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 took Me in,for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
9 sermons cite this verse
… strangers and you ought to thank god for a church that's warm enough kind enough in spite of the culture to make you feel like you belong another scripture jesus says jesus matthew 25 35 he is here and here's the context of this text he's saying one day when we get to the other side god's gonna separate the sheep from the goat the goats are the wild folks that did whatever they wanted to do the sheep are the children of god he's gonna separate the sheep from the goat and somebody's gonna say now i i mean i i don't know why i deserved to even be over here as one of your sheep he said when i was hungry you fed me when i was naked you clothed me when i was in prison you came to visit me and on that list he said and when i was a stranger you welcomed me and then later somebody gonna say when were you naked when were you hungry when were you thirsty when were you a stranger and he's gonna say when you did it to the least of these you did it to me so hospitality is not just watch this reciprocity it's also our responsibility it is our divine oh i'm teaching tonight it's not just reciprocity because somebody's been good to you y'all know what reciprocity means right it means i'm gonna return to you what's been given to me it's it's a it's a two-way street but then it's a divine responsibility because every time you're kind …
… but this is how the parable begins, and it's in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46. If you have your Bible, turn there. and Jesus says this, when the Son of Man, remember that's what he called himself, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory and 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 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Now he's going to send the goats away. He's going to say, you have no part with me and he's going to send them away, but he's going to invite the sheep to join him. And when he invites the sheep to join him, and when he welcomes them into his kingdom, he says this, I was hungry and you gave me food. …
… come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger 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 then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? Verse 40, and the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren. You did it to me. Oh, that's powerful. Jesus says, I'm coming back to establish my kingdom on this planet. I'm going to establish my kingdom, and I'm going to set you to the side, and you will be blessed. You will inherit with everything that goes along with a part of being a part of his kingdom. And they will say to the king, they will ask the question, how did I get here? And he said, because I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger. You took me in. I was naked. You clothed me. I was sick. You …
… Take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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. 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. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? And the king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me. Then the king will say to those on his left, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, prepare for the devil and his angels. …
… come. You who are blessed by my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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 brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left hand, You who are accursed depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. …
… And then he will say to them, for 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 visit me. You came to be with me. And then they're gonna go, well, wait, when did we ever give you food or drink or clothing, Jesus? And he will say, what you did for the least of these, you did for me. Remember what he said to Paul on the way? He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He takes what's done to his church personally. He takes what's done to the poor, what's done to the lost, what's done to those who don't know the gospel yet. He takes it personally. It seems to be that Jesus is saying the dress code in determining whether you are a sheep or a goat comes down to your caring for what God cares for. …
… He was trying to live biblical Christianity. And Jesus said, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison and you visited me. I was a stranger, an immigrant, and you welcomed me. And as much as you've done it for the least of these, you've done it unto me. And so John said, we're going to take that seriously. We're going to go start visiting these. And this became a part of the Methodist way of life, the Methodist character and ethos. So across the course of his ministry, he would visit both what were called then insane asylums. He would visit these places to give hope to people who were struggling with mental illness, and he would visit the prisoners, the prisons. He began advocating for prison reform in the 18th century because the conditions in many of the prisons were terrible. And he did that to the end of his life, 1787. …
… come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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 brothers and sisters, siblings of mine, you did it to me. This is the word of God for the people of God. …
… Jesus is talking about those that he's going to reward. And he said, and I was hungered and ye gave me meat. And I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and ye visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee a stranger took thee and are naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of one of these my brethren. You've done it unto me.