My God Who Didn't Pass Me By

Genesis 18:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

Hebrews 13:2

New International Version (NIV)

2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Matthew 25:35-40

New International Version (NIV)

35 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

My pastor asked his congregation, "Had any of us seen the homeless man resting on the front steps of the church as we entered in?"  I and a number of others raised hands to indicate we had.  Then he asked, "Do any of you know his name?"  No hands were raised, not even mine.  Sigh.  I had greeted him with a smile and a hello then passed by him and through the church's front.  doors, satisfied that I had met the standard of common courtesy.  Sometimes common courtesy is truly common.

I'm so glad my Savior didn't pass me by.

  

What I fail to do for the least of these, I fail to do for Jesus, whom I claim to love.  To have cared enough to have learned his name would have been such a simple act of kindness to someone whose only possession, other than the clothes on his back, was his name.   

By the way, his name was Daniel, a Hebrew name that means "God is my judge."

"Pass Me Not" - Fernando Ortega