Faith When You Don't See

 

[Jesus said] “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.’” (Matthew 25:31-40 ESV).

 

There are many of these “optical illusions” of Jesus that have been developed through the years. The one I’ve pictured here is a creation of Oakwood Hill Creations. I hope it was not too much of a puzzle for you to see the name of “Jesus,” though some folks look at it and can’t see anything but some blocks of wood glued to a larger block. They see nothing meaningful in this block of wood. Others look at it, and their faces brighten as they “get it.” The little pieces are arranged in such a way that they spell “JESUS.” But you can see the name only if you look at the block a certain way. It reminds me that Jesus can be with us even when we don’t see him.

 

There are many times when it is difficult to see Jesus. It is particularly important to rely on our faith during challenging periods rather than only in easy times. This is certainly what Jesus meant with the parable in our reading today. Often, we see people in need and deny them help for various reasons. Jesus is saying that giving help to the needy is not dependent on their worthiness, but our faith. Afte all, are any of us worthy?

 

I hope you are willing to look in such a way that you can see Jesus when someone asks for help. He is there!