GC Thanksgiving Day Message - Dismissed

By Robin Caldwell

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ …“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:34-46)

“I’m not going to let you make me feel bad, D,” I said, voice trembling and visibly upset to anyone watching me.

No one was watching me, I was paranoid.

D, my friend had listened patiently to my hypothetical story, which was really about me. It was so embarrassing to tell it and own it, because as a Christian I’d like to believe that most of the time I do the right thing. This was one of those days I didn’t do the right thing and it bugged the heck out of me.

D responded patiently though he didn’t have to, because I was kind of rough on him. “I wasn’t trying to condemn you.”

He hadn’t condemned me, my earlier actions had.

I was sitting in the corner of the sofa in Starbucks. The seating area was crowded on this particular morning, people were everywhere. A writing deadline glued my eyes to my laptop screen and I was in a zone – until I saw a weathered black hand in my face. The hand belonged to a man who looked like he didn’t belong in Starbucks with the caffeinated, perky crowd of stay-at-home moms, business people meeting casually or working and college students with their heads buried in books. In a split second, I shook my head indicating no. And there was only one reason why I said no: I was startled by his presence.