URC Daily Devotion Friday, 13 March 2026

St Matthew 25: 31 – 46

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,  and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.  Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”  Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”  And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me 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 nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”  Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?”  Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just 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.’

Reflection

I once found myself standing in a queue at a soup kitchen amongst some of the poorest people, in the richest country in the world.  It was raining, I had no coat and was soaked through.  My inner thoughts were wrestling with the fact that I didn’t actually need to be there because I was privileged to have a safe place to stay and there was plenty of food there; but my mission, (and I chose to accept it), was to live for 12 hours as a person with no resources and stand in solidarity with the people Jesus’ calls ‘the least.’  One of the other people in the queue spotted my discomfort and called me over.  He opened his bag, the one containing everything he owned, and pulled out a clean, dry T-shirt and gave it to me.  No questions, no judgement, no expectation of receiving anything in return.  He saw my need and responded to it.

This, I realized, is exactly the sort of thing Jesus is talking about in this passage.  

Now, I am not Jesus and, if anyone is in this story it’s my generous friend; the one who had so much less than I but was prepared to give the little he had because I needed it.

Jesus was speaking out into a world where strength was power and power was often cruel and oppressive.  The way to combat such ideas, he says, is to respond with non-violent acts of service.

These verses were on a poster on a wall where I was staying at the time and they came alive for me when I saw them lived out on the rain-soaked streets of Atlanta.

Prayer

God of love, you call us to serve you by serving one another.  
Grant us a generosity of spirit 
and give us loving hearts that we may always be prepared 
to meet the needs of others. Amen.