I didn’t think my God would ever find me

In the closing of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identifies himself with the world’s needy: the thirsty, the stranger, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned. Speaking of the church’s ministry to such, Jesus concludes, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” and “Just as you did not do it to one of these, you did not do it to me.” Jesus identifies himself with those who are victims of this world’s tragic circumstances.

But, in the same way, I believe, Jesus identifies with those who minister to these victims. I don’t remember all of his sermon. It was very long ago. But I do remember a few of the most dramatic words. Reverend Doctor Bryan Feille was speaking to a gathering of ministers at Texas Christian University. And in speaking about the failure of some ministries, he explained it in these words: “We have no good news for them; we have no Christ for them!”

He was explaining in poignant terms that if Christ loves and serves humanity through our feet and hands, lips and hearts, then indeed, in those moments of love and service we are Christ. This is part of the meaning of Paul’s words in his letter Galatia: “… it is Christ who lives in me.”

Dr. Ira Byock is a palliative care physician and served as a hospice chaplain. He once told of visiting a patient in downtown Dallas. It was mid-summer and you could literally cook an egg on concrete. His patient lived by himself in a tenement apartment complex, red brick, three stories, L-shaped, with the entry door in the corner of the L-shaped building.

He parked his car in the sun (no shade in downtown Dallas) and walked a block to the apartment entrance. As Ira stepped in, the heat was stifling. He removed his dress coat as he made his way down the hall that was dark because his eyes had not yet adjusted from the bright glare outside.

At the far end of the long hall he found the door with the apartment number of his patient. The door was ajar about two or three inches. Ira knocked and waited; there was a mumble from behind the door. Pushing the door open, Dr. Byock saw an almost empty room. To the left there was an old refrigerator humming, and a small square table in the middle of the room with a naked, dim light bulb hanging down from the ceiling above the table. As Ira’s eyes adjusted, he saw his patient in the at the back of the room, lying on his hospice- provided hospital bed.

He walked over and took the elderly man’s hand and introduced himself. Then he asked the first question hospice workers often ask, “Are you in any pain?”

Before answering the question, the man was silent for a few moments. Then, with glistening eyes, he thanked Dr. Byock for his presence. Then he said, “I live in such an out-of-the-way room in such an out-of-theway place that I didn’t think my God would ever find me. But here you are!”

Do you want Jesus Christ in our world? Christ can be in our world. He can be as near to others as you choose, through your love, to be for others. May the lyrics of Adelaide Pollard be your prayer today: “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Hold o’er my being absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only, always, living in me!”