IDEA: We're never more like God than when we in humility and meekness reach out to help those who are in need.
TEXT: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy 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 them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; 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? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, 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, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).
PURPOSE: To have listeners realize what Christlikeness might look like.
In Matthew 25, when Jesus talks about the judgment of the nations, what kind of people are being helped?
What do we know about them?
What kind of people have a life characterized by giving this kind of help to the helpless?
It takes meekness and humility to help those who have been brought low.
I. God values the meek, the humble, the lowly.
He announced the birth of His Son through angels to shepherds.
They were the lowest of the low in Jewish society.
They were so notoriously untrustworthy that they were not allowed to testify in court.
Do you think it was an accident that the angels couldn't find anyone else to listen to their songs?
Women did not have a high rank in the ancient world.
They could not testify in court.
But they were ones to whom the announcement of Jesus' resurrection came.
Mary of Magdala was commissioned to go and tell the disciples.
II. When we act with meekness and humility to meet the needs of others, that reflects who God is.
He came to earth as a peasant. He lived with ordinary people and worked as a carpenter. He died as a criminal.
Philippians 2 tells us that because He did that, God highly exalted Him.
The way we can demonstrate whether this is the spirit that we have lies in the acts of kindness and love toward those who cannot pay us back.