Intro: Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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 in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
We have a lot going on at CCC, don’t we? This morning, not only did we bring this special offering for the building of wells in Andhra Pradesh, India, we also got to do the Chicken Dance with our preschoolers who raised money to provide chickens for people in need overseas. And then, Kit Gentis and his wife are with us today because we are partnering with IDES to build 10 sheds for victims of the tornadoes south of here. My head is spinning!
We’re not done yet! In fact, after this series is over, my hope is that we will have started a lifestyle of caring more for “The Least of These.” Today, we’re talking about strangers.
What do you mean, “Stranger”?
Kids, I’m not talking about people you see on the street that your parents warned you about. If you’re a little person, make sure that you have your parents with you when it comes to strangers! That’s not the kind of strangers we’re talking about today, OK?
A stranger, is me at Crimson Ridge. More than once, I’ve had employees there look at me and say, “You look real lost. Do you need help?” Oh yes, I do! Please, where is the tool section? Where is the fishing department?
Those couches at the mall, with men on them, sitting there with a dazed look on their face – those are strangers. Me at Bergners, in the women’s shoe department, when there’s a big sale on boots – that’s a stranger!
But when Jesus said in Matthew 25, “I was a stranger, and you took me in…” He wasn’t talking about sitting in the mall, was He? What was He talking about, and what was the big deal about taking Him in?
The phrase “invited me in” translates a single word – the word is actually the verb form of synagogue. It literally means “to gather together.” The synagogue was the place where the Jews gathered together. Jesus says, I was out of place, I was alone, I was surrounded by unwelcome and unfamiliarity, and you brought me in with you. You made Me belong with you.
Being “alienated” means being in a difficult position in life. It means being without a place of refuge; being in a vulnerable state; having no place to lie down and rest, no place to let down your guard.
There’s nothing to make you feel more out of place than not knowing the language being spoken around you. While I was writing this, I was at Panera Bread, and around me there were a couple families speaking only Spanish. I don’t. And right away I felt distant from them. Even though there were just a few feet from me, I felt a world of separation between us, because we speak a different language. Remember the tower of Babel? When God wanted the people of earth to spread out – to scatter – how did He get that to happen? He changed their languages. From there, everybody split up.
I’ve been in places where I didn’t speak the language. It’s a lonely feeling. It’s an ignorant feeling too, because every 5 year old kid around me knows what’s going on and I don’t! I’m in India. We go out in taxis each day to preach, and every day, my companions had been telling me, whatever you do, don’t stay out past sunset. So, one day, we’re over an hour away from our hotel, and I find myself stuck in a taxi, with only the driver – me and my driver, who probably speaks Telegu and Tamil and Hindi. I know one word. It’s really hard to have a conversation when all you can understand is “hello.” So, we’re driving back – on time. We arrive at a checkpoint of some kind. My driver gets into some heated words with the guards there. They won’t let us through. He turns the cab around, and goes about an hour in the wrong direction. It’s beginning to get dark. All I can remember is that I can’t speak with anyone, and that I’m not supposed to be out past dark. I’ve never felt so much like a stranger than I did that day. As it turns out, my driver had gotten into an argument over paying a toll. It would have been what amounts to about $.40, which he didn’t want to pay. So we went out of our way an extra 2 hours, into the dark night of India, with me in the back seat, a stranger, driven by a stranger, in a land that was very strange to me. I think I was a pretty good example of why strangers need help.
Will Rogers, who was part Indian, used to say, “Many people brag about their ancestors coming over on the Mayflower. My people went down to meet the boat!”
It’s a hot topic, but there are people in our country who are strangers - many of them children who are here by no choice of their own. They don’t have a place to live, they don’t know the language, and they often have fled from a country where life was much worse for them. And we call these people [aliens]. I don’t know exactly what we should do for them or with them, but I think it’s pretty clear that they are strangers, and they need help.
Right now in the world, people are fleeing countries where there is fighting and persecution. We call them refugees, because they’re seeking refuge by running away from their homes. The number of refugees is over 51 mil, the highest it has been since WW2 - 2 million from Syria alone. Over half of them are under 18. What would compel people to pile into boats, overcrowding them to the point of sinking? Things would have to be pretty bad. Just imagine if you and I had to run out the door today, jump in your car, and drive with 500,000 directly to Ontario, Canada. We’d be strangers there, and we’d need help.
There’s another form of stranger. They’re at your school, sitting alone at lunchtime. They’re in your city. They are runaways, castoffs, exploited, down on their luck, abused, addicts, exploited, mentally ill, somehow not acceptable to most people, but they are people no less.
Somewhere among all those there are people Jesus is referring to as “The Least of These.” Somewhere in there we can find a “stranger,” someone we can look at, and whose face we can picture as the face of Jesus.
Be sure of this, for every person you look at and think they don’t really fit in, there’s a person on the other end of that who feels very much like he or she doesn’t fit in, probably needing help; a person who wishes he or she wasn’t a stranger.
We can relate to that person. In fact, we must. It starts with accepting the fact that…
Jesus was a Stranger
A young couple is expecting their first child. They’re already being coldshouldered around their little hometown. But now, the government requires them to make a journey 60 miles over land to register in a census. They get to Bethlehem, and the usual means of hospitality is full. No room. So the baby is born, away from home, and placed in an animal feeding trough.
While He is still a baby, there’s threat against His life. The family flees to Egypt – 350 miles away. In other words, they become refugees.
The boy becomes a man and begins His years as a traveling teacher/preacher. During this time, He’s a voluntarily homeless person, depending upon the care and hospitality of others to sustain Him. He hangs out with the “untouchable” people of society, and the ones with bad reputations. His enemies are all-too-happy to slam Him for it. He visits His hometown. They reject Him. His own family is looking for Him to get Him to stop.
Is it any wonder that John says about Jesus…
John 1:10-11
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
No wonder Jesus said, with the same measure that you’ve done it to one of these, the least of these My brothers, you’ve done it to Me.
How can we not have an interest in strangers? We’ve gathered in the name of One Who lived as a stranger while He was here! How can we not care about strangers? We wear the name of the One Who created the world and then was treated as a stranger as He walked on it!
So, this next fact about strangers shouldn’t surprise any of us…
Jesus’ Followers are Strangers
If you go to the Star Wars convention, be careful. It may change the way you look! Hang around with that crowd too much and you’ll become one of them!
There’s also a risk when you associate with strangers - the risk that you’ll become an alien yourself. Sure enough, when we accept Jesus, some of the words that describe us are the titles of strangers to this world. Jesus was speaking to the 12, but the principles apply to all of us who are Christ followers:
John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Some of the very greatest of Bible heroes, listed in Heb 11, are described with words like,
Hebrews 11:9,13-16
…he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents…having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…they are seeking a country of their own...
When we make the decision to follow Jesus, we made a choice: to break from conformity to this world, and to be accepted as the household of God. We chose to become like Jesus – people who are in this world, but who seem strangely out of place while we are here. So John said…
1 John 3:13
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
You became an alien, a stranger, because Jesus is a stranger.
Strangers Help Strangers!
So what? So here’s what should happen, fellow stranger: strangers help strangers!
It was way back in Israel’s history that God established this precedent. People who lived among them but who weren’t Israelites were supposed to be treated well. Strangers were supposed to be cared for, and the reason God gave them was simple: you were strangers too!
Exodus 22:21 (NASB)
21 "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 (NASB)
9 "You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:33-34 (NASB)
33 'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 10:19 (NASB)
19 "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Do you see the pattern here? We strangers ought to help those who are strangers. It was very important in the early church, because so many depended upon the hospitality of others as they traveled. It was already a very important part of Middle Eastern culture. They figured it was an honor to have someone be a guest. That person was sent from God, and they were under the care and protection of their host. This practice has always been and will always be an important part of the Church. So, let’s talk about some ways that we can help strangers.
If you’re like me, you look at this and ask, “Where on earth do I begin?” I’m glad you asked that!
Helping Strangers:
• Start right here! There should never be a person inside these walls who feels like a stranger among us! We’re usually pretty good at this, but even with the best of efforts, there are times when people just feel out of place. It takes everyone’s effort to change that! Church, let’s make it our goal, every week, to make sure that NOBODY ever feels like a stranger at CCC, OK?! Seek them out! That’s why we wear nametags once in a while (maybe we always should).
• Show Hospitality – Everyone liked Mr. Rogers because he was inviting them not to be strangers. You can do that wherever you go – in your neighborhood, and in this community. Open up your home. That may mean…
• Have a party! People are getting more and more isolated. We don’t have to do it! I’m continually surprised by how many people are just longing for someone to reach out to them. You can do this right on your street, especially as the weather gets nicer. (a plate of cookies goes a long way!)
• Find creative ways to reach out to people who are strangers. We’re going to do that, right now!
One group of people who are strangers are those who are serving in our military overseas. They are strangers, in strange places. Many of them are longing for just some word from home. We have some from here who are doing that. One of them is ________, who serves in the Air Force at the 39th Air Base Wing, a unit stationed at Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, Turkey. About 1,500 military members are assigned here, 60 miles from the Syrian border where Isis is currently fighting. The members of the 39th are nicknamed The Hodjas, after a legendary Middle Eastern character.
Wouldn’t it be neat to be able to send a note of appreciation and encouragement to someone like those people who are being strangers there on our behalf?
That’s what we’re going to do…right now! They especially appreciate pictures from kids, so we’ve set up to have our kids do pictures. The rest of us, who are artistically challenged, are going to take a few minutes and write. If you’re fast, take 2!
We’re going to take 5 minutes or so, and then we’ll collect these letters and send them off all together to __________. On that end, _______ is going to see that they are distributed to the Hodjas – the members of the 39th in Turkey.
