Serving Jesus

In the spring of 2006, I journeyed to Washington, DC with about 50 other college students and volunteered at the worlds largest homeless shelter for a week. It was there that I realized that these were people with stories that needed to be heard. People who had hearts of gold.

But it wasn’t the lady experiencing homelessness who offered me her last to buy me a drink or the gentleman that tried teaching me to play chess that impacted me most. It was being yelled at by a guy I was just trying to play a game of cards with.

“Get away from me! Leave me alone!”, he exclaimed. I was hurt. Offended. And I couldn’t leave fast enough. Later that evening we were having our daily recap and the shelter manager asked me how I felt about my experience. I told him, “Horrible! That guy was mean.” He replied, “After a long day of teaching at George Washington University, How do you think walking into a burning house to find your wife, children, and dog in flames would affect you mentally?”

It was a question I still can’t answer. But immediately, I understood.

We all have a story, and we all need help at some point. This is why it is important to serve how we would like to be served. Or better yet, serve like we’re serving Jesus!

Matthew 25:37-40 “Then they are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

Your smiles, prayers, words of hope, and positive attitudes are a blessing to others and a gift to God. A hot meal is just the icing on the cake.