Lord, when did we see you hungry, or naked or in prison?

I really couldn't believe what he was asking me to do, "I'll buy him a pizza slice and you give it to him." I emphatically refused, first thinking he was joking and then realized he was dead serious. "I'll buy him something to eat and you just take it to him" He was serious. Why would I get up out my comfortable seat, leave my friends and take food out to a homeless person, a derelict, a bum. "You got to be kidding," I mumbled.

He called over the waitress, "I'll buy that guy outside something to eat; can you take it to him?" Her response wasn't much better, "We used to give them the leftovers but then we couldn't have them lining up blocking the way (for the paying customers)." "I'll take it to him," she said. My head turned to the young woman coworker that had been sitting next to me all this while. I was amazed, surprised and just plain shocked. Then she did just that—got up out of her seat, stood in line, got the food and when we walked out of the restaurant together gave it to him. She returned back to where we were waiting. It was a very simple act for both of my coworkers, required very little effort and made someone very happy and grateful. While people all around him people were enjoying their lunch, he had something to eat as well.

I learned something that bright, sunny, September Tuesday during lunch. I learned that I'm a closet Christian; when I hang up my suit after church I put away everything else I've been taught. I had forgotten the story of the Good Samaritan, giving to the poor and treating others the same way, as I would expect them to treat me. Christianity is more than a Sunday morning event left in the church parking lot as you drive away; it's a 24/7 event. I had not passed the test, I had failed miserably. "What you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done unto me." Lord, help me to understand what you have done for us, your love and your grace. Help me to understand Lord that compassion is more than just a word but requires action as well.

K.