SEEK AND SERVE CHRIST DEVOTIONAL 6

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Seeking and serving Christ in all people seems like such a good idea. Who could argue with that?  Oh, you really mean all people. I heard a story about a pastor of a large, wealthy church in a large urban city. Every day on his way to work this pastor walked by the same homeless woman aggressively pleading for money, and more often than not, he would give her whatever spare change he had, without receiving so much as a "thank you." One day, he was in no mood to be harassed by this woman, so he crossed the street well ahead of where she was, and when he was sufficiently past her, he crossed back to the other side. But he did not go undetected. In his words: 

"All of a sudden I heard this loud piercing wail "you bastard!" And I looked back to see if it was Jesus."

In our Baptismal covenant we ask, "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" 

Jesus, in Matthew 25: 35-40 says, "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 welcomed me,  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 was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

If you are at all like me, it is relatively easy to seek and serve Christ in all people when "all people" means people who look like me, live like me, love like me, vote like me, pray like me. But that's not what it says. And that's not what Jesus says. The absolute beauty of the Baptismal covenant is the answer we give to the question "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" All that we humbly answer is "I will, with God's help." With God's help assures us that we are not in this alone. It is a promise that however falteringly we stumble in our attempts to seek Christ in everyone, God is with us. With us in every missed pronoun, every insensitive outburst, every awkward moment, whispering "It's ok, keep going, keep learning, keep praying."