agenda of kingdom care

And 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.’

Matthew 25:40

These are the words Jesus will say to His blessed believers at the last judgment. They will be blessed by God the Father. They will inherit the kingdom that has been God’s sovereign work prepared before the universe began. 

Why do these ones find blessing in the end? It is because their faith in Christ led them to a life changed by Christ. Their actions backed up belief. They fed the hungry and gave drink to the thirsty. They welcomed strangers into their homes. They clothed the naked. They visited the sick. They reached out to prisoners. Every time they cared for another person with specific, action-based love, they really cared for Jesus. That is the basis of their reward. They stood on the right to enter the kingdom of life because of Jesus’ saving work. They were rewarded in His kingdom because they already lived to make His kingdom visible after they had been changed by Jesus.

Jesus, the rewarding King, is also Jesus, the promised punisher of sin. And those on His left, on the basis of the same judgment, will be sent from Him, cursed to eternal fire because they had not come to Jesus for the change that would have led them to care well. Thus by not doing anything for the “least of these” they failed to show their commitment to the King.

The stakes could not be higher. And the advance of a present kingdom could be no clearer. Christians will not only say they love Jesus, but our lives will be arranged by an agenda of kingdom care. We will give to, sacrifice, enter into he needs of those around us, Christian and non-Christian alike, to live out a gospel looking like Jesus. Let’s feed those who hunger (not just on Thanksgiving). Let’s clothe the shivering (not just in winter). Let’s welcome the strangers (especially the immigrants). Let’s care for the imprisoned (without judgment). This will keep us busy until Jesus calls us into account.