A few months ago my 22 year old daughter and I went to the hobby store. As we pulled up a tattered man approached our car. He asked for money. We were in a hurry, as this store closed in 15 minutes and I needed my supplies urgently that night. I simply shook my head no at the man. It only took us five minutes to gather my supplies, but in that five minutes the old man in the parking lot was weighing heavy on my mind. I couldn't shake this uneasy, nagging feeling prodding at my spirit. The thing that kept going through my mind was the verse, Matthew 25:35
'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, 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.’
When we left the store I was looking around for that man. My daughter asked what I was doing. I told her I needed to find the man we had just seen asking for money. She let out a little huff....."You can't be serious about giving him money? It's probably a scam". I proceeded to tell her the story she was too little to remember. The time my father had given money to a young girl at a truck stop. I was surprised that my father would so willingly give her money, and my mom said as much out loud. My dad's response was that it was not our responsibility to distinguish those truly in need, but our responsibility to help those who present a need. That is what God requires of us.
My daughter searched the parking lot renewed in her quest to find the tattered man. As we got in the car she said, "drive over there. Turn around, go back. He couldn't have gotten that far. Where is he?" She was a person on a mission.
Silently we left the parking lot and headed home. Both of us thinking the same thing. Was that Jesus? Did we seriously just say no to him?