‘Depart from
me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I
was thirsty, and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for
me.’
‘Lord, when
did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we
see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see
you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen,
I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did
for me.’
I went to
Target the other day to pick up a few groceries. I rarely carry cash after getting robbed at gunpoint
in a motel room several years ago, so I usually just have my debit card with
me. As I was walking down one of the aisles, I saw a young man—maybe 17 or 18
years old—holding a bag of potato chips in a suspicious manner. After working in retail early in my life, I
feel I can spot a potential shoplifter pretty easily. He was not holding the bag very gingerly,
more from the side of the package, and he had his shirt open to the waist. His eyes were looking at the shelves in front
of him, but they were darting more than perusing. When he saw me turn the corner into the same
aisle, he appeared alarmed. I could not prove
he was going to shoplift anything, but the circumstantial evidence was there. After his initial look of alarm, his
countenance turned to one of maybe shame.
He looked me right in the eye and my first internal thought was that he
was going to ask me for some cash to help him pay for the bag of chips. I immediately knew that when he did, I was
going to tell him, “I’m sorry, but I don’t carry cash with me.” He did ask me for some money, I gave him my response,
then I continued walking. The young man
walked to the end of the aisle, glancing around suspiciously, and I got to
thinking…
It was just
a lousy bag of chips. I could have had
him follow me to the registers and add the product to my purchase. I could also ask if that was all he really needed. And
what if he ended up successfully stealing that bag of chips after all? Was I complicit in some way, knowing (or
feeling) what I knew, and refusing to help?
More
importantly, did I say NO to Jesus?
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