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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Matthew 25; Job 31; Proverbs 14; Jeremiah 46.
Matthew 25:31-40
[Jesus is speaking] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 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. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 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.’
“The people there had lived their little passage of time in this world, had become what they became, and now could be changed only by forgiveness and mercy. The misled, the disappointed, the sinners of all the sins, the hopeful, the faithful, the loving, the doubtful, the desperate, the grieved and the comforted, the young and the old, the bad and the good—all, sufferers unto death, had lain down there together. Some were there who had served the community better by dying than by living. Why I should have felt tender toward them all was not clear to me, but I did.” – Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
I just finished listening to Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry, and that last line from the above quote reflects my heart – especially in light of Jesus’ teachings about the Final Judgment. Sheep and goats. Heaven and hell. Good done or not done. Failures and faithfulness. The finality and summery nature of Jesus’ teaching here arrests me.
In fact we all can face the final judgment only by forgiveness and mercy. I know of no one who has never done an act of kindness. Even my worst enemy has surely offered a cup of water or given a morsel of food to a hungry child. And the most godly people I know will admit it; they’ve failed to do the good things they know they should have done. Who has not passed by a hungry beggar panhandling on the street corner?
Only by forgiveness and mercy may we face the judgment of God. Only by forgiveness and mercy may we truly live and move and breath in community, school, neighborhood, or home.
Jesus elevates the kind and small things we can do for each other to judgment – worthy status. So while we may hope only in forgiveness and mercy, we can still offer the drink of water, the blessing of hospitality, and the ministry of presence in our day to day lives. This honors God and reflects the mercy of God toward us all.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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