The Glocal Church and “The Least of These…”
As we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas Season, with all of the joy it brings to so many, let’s not forget it is also one of the most difficult times of the year for many others.
I recently read Reflections for Ragamuffins, which is the collective writings of one of my favorite, yet intriguing authors, Brennan Manning. His works really challenge me and make me think! Manning exhorts the “Glocal Church” through the following words:
“The compassionate love of Jesus at work within us empowers us to suffer with, endure with, struggle with, partake of, be moved in the depths of our being for the hunger, nakedness, lonliness, pain, squailed choices, and failed dreams of our brothers and sisters in the human family. We don’t have to join the work of Mother Teresa in Calcutta, or the Medical Missionaries in El Salvador. The Passion of Christ is being played out in our own communities, perhaps in our own homes, in anyone who is in agony of flesh or spirit. Jesus is there not in some vague eerie way but as a real presence-for what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Him. “
“The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 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, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:34 -40 (NASB)
Remember this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, that we are the hands and feet of Christ. Remember Romans 10:15: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (NLT) Whether it’s across the hall, across the street, or across the world!
