For the last two months, I haven’t been able to shake one scripture from my mind: Matthew 25:31–46. I think about daily. Take a moment and read it before you finish reading this blog.
It’s the moment when Jesus speaks of the final judgment—not of individuals, but of “all the nations.” That phrase matters. This is not just a personal reckoning. It’s a collective one. Jesus describes separating the sheep from the goats not just based on individual acts, but on how communities, societies, and yes—nations—respond to the most vulnerable among them.
It’s a striking passage because Jesus doesn’t leave much room for interpretation. He lays out a clear standard: Did you feed the hungry? Did you give drink to the thirsty? Did you welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned?
That’s the scorecard. Not belief. Not religious ritual. But how we treat those who are most vulnerable.
This past Sunday, we hosted Julie Yurko, President and CEO of the Northern Illinois Food Bank. She shared some sobering truths: food insecurity is rising, even in well-resourced communities like ours. One in eight people across Northern Illinois faces hunger—many of them children, seniors, and working families. She spoke of how thin the safety net has become, and how food banks are bracing for reductions in government funding that once helped purchase fresh produce from local farmers to give to the hungry and others that give basic nutrition for those in need.
At the end of her talk, I said something that’s been echoing in my head ever since: “Hunger in a world of plenty is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
That’s not a partisan statement. It’s a Gospel one.
When Jesus describes the sheep—those welcomed into the kingdom—he doesn’t commend their theology or their moral purity. He commends their compassion. “Just as you did it to one of the least of these… you did it to me.”
That tells us something profound: our treatment of others is our treatment of Jesus.
So maybe this is where we begin the list of things incompatible with Christian teaching. Not with what Christians believe, but with what Jesus says Christians do. And, by extension, what our churches, communities, and nations must also do.
Because according to Matthew 25, it’s not just about me or you. It’s about us.
- Turning our backs on the hungry is incompatible with Christian teaching.
- Hoarding resources while others go without is incompatible with Christian teaching.
- Indifference to strangers—whether refugees, immigrants, or someone new in our community—is incompatible with Christian teaching.
- Ignoring the sick, the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized? Incompatible.
- Policies or practices—local, national, or global—that harm “the least of these?” Incompatible.
Jesus doesn’t say these things to shame us. Jesus says them to wake us up! To call us into a deeper way of life—a life where we see Jesus in every person, especially those the world forgets.
We live in a time of profound abundance, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the grocery store. Yet there are families skipping meals, children arriving at school hungry, and elderly neighbors choosing between medicine and groceries – in Geneva– and around our county. The systems that allow this to happen may be complex, but our calling is not.
We are called to feed, to welcome, to clothe, to visit, to care. Not because we are saviors, but because we follow one.
Matthew 25 is still speaking. Still judging. Still inviting. And while Jesus’ words certainly challenge us as individuals, they also challenge the systems we build and the values we uphold as a people. As a nation.
Ours isn’t just a private faith. It’s a public one.
So, let’s double down on this scripture woven into our Methodist DNA. Let it change our hearts—and maybe, over time, the world around us. Because the Gospel isn’t a set of beliefs we carry in our pockets. It’s a way of life we live together.
And when we live it—really live it—we may just hear those words we long for: “Well done, good and faithful servants.”
p.s. – want a free, fun way to help feed people from your computer or device: https://freerice.com/
