Divine Was His Name

This past weekend, the church youth group spent some time serving in the city. A guest speaker closely associated with Mexico Caravan Ministries in Tijuana was brought in to share his experiences and encouragement, but most importantly, Truth. Some may have thought his words too heavy, his brand of faith too extreme, but like the guy said, he was just reading pages off a Book. One of those readings was Matthew 25 v. 31-46:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Though the speaker brought it heavy (which is how I like it), my retrospection here is light and brief. On the subway en route to the World Vision Storehouse, I stood a few moments next to a (presumably) homeless gentleman seated with an army green napsack over his lap. He was black with curly gray hair, perhaps in his sixties; his eyes hidden behind a pair of broad shades in a manner that indicated some kind of visual impairment.

We shoot the breeze; he's friendly and I ask about the places he's been to, nothing extraordinary. But when we both exit at the next stop, I subtly sense something beyond ordinary. I look up at the exit stairway and see the back of the man as he ascends and disappears seemingly rather quickly. Divine was his name... the passage above comes to mind and, with a smile, I imagine the Possibility.

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