Justice in America. Day 3. Matthew 25:31-46. Seeing Jesus in "the least of these." On Homelessness.

Read Matthew 25: 31 – 46:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 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. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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, 36 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.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Devotional Reflections:

How is it possible that in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, there are so many people sleeping under bridges, on sidewalks, or outside in tents?

Long before the corona virus, America was plagued with another pandemic. I’m not talking about the racism that has plagued this nation from its very inception, though that matters too. I’m referring to one of the many ways in which racial prejudice manifests: homelessness. Although homelessness disproportionately impacts people of color, its reach is felt by every race, ethnicity, and age demographic.

Homelessness is the invisible yet highly visible American pandemic. In places like San Francisco and Los Angeles where tent cities have become the norm, homelessness is overwhelmingly visible. In New York, homeless is rampant but not always as visible as on the West Coast due to the Right to Shelter, which has provided a temporary and inadequate solution to the homelessness crisis. Still, shelters are often at capacity and have extensive waiting lists, and for many people experiencing homelessness, shelters are not always safe so tent cities have become a place of community and belonging.

In New York, children are the largest age demographic experiencing homelessness. This reality impacts children’s ability to attend or thrive in school. Many children experience homelessness as the result of domestic abuse.

Homelessness is often both the cause and result or exacerbation of mental health issues due to the trauma and violence of poverty, social isolation, and life in shelters or on the streets.

40% of youth experiencing homelessness identity as LGBTQ. LGBTQ youth have often experienced rejection, discrimination, and criminalization and are more likely to experience depression and suicidal ideations. The experience of homelessness only intensifies this trauma.

Homelessness makes it incredibly difficult to attain employment because most employers require a mailing address.

Since people experiencing homelessness do not have an address and are unable to vote, they are more often than not left out of the political process, which means that many politicians often do not feel compelled to make this population a top priority.

Homelessness is criminalized. Depending on the state, an individual may be arrested or issued a summons for using the bathroom, sleeping, or simply existing on the streets. Sleeping and human excretion is a necessary body process. However, since persons experiencing homelessness are often prohibited from using public restrooms, and places like New York have shut down restrooms in train stations, homeless persons with little to no other options are forced to defecate in public.

COVID-19 has only exacerbated the issue with the millions of people who have found themselves unemployed and the looming threat of widescale/massive evictions once eviction moratoriums are lifted.

Prior to COVID-19, there was popular misconception that homeless people are all unemployed. In places like California and New York, many people experiencing homelessness are employed but cannot afford rent prices. While the nuance and complexity of the homelessness crisis is not to be diminished, the leading causes of homelessness among families are a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, and low wages, according to a 2014 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. According to the same report, the top causes of homelessness among unaccompanied individuals were a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness and the lack of needed services, and substance abuse and the lack of needed services. For many Americans, the bulk of their income is devoted to rent payments. Too many people are one health/life crisis away from experiencing homelessness.

The crisis is so bad, that many shelters are overcrowded and have long waiting lists. Many homeless persons have expressed a preference for the streets instead of shelters for reasons of autonomy, and because some people feel less safe in shelters, from a desire to access services from church and other organizational outreach missions that serve homeless populations. These individual ministries and organizations that serve homeless populations along with the random acts of kindness are necessary and not to be disparaged.

Still, this nation could go further not just in ceasing to criminalize homelessness, but in also working to radically change the material conditions of people experiencing homelessness. In practice, this may look like enacting a right to housing that mandates affordable housing in every city, expanding the reach of job, mental health, and substance abuse programs to help people out of homelessness, providing a living wage to ensure that working people can actually afford the housing, and providing a safety net for people who are temporarily unemployed.

New York instituted a right to counsel for defendants facing evictions and other abuses, which has helped ward off some predatory landlords, but the right to counsel does not go far enough. The recognition of housing as a human right or the passage of a right to housing would pressure this nation to honor the human dignity of people experiencing homelessness.

There are many reasons why the United States does not currently have a right to housing from legal to political and socioeconomic barriers. American hyper-capitalism is violent and perpetuates structures that serve the rich and wealthy. The love of money—greed-often leads us to view people in a transactional manner—to ascribe worth based on people’s social status or what they can do for you. As a result, people experiencing homelessness are often dismissed and overlooked. There is an incredible stigma around people experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, the societal perception surrounding homelessness is often that people are lazy or made bad decisions to bring their fate upon themselves, and we do not always interrogate the societal conditions—the poverty and trauma—that lead to homelessness. Jesus’s teachings should challenge His followers to not subscribe to this stigma or perception put on people experiencing homelessness.

In Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus aligns Himself with the people that society has overlooked. This may be considered remarkable to many in our society, and even in many churches, yet is very characteristic of Jesus based on the totality of His actions and teachings in the gospel stories.

In the parable, Jesus speaks about the “Son of Man com[ing] in His glory” with all of the angels to “separate the people from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (verse 31). The sheep are separated from the goats based on the following criteria:

“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” (verses 35-36).

When the righteous answered, ‘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, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” (verses 37-39)

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (verse 40).

Does Jesus actually think that the people about whom He speaks are “the least”? Of course not, but so many cultures often deem those in need to be the least valuable members of society. Jesus, instead, calls those who are seen as “the least” his brothers and sisters. He goes on to say, anything that we do for them, we do for Him. All of this to say, we are to see Jesus in those who society has marginalized.

Earlier, I said that this teaching may be considered remarkable by because Jesus spends His ministry professing both in word and deed to be the Son of God: From proclaiming Himself to be the Son of God and the way to God (John 8, 15); to His authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-12; Matthew 9:1-8); His authority to Judge (Matthew 10:32-36, 39, 40); to constantly referring to Himself the Son of Man (Matthew 10:23; 12:8; 12:32; 13:37, 41) as a reference to the Divine Being who is given authority and worshiped by all nations and peoples in Daniel 7:14; to His fulfilment of many messianic prophecies (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12); to His crucifixion and resurrection (Matthew 27 – 28); to other realities beyond the scope of this reflection. Jesus teaches his disciples and the crowds who follow Him that He is the Son of God in the flesh reflecting the image of the eternal God. For the Lord God to align Himself with the poor, needy, and incarcerated in the midst of a society that believes that riches signified proximity to the Divine was transformative.

Jesus says that what we do to the least of these brothers or sisters of His, we do for Him. He likens Himself to those who are impoverished. In these words, Jesus ascribes more than a mere human dignity to people who are in need. Jesus’ words call His followers to both look backward and forward. To look backward at the reality spoken in Genesis 1 and 2 that all human beings have been created in the image of God. In ancient times, to be made in the image of God was considered to be a King or a Priest—royalty. Thus, the teaching that human beings have been created in the image of God confers an inherent human dignity on all human beings. And to look forward to His promise that those who believe would receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-21) and would become temples of the Living God (1 Corinthians 6:19). This promise goes beyond human dignity to mean that through the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers, the Divine has come to live in these earthen vessels of clay called human beings.

How would it transform our society if we saw divinity in the people who are too often devalued? What would happen if we were to view people experiencing homelessness with Jesus’ lens as presented in Matthew 25? How would this inform our perspective on homelessness or desire to serve and work collectively to solve the homelessness crisis?

Prayer:

Lord God, we pray a special prayer of covering, protection, freedom, love, provision and justice for every single person experiencing homelessness in this nation and beyond. Lord God, for those who are broken, would you please bring your healing; for those in bondage, would you please bring your supernatural freedom; would you give hope to those who are in despair. Help them to know that you see them, love them, and hear their prayers.

Lord God, we pray for affordable housing and that there would be a right to housing. Lord God, would you give us wisdom to know our role in combatting homelessness, give us a vision for collective action that would change the material/physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional conditions of people experiencing homelessness and to not just leave it up to elected leaders. Lord God, would you give us wisdom to elect leaders that have a deep understanding of human dignity and your divine justice and who make service and radical justice and change a priority. Lord God, would you please help us to actively be aware of and say no to leaders, policies, and structures that perpetuate injustice and inequity, and help us to actively pursue the dismantling and redemption of structures that perpetuate cycles of poverty, homelessness, and all forms of injustice. Lord God, would you please forgive us for our willful blindness, please forgive us when we are complacent in the face of injustice, please forgive us when we’ve believed the lie that people experiencing dire poverty are somehow less worthy of housing, love, and protection.

Lord God, please help us individually and collectively to see that the people whose worth is often diminished by much of society, too, have been made in your image and that you’ve called them brother and sister. Lord God, when our worth is or has been disparaged by those who hold power in society, please help us to also remember that we have been made in your image, that you delighted in putting your Holy Spirit in those who choose to know you, and that you have conferred a divine worth on us. Lord God, help our confidence and identity to be rooted not in our socio-economic status but in knowing your love, belonging to you, and being called your beloved children, in Jesus’ name. Amen.