Column: Matthew 25:40

Hey friends! I hope things are going well for you; if not, shoot me a line and I'll make a note to pray for you :) This week's column is completely a God-thing. You'll see why, so take a gander and if you like it, please pass it along!

original publication date: Friday, January 16, 2015
Random Writer
Matthew 25:40 

The other night, I walked into a restaurant to meet my parents for dinner. As I approached them after placing my order, I noticed a man sitting all alone in a corner of the restaurant. I made the presumption that he was sitting there waiting for his order, but once my meal made it to the table and he still sat there without food, something within me said that the man in the corner wasn’t there for a meal.

And right when I was getting ready to enjoy my late dinner, a family crammed into a booth near the man. The “patriarch” of the family noticed the man and instantly began talking to him.

“How’re you doing tonight?” he said.

“Okay,” the man in the corner replied.

The man seemed to mumble something else, but it seemed as if the patriarch now had an understanding of what was really going on.

“You hungry? Have you had anything to eat?”

The man in the corner admitted his hunger, noting that he could go for a basic meal. But the patriarch took it a step further. Instead of providing the bare minimum, he asked the man to join him at the counter so he could order whatever he wanted in order to fend off the pangs of hunger.

All of this happened behind me, and obviously I didn’t want to turn around to watch it unfold, so I just listened. And smiled. All because of the kindness of a stranger from a random act of generosity.

But it didn’t end there.

A young man at the other side of the restaurant must have seen Part 1 unfold, because as he finished his meal with his family, he approached the man in the corner. The two men exchanged pleasantries, but instantly the young man shifted the conversation back to the issue at hand.

“Where are you from? You have somewhere warm to stay tonight?” the young man wanted to know.

The man in the corner faintly expressed that he was from out of town. He was down on his luck and money, which prohibited him from getting home. The next question from the young man, however, floored me.

“Do you have a coat?”

The weather was cold and as the late night approached, the blazer worn by the man in the corner wouldn’t suffice. He replied that he didn’t have a coat, and the young man promised that he would get him a coat. The man in the corner expressed his appreciation while the young man left. Several minutes later, right before I left the restaurant, I saw the young man coming back into the restaurant with a coat in hand to give to the man in the corner.

Part 2 of this tale blew me away. Every now and then we’ll hear or see someone buy a meal for someone in need, but I have to admit that I’ve never seen anyone literally give clothes to someone at a moment’s notice. It reminded me that in a society where bad news and evil abounds, kindness and generosity can still bloom.

It also brought to mind some Scripture, where Jesus is talking about the approaching time of judgment in Matthew 25. Verse 35 and the first part of verse 36 (NASB) says, “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; naked and you clothed Me...”

In the next three verses, Jesus lays out how some people will ask Him about these instances. “When did these scenarios play out? We never saw You with these needs.” But in verse 40, He plainly states the answer to their question. “...to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

That night in the restaurant, I witnessed the unfolding of Scripture. And it was such a beautiful thing that not only blessed me, but convicted me as well. So to the two men in the restaurant who gave of themselves, thank you for being the hands and feet and heartbeat of Jesus that night. Your actions taught me more than I think any devotion or sermon ever will.