Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– D. L. Moody
We are the Least of These
When Jesus returns to judge the world in righteousness “the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40). When and what did they do to the “least of these?” Jesus says it was when “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Matt 25:35-36) so the least of these that we are to minister to are those in prison, in nursing homes or shut-ins, the poor, the under-clothed, the strangers, and the sick who are either at home or in the hospital. This is the gospel; sharing and caring and someday the “the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34).
We are Unworthy
All of us are unworthy as Jesus points out in Luke 17:7-8 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink?’” The same thing could be said about employees. They are only doing what they’re paid for by their employers so Jesus says “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10). At best, we are unworthy but thankfully, we are made worthy by Christ (2nd Cor 5:21).
We are Incapable
We can do nothing outside of abiding in Christ. Jesus Himself says “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4) “for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5b) and nothing is not a little something. Paul writes that “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13) so the opposite must be true; we can do nothing unless Christ strengthens us. This should keep us humble, knowing that without Christ we are incapable of doing anything; anything except sin.
Conclusion
D. L. Moody is among my favorite godly men of the past and what he said about David being the last one we would have chosen to fight the giant would be us; we’d be the last one anyone would expect to be chosen by God for we too are the “least of these” and we are, at best, only unworthy servants and incapable of doing anything outside of Christ. Even so, amazingly, we were still chosen of God. This serves to glorify God for others will say, “It must be from God for how could he/she do such great things?”
