Hey you, man on the side of the freeway with a sign.
What are you?
A fake, a phoney?
Are you playing us for a fool or are you really homeless?
Really poor?
Really a disabled veteran?
I want you to know, you haunt me.
Driving by later at night, I see you are no longer at your usual post by the freeway exit and neither is your friend.
The one whose turn it is to hold the sign while you wait in the shade.
I wonder, where do you sleep?
Where are you right this minute?
And is it my job to judge whether you are really what you say you are?
You shame me.
You teach me how far I still have to go in my faith journey.
I see you everywhere, and everywhere I wonder.
What…..who…..how you are and how you ended up there.
I just want you to know……
You haunt me.
And I am thinking that Jesus probably haunted a few people too.
Matthew 25:35-40
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:35-40
photo credit: creative commons via flickr Ed Yourdon
Lori's Prayer Closet 