“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” That is usually something we say when a situation is out of our control. Jesus, however, said to his followers that their treatment of Jesus was very much in their control. It was manifest in their treatment of the hungry, the thirsty, and the destitute of their community. The consequences of neglect was severe because it revealed their heart. If they could not love their neighbor, they could not love the Lord. Therefore, they never knew him and he will say these frightful words, “I never knew you. Depart from me.”
Here at Cape Community Church, we are the official Warming Center for Middle Township. We do this because of these verses. Not because of the fear of not doing it but because of our love for Jesus for the love he first showed us. When a Code Blue is called, we welcome Jesus into our church to get warm, we satisfy the hunger and thirst of Jesus with soup, bread, and water. We give coats, shoes, socks, and gloves to Jesus. How rewarding it is to know that Jesus loves us all equally. How rare it is that we do the same. When we welcome those he loves…
We are always in the right place at the right time.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church