop relationships with people who are different than us, we begin to see the world through a different lens. We can begin to get a better understanding of where others are coming from, and we gain opportunities to step in and help a wider group of people in need, while often being blessed far beyond what we are able to comprehend (and beyond the blessing we are able to be)!

Lord, help us to see the world through Your eyes… not to be colorblind, but to see the beauty in the kaleidoscope You have created. May we rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, and be used by you to see this world become more like Your kingdom in Heaven!