"I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me" (Matthew 25:36)
Before we enter Federal or State prisons and visit the inmates (or residents as they are often called), we participate in a number of Team Meetings that soon lead to three days inside with the inmates of prisons such as the ones I have attended in Chino, Victorville, and Terminal Island, in California. As we prepare for each one of those times, I am reminded that we ALL tend to be prisoners in one way or another. You may be imprisoned in a line of work that is unsatisfactory, a divorce you don’t want, an unhappy marriage, you may have an illness like cancer or own a business that is failing. We can be bound in prisons of our own emotions which is likely to include depression. We can be in a sort of "cell" surrounded by "walls" of memories and fears, confined in a very small place within - ourselves.
It’s very good to remember the prisoners and the sick, and to visit them. Indeed, we are urged in Scripture to do so, for example, in places like Hebrews 13:3. It is God’s will that as His people, we should have concern for those in need, and we can only become complete in life when we respond to the leadings of His Spirit. There is a great blessing in going to hospitals and prisons, to the needs of this world as we are led by our God.
Part of the blessing is that we finally begin to realize just how cared for we actually have been. Our depression and anger (about who and what we are) should finally begin to melt away somewhat as we compare and see that our bodies may not be destroyed by cancer or confined for decades in a very small place. Even if we are confined in ways like that, we can find the freedom offered by the Lord in our hearts. Inside, where it counts, we can enter the large and wonderful place of His bountiful love.
A number of my friends through the years have been paraplegics or quadriplegics, confined to wheelchairs, but also set free in Jesus Christ. One of them after he became paralyzed, told me he is "happier than (he has) been in years" because (and he smiled when he said these words: 1) all the worries about work, bills, and so on, are gone, and he nodded as he continued, 2) his trouble has brought him to Christ. His whole life now is to "be still and know that (Christ is) God," as he put it in relation to Psalm 46:10.
When we visit those who are confined, we can encounter ourselves and learn we have been confined also. Often our confinement in life is of our own making, but sometimes not. Years ago I read the book and then watched the movie "The Hiding Place," based on the book by Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch concentration camp prisoner, and it is an example of people who were NOT confined because of some bad thing they did. Instead they were badly treated by evil people.
It is interesting that the blow which struck that family in World War II, resulted in European care facilities being built for orphans after the war, and out of Corrie’s losses, many came to Christ. Our greatest confinement in life though, tends to be that we of this new millennium are likely to be emotionally stunted, unable to truly interact with our God and with other people. We may be with people, but we can become so involved with ourselves that it is like we are kept alone in a cell, in some dark place of the soul.
From the time I was called to the ministry until I was ordained was a period of over forty years. Initially, I simply ran from God’s call, but later, when I wanted ministry and it did not come for a long time, I entered a life filled with regret and self-recrimination. I thought, why wouldn’t God use me, when I wanted to be used by Him? But I was not ready, because there were experiences He had in store for me that prepared me for what I could not do otherwise. And since this is largely an internet ministry, we must note that the internet had not yet been invented during those years He was preparing me. Sometimes we are confined in life because God is preparing us for service.
We were designed to love God, to serve Him, and to love one another (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18). But we are inclined to live for ourselves and our relationships all too often are merely peripheral to our own needs. We develop social skills and can seem quite pleasant to others. We can seem religious. We make pleasant conversation and speak fine words. But our thoughts can be overly full of ourselves and we may have little room for the will of God and the needs of other people. We all need to be changed by the Lord.
To the extent you are involved with yourself – your pain, your heartache, your problems, your lacks in life – you are in a prison and the high prison walls covered with razor wire are in your heart. You may travel from one end of the earth to the other but be paralyzed with indecision and doubt. You need to be more like the man who, though he is paralyzed in body, in his heart, in Christ, he is free. To be "naked" as in Matthew 25:36, is to be in need. You may seem to have it all, but really need - everything. Our real need is to love God utterly, to respond to Him, and then be willing to reach out to those who are in greater need than we are. We were created more for others than we are for ourselves.
You will never have that "complete" feeling we all need until you are 1) in Christ, and 2) serving others as He Wills for you. Now, you may indeed be physically paralyzed in some way or another. You may be in some kind of actual "jail" and be unable to reach out. You may be in a hospital bed or you may be desperately poor. But whether we have limitations or not, our first job is to PRAY, for God LISTENS to prayer and He ANSWERS those who reach out to Him. He may not respond in the way we expect, but He WILL answer and your life will begin to count for good in the lives of other people.
As we look into the context of today's verse, we find that our Lord takes it very personally when we help others. He said in Matthew 26:35-36, "I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me..." and He continues in Verse 40, "... inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Prayerfully help someone today. You'll be glad you did.
Father, we need You now. We have been in "prison" and we admit that often we have built those walls – ourselves. We hide ourselves from our children, our loved ones – those You have given to us. We keep them OUT, Lord, to protect ourselves for reasons we do not even understand. We have been paralyzed with fear and driven into inactivity when we should care for others. Turn us, Lord, into a people who will PRAY. Give us love, Lord, that we will WANT to serve others (including and especially YOU), and teach us to serve with JOY. We trust in You now, dear Lord – we receive Your love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
