Least of These

It was a cold Sunday morning when members started arriving at church; snow flakes had just started to fall. People were rushing to get inside to the warm, dry sanctuary. As the members were walking in, they were astonished to see a homeless person lying on the sidewalk by the front door. He was bent over, all covered up with an old black trench coat that had many holes in it. His shoes had holes in them, and you could see his filthy, grimy socks. The man wore a black hat that covered his face, and his hands were filthy with dirt, probably (some thought) from digging in a garbage can.

As the members made their way into the sanctuary, they were all discussing how this horrible, filthy man had the nerve to sleep at THEIR church doors! Finally the pianist started playing and the members all sat down in their seats. They were all looking around, wondering where the Pastor could be. You could hear people whispering, saying, “Pastor Joe is probably telling that homeless man he needs to leave the property” and “What would visitors think if they saw him?”

All of a sudden, there was a great gasp. The homeless man was walking down the middle of the church aisle! He made his way to the front, and then to the platform!!! When the homeless man got to the microphone, he said, “Good morning, how are you all?” The homeless man was their Pastor Joe! Not a word was said, no one moved. Even the pianist stopped playing.

Then Pastor Joe said, “Did any of you see Jesus outside this morning? He was cold, He was dirty, His clothes were filthy! However no one asked him into HIS own house.”

“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.” Matt 25:40 (KJV)