Bible Text: Matthew 25:40 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

A fellow who worked in your division was a rather radical, extroverted Christian. You weren’t sure you wanted to call him a brother, but if you were pressed—yes, you would acknowledge that. Sure, his personality is different from yours. You are more of an intellectual, a quiet sort of person who keeps a lot inside. He’s a noisy extrovert. What you dislike, however, is the way he presses the attack. He’s a WWJD sort of guy. “What would Jesus do?” And he is always on the offensive. He button-holes people and asks them if they are ready to meet God. He keeps a Bible on his desk, and—yes, of course—his car bumper is covered with stickers, messages like “NO GOD, NO PEACE.”

You are a Presbyterian sort of person. Your faith, you tell yourself, is just as genuine, but yours is personal, inside, very- much inside; and very seldom would anyone know where you stand.

Then the man I’m describing gets fired—pink-slipped–and he’s outta there in record time. His boss fabricates a cover story about the company’s having to cut back, but you know it is untrue. You know the real reason he got the axe is because the boss is an atheist and he disliked the man’s overt Christianity.

It’s not your problem–or is it? To what degree does God hold you accountable for injustice and wrong, whether it is where you work or what happens a half-world away from your home?

I am reminded of the German theologian, a Protestant, who said, “When they came after the radicals, I did not object for I was not a radical. When they came after the Jews I did not object, for I was not a Jew. When they came after the Catholics, I did not object, for I was not a Catholic. And when they came after me, there was none left to object.”

What responsibility do you have to fellow Christians, regardless of their personalities, their church affiliation, or their political views? Is there a responsibility that comes through a shared, common faith in Jesus Christ?

The Bible answers strongly in the affirmative. In the Upper Room, only hours before He went to the cross, Jesus talked about responsibility for those in trouble. He said, “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, 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.’” (Matthew 25:35-36). But those who heard said, “When did we do this?” And the reply was, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Writing to the Corinthians, Paul likened the Church, the body of Christ, to the human body–an apt analogy, because when one part of your body hurts, it all hurts. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul says that Christ is the head of the Church. Then he says that “the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love.”

Fifty-eight times the New Testament uses the words one another in stressing our responsibilities to each other. Understanding the importance of our relationship to each other as fellow Christians, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, breaks down the barriers of race, cultures, even doctrine (“you’re a Baptist and I’m an Episcopalian”) and whatever else separates us.

A closing thought. When you don’t raise your voice when someone gets fired because he is a Christian, and no one objects, what’s going to happen when the same supervisor learns that you, too, are a Christian?

Resource reading: Matthew 25