Our state
has just finished another area-wide Operation Inasmuch project
(operationinasmuch.org), a ministry which involves random acts of kindness by
people throughout their community. It is based upon Matthew 25:40 from the
Bible in which Jesus tells his followers their good deeds are not done in vain.
“Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, my brothers, you have done
it to me.”
Who are the
“least of these”? It is easy for us to list those who have lost jobs and their
homes and other possessions. We can point to the people who stand in lines for
food when paychecks run out before the month does. We hear of but rarely see
the individuals and families who must stay in homeless shelters each evening.
May I list a
few other groups who may be counted among those who bear the image of Christ
and are often overlooked by we who seem to be more blessed?
Economics of
course come to mind first. Those in some ways have been mentioned above. There
are others who must choose between food and medication or a visit to the
doctor. We’d like to think that everyone who wanted to go to college could, but
sometimes finances do stand in the way of a higher education. It may not be
because the grants are not available, but rather because the breadwinner for
the family cannot afford to quit the job that is paying the monthly bills.
What about
the lonely who live in our midst? Jesus had time for those who were ostracized
by society. Sometimes their lifestyle led to their rejection by their community.
At other times they were isolated away through no fault of their own. Jesus
took time for all these whom society no longer considers worthy of its time.
In the days
of Jesus, the general grouping was labeled Gentiles, anyone who was not a Jew.
Among these one particular group was avoided most by the Jews, the Samaritans.
These people who lived between Judea and Galilee were considered half-breeds,
half Jewish and half Gentile, bloodlines that had become mixed during the
Jewish exiles of earlier centuries. Jesus chose to use this excluded people as
an example many times of the breadth of God’s love. He healed Samaritans (Luke
17:11-19), he talked with Samaritans (John 4), and he used them in his parables
(Luke 10).
Today we
condemn this racial disparagement, but in more subtle fashion we carry a
prejudice against national heritage. We let politics and situations arising in
previous generations affect the way we relate to others having a different
national origin than ourselves. We are called to look beyond these manmade
divisions and see them as among “the least of these”.
In the
region where I was raised another category existed in which Jesus would have
placed those we overlook. Simply said, it is family heritage. We judge someone as
being worthy of our attention based upon the reputation their family name
carries. No one from that family ever graduated from high school. Every
generation is on welfare. None of them ever kept a job longer than three
months. You can’t trust them with anything.
“If you did
it to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.” We can define a score
of categories in which to place people we feel do not deserve our attention,
our support, or our gifts of service. Yet Jesus healed the leper (Matthew
8:1-4), talked with the Samaritan (John 4), helped the Roman (Matthew 8:5-13),
and called fishermen to be the bearers of the greatest news in the history of
the world (Matthew 4:18-22). In Matthew 25:31-46, he includes just about all of
us at one point or another.
Operation
Inasmuch is all about random acts of kindness done for people regardless of
their background or current context. It is far more than a day set aside for
organized projects. It must become a mindset revealed throughout the year.
Jesus deserves our help every day.
