Performing without performing

 This week's verses are Matthew 25:31-46:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then 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. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’ Then he will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

These verses are another challenge to the religious "Pharisee" mindset. It is the days of the last judgment, and Jesus is judging the world based on those who lived according to his values and those who did not. On his right are the people whose natural inclination was to be caretakers, and on his left are the people whose natural inclination was to harden their hearts. It's like the old show Candid Camera, where at the end people find out they were being tested, only the stakes here are much, much higher.

What's interesting here is that both the good and bad people both had no idea that they were effectively serving (or not serving) Jesus. The implication, at least with the people on the left, is that they would have acted differently had they known. But if that was true, it wouldn't have been a true test of their character. If we knew that God himself needed our help, and that our eternal future depended on us helping, who among us wouldn't eagerly help and make that their main focus? You've got a job to do!

But what Jesus is interested in here is what we do when we don't feel like we have a job to do. How do we act when nobody is watching? What is our default reaction to our neighbor's need? Is charity a religious performance to us, or does it come naturally from the compassion God has cultivated in our hearts?

If we only love others when there is a religious reason to, it means the rest of the time we are more likely to be cold-hearted. How many people give gifts outside of Christmas and birthdays? How many people donate money outside of their religious tithe? We compartmentalize our generosity and our Christian lives so that we can keep the rest for ourselves guilt free. ("No way am I helping my friend pay for his groceries. I already gave money to food pantry. That proves I am not a bad person.")

When we perform charity rather than living it, we're only pretending to care. We don't really love our fellow man. We just love looking and feeling like we do. The people on the left probably would have gone all in for Jesus if they knew it was Jesus asking for change on the train or wanting to crash on their couch. I'm sure they didn't consider themselves to be bad people. And yet their default "off duty" stance was to be coldhearted.

The people on the right, however, lived their charity without being any more self-aware than the people on the left. It wasn't a religious act for them but their natural way of living. They may not even have considered themselves to be good people. They passed the test because the test was graded based on how they lived, not just on what they did on Sundays.

Do you engage in religious acts, or do you live out your religion? Is reading the Bible and praying just something you do in the context of church gatherings? Is charity just something you do in the context of religion and tax relief? How do you respond to the needs of others? Do you notice hurt, or do you avert your eyes? How do you treat the man who is coughing? How long (or short) is the potential guest list for that spare room?

We want an exhaustive list of requirements, a time, and a place, so we can study our lines and perform well. But Jesus, sitting on his throne as our king, doesn't give us those things. We're asked to follow him wholly, not just make the occasional weekend visit to drop off a check and make sure he remembers us.

When we read these verses, we often ask ourselves "Would we know if we were serving Jesus?" But that's the wrong question to ask. The question we should ask ourselves is why we would feel it is important to make the distinction if he himself doesn't. If we love Jesus as much as we claim, our default action should be the same as the way we would act if he was standing before us in need.