"Excuse me ma'am, can you spare some change? I'm trying to buy a ticket on the train back to LA." were the first words out of this stranger's mouth as he approached me. "How much do you need?" I replied. "Ten dollars."
I fished in my purse pulled out one dollar and handed it to him. He thanked me as I began to walk away and approached the next person on the street in his quest to gather enough train fare to get to where he was going.
I fished in my purse pulled out one dollar and handed it to him. He thanked me as I began to walk away and approached the next person on the street in his quest to gather enough train fare to get to where he was going.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “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.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46, New International Version, ©2011)
I may have given, because I was asked, but I didn't really give. I know nothing about this man, his life situation or needs, but I failed to truly give.
I could have done so much more had I taken a moment to treat him like Jesus.
There I was ten feet from a cafe and I didn't even think to ask him if he'd like a cup of coffee and a biscotti. I could have invited him into the cafe with me and treated him like a friend. Instead I brushed him off with one nonchalantly uncaring dollar and walked away from a man who I am sure needed to be shown God's love. My eyes are filling with tears and my heart is full of shame as I reflect on this lost moment to be the hands and feet of Christ.
1 John 4: 10-12 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
1 John 2: 4-6 "Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."
All this man humbly asked me for was spare change, but I think that maybe spare change was the last thing he needed. Spare change is something you nonchalantly throw in a jar. It's hardly a sacrifice or act of love to give away your spare change. God hasn't called us to a life of sparing change. My spare change, literal or figurative, pales in comparison to the life of obedience, service and love I'm called to live for Christ.
The question isn't: can you spare some change? The question is: can you sacrificially love and live as Jesus did?
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