I Was There

Matthew 25:44-46

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I was there

By Michael Orr

I was there, He said, in the crowds gripped with pain,

If you looked for me, you’d see me, through your look of disdain,

For they are the broken, the forgotten of men,

All the hopeless and helpless, all those lost in their sin,

I was there, He said, with the loved ones left weeping,

No words can bring comfort, no promise worth keeping,

You scoff at their loss, and say they’re not right,

To hold out for justice, trade darkness for light.

I was there, He said, with the young generation,

Who want to see changes, at the heart of a nation,

You bristle at youth, call them foolish and weak,

While refusing them counsel, for the answers they seek.

I was there, He said, at the world’s darkest hour,

When hatred was fueled, by the enemy’s power,

When nation or color or money decided,

Where the lines would be drawn, and allegiance divided.

I was there, He said, when you scoffed at the poor,

When you offered them judgment and showed them the door,

You dismissed them as wretched, while your own sin was glaring,

And you show me dishonor, through your actions uncaring.

I am there, Jesus said, when they cry out to you,

To show them compassion, in all that you do,

And I’m still there waiting, if you’re willing to see,

That the things that you’re doing, you’re doing to me.