“I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the
least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!” Matthew 25:40
How many
times have I heard or read those words--in sermons, in infomercials, in
pamphlets? However, over the course of our 40 years of ministry, I admit my
attitude has become a bit jaded and my heart quite hard because of those who,
although they have no love for Christ, have taken blatant advantage of the
tenderheartedness of Christians. I have heard a lot of “hard luck” stories—some
genuine, but many a rouse. After
working in a ministry where folks in need refused to allow even a listing of
our service times to be inserted into their free bag of groceries, a bit of
anger and a measure of frustration mixed with a huge quantity of guilt in my
heart.
Recently, as
our church hosted a group of homeless men, these confused feelings resurfaced. While
praying for direction, God led me to Matthew 5:44-45: “Love
your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons
of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
In Matthew
5, Jesus describes perfectly what my attitude and actions should be toward everyone.
I definitely needed an adjustment and God led me right to His Word to initiate
that change.
To further
instill what He expected of me, God highlighted Proverbs 25: 21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; If he
is thirsty, give him water to drink. For in doing so you will heap coals of
fire on his head . . .”
But what does “heap coals of fire on his
head” mean, Lord? I wondered. According to New Testament Greek scholar, Kenneth
Samuel Wuest, heaping coals of fire on someone’s head was a great kindness,
especially if the person had ill-treated you:
“In
Bible times one needed to keep his hearth fire going all the time in order to
insure fire for cooking and warmth. If it went out, he had to go to a neighbor
for some live coals of fire. These he would carry on his head in a container
back to his home. The person who would give him some live coals would be
meeting his desperate need and showing him an outstanding kindness. If he would
heap the container with coals, the man would be sure of getting some home still
burning.”
Blessings!
Pam
