IN HIS DISTRESSING DISGUISE

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “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. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 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.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

If Jesus came to your house this morning and he was hungry, what would you do? If he was lonely, thirsty, sad, scared, worried, depressed, what would you do? Do you know what, he has come to you. I’ll prove it to you in a minute. I have been thinking about the heart of God and about Jesus and his love, compassion, and care. I want you to look at your hands for a minute. Look at the back of it, then look at the palm. Those hands you are touching sometimes reach out and offer friendship, extend gifts, doctor wounds, prepare meals, or fold in prayer. Other times those hands accuse, abuse, take away, demand, withhold, and wound. Oh what power is in our hands! Leave them to ourselves and they become weapons, leave them to the Lord and they become instruments of grace,mercy, and love, not just tools for God, but the very hands of God. Surrender hose hands to God and those five fingered appendages become the hands of Jesus.

That is what Jesus did. Our savior completely surrendered His hands to God for our sake. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Wherever Jesus went he extended the love, mercy, compassion, kindness, and grace of God to those who were in need. Read these accounts prayerfully and admirably:

Matthew 8:1-3, "When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy."

Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed..."

Matthew 9:35-36, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."

Mark 10:47-52, "When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road."

Jesus saw that people needed love! Care! Healing! Deliverance! Compassion! Kindness! GOD’S LOVE! Therefore that is what He gave. That is what he gives us!

Jesus has sent us into the world to be his hands as well John 20:21, Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." He has sent us out to people to do something beautiful for him. Jesus loves people and cares for them. He does it through you and I! John 14:12, 'I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." What was Jesus doing? Touching, giving, loving, healing, caring, and extending Himself for others. So we are sent to be his hands, his touch, his voice to a needy world. That is the power of the Holy Spirit!

Acts 1:8, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

In the scripture I shared at the beginning of this blog (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus says something radical about what He is doing in the world. God is the working God. What is He doing? He is working through you and me by bringing Jesus to us to love and serve. But, He is doing it in a very subtle way at times. That is why Mother Teresa called it his “distressing disguise.”

Are you ready to hear Jesus? Jesus tells us that every needy, poor, lonely, lost, hungry, thirsty, sad, broken, person that we help is like helping Jesus. YOU DID IT TO ME! YOU DID IT TO ME! Sometimes we are so self centered, so prejudiced, so myopic, so blind, that we miss Jesus on a regular basis. Jesus tells us that he comes to us every day through those who are in need.

In his distressing disguise, he wants us to realize, that when we take care of others, we really do it to Him. When Mother Teresa would minister to the poor in Calcutta sometimes it would be so very difficult for those who were with her. So she would fold their hands and look them in the eyes and say, “you did it to me.” She said, “God is love. The missionary (which is all of you) must be a missionary of love, must always be full of love in his soul, and must also spread it to the souls of others."

When you touch people you are touching His body. When you give food, it is the hunger of Jesus you are feeding. It is the naked Jesus you and I clothe. It is the homeless Christ we give shelter to. It is the sad Christ who needs encouragement. It is the lonely Christ who needs companionship. It is the unlovely, unworthy, untouchable, lowly, Jesus to whom we extend our time , money, ears, and hearts to.

Mother Teresa also said,

“Christ today is hungry in the poor and even in the rich, for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own. Today, like before when Jesus comes amongst his own, his own don’t know Him or receive Him. He comes in the poor, he comes even in the rich, who are being suffocated by their own riches, in the loneliness of their hearts, and there is no one to love them and it is in that place that Jesus comes to you and me.”

Jesus is here in His “distressing disguise”. Oh reader, please open your eyes and look around you today! Do you see? Everyone all around you has needs. Everyone has pain. Everyone has weaknesses, struggles, painful wounds, and areas of brokenness. Would you open your heart to Jesus? Would you open your heart to the people you encounter? Would you receive the spirit of the Lord to love others? Would you let the hand of God touch you in order to touch others?

Michael Card said it well:

He is in the pain, He is in the need
He is in the poor, we are told to feed
Though He was rich, for us He became poor
How could He give so much, what was it for?

In His distressing disguise
He waits for us to surmise
That we rob our brothers by all that we own
And that's not the way He has shown

Every time a faithful servant serves
A brother that's in need
What happens at that moment is a miracle indeed
As they look to one another in an instant it is clear
Only Jesus is visible for they've both disappeared

He is in the hand that reaches out to give
He is in the touch that causes men to live
So speak with your life now as well as your tongue
Shelter the homeless, take care of the young

In His distressing disguise
He hopes that we'll realize
That when we take care of the poorest of them
We've really done it to Him

Look at those hands again. Look again at those around you. Jesus touched others. Will you? Know that what you do to them , you do to Jesus!

Pastor Bill