In Matt 10:42 And whosoever shall give a drink to one of these little ones shall in no wise loose his reward.
What a powerful verse. Let me talk about the “one of these.”
There are a lot of “one of these” out there. We always look for the crowds because that makes us feel good. How many people in your church? How many at your conference? The best musicians and the most popular singers. The one with lots of money and lots of influence.
What about the one. Jesus always left the crowd to go and find the one that was left out or lost. He constantly told parables of the lost coin, the ninety nine sheep and the prodigal son.
A farmer had 100 sheep and one got lost. So what did he do? He left the ninety nine to go and find the one that was lost. The same thing happened when a woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one, she swept the whole house to find the one that was lost.
Then Jesus equates that one lost sheep and one lost piece of silver with sinners. If one is recovered then all the Angels rejoice. What about the one that is lost. Have we lost our passion for the one that is lost?
A similar thing happens in John chapter eight. They bring a woman that was caught in adultery to Jesus. There is a crowd demanding justice and they are ready to stone her to death. They missed the point that these ones are the very ones that Jesus came to die for. Jesus does two things in this story. He helps them see their own depravity by asking a simple question: If any one of you are without sin, then cast the first stone. One by one they left, convicted that they are also one of these that need salvation. It is easy to hide in a crowd but what about when you are alone with God? Secondly He makes sure this woman understood that He sees her.
No one is left out of God’s plan of salvation. God will that no man be lost but all be saved.
Again I see another story in John chapter five. There is a pool and a man that has been there for 38 years. God stirs the water and anyone can get healed from whatever disease they have. You just have to be first. As a matter of fact it says that there were many blind and lame people. How does the blind see when the Angel stirs the water? How does the lame get in before anyone else. Sounds pretty unfair to me. So what chance does the lame or the blind have. Nobody else around that pool cared about them. Maybe that is why that man was there that long. Can you imagine what it must feel like to see a move of God but the only person that gets touched and healed is the next guy. Can you feel this man’s frustration?
When Jesus asks him if he wants to be healed, his response was profound. “I have no one.”
Thirty eight years waiting to be healed. Thirty eight years must have been enough time for someone to befriend him and ask if they can help. Thirty eight years is a long time to be ignored. Thirty eight years of rejection and no compassion. Thirty eight years is a lifetime of missing out on a move of God.
No one that cares about the ones that have been there the longest. No one that sees his frustration and respond to him in love. Everyone is just too busy making sure they get in before someone else does. I wonder how many people are out there that are saying that they have no one. No one telling them about God. No one saying they care. No one loving them, feeding them or even giving them a cup of water. No one cares about their rejection, their shattered dreams or even their constant disappointment. This man at the pool got to the point that he gave up on himself. He resolved that for him things would never change. He was an invalid and he would die as a invalid.
Jesus shows up for the one that was ignored, shunned and overlooked. He loves the ones that are rejected, unable to help themselves or even the outcast. He loves the one that are waiting for someone to see their need.
I have to ask myself the question: Who gets his attention?
The widows and the orphans. The outcast and the poor. The deranged and the demoniacs. The judged and the criticized. The sick and the lame. The blind and the deaf. The ones dead in their sins and the ones dead in their bodies. He hears them, sees them and respond to them.
What will we do? Will we continue to ignore what he has chosen. Will we be the one that makes the one that experience a life without God, feel that God does see them, hear them and care about them?
Who in your community is the one? Who is the one that you can talk with, love and connect with. Will you be his hands and his feet?