Outcasts!

Thoughts for Matthew 25:34-36 focusing on the sick and those in prison.

MAIN IDEA – Labels are very useful to cast people out, to proclaim who the “other” is. Some are placed with malice, but others are subconsciously projected with blame, shame, and judgment. I am constantly visiting people who are sick and I go because I feel they need to be connected with the family of Christ and the presence of Christ. Yet I describe them as sick. I label them, and with those labels separate myself from them. I wonder to what degree I place myself above those who are sick. I wonder to what degree I see myself as better in one way or another because I am not in that same situation. I go, I pray, and then I leave. Yet to I ever really imagine what it might be like to be in that situation? This is not just for the sick, but for the grieving, the hurting, and the lost. People living with unemployment, divorce, death, and many other issues of life.

I think I am being to hard on myself, I do try to imagine what it might be like, but I still protect myself. The separation is more evident when I think of those in prison. These are people who made bad choices. These are people who should be in prison, but am I so different? I am fortunate because I have been born a white male, because I have good parents, and have grown up in a good environment. How responsible am I for my blessings? How responsible are others for their curses?

It is a small step to end up living a life of despair. It is a small moment that places a person in a place of sickness unto death. I may place myself apart and above, but it is not so great of a divide from those in the prison of the hospital bed or of the jail. Thus I visit not only to bring Christ but to experience Christ with a brother or sister who is in a situation that I very well could be in.

Lord, help me to humble my views of others. Help me to be honest with my blessings and my failings. When I visit others, may I see myself and offer thanks. When I visit others may I see you and live in your love.
Amen

THEOLOGICAL IDEA – Lucan writes about relationality that is important – a relationality that is reflected in the trinity. We also need to be honest about the human condition, that we all are fallen in one way or another, that we all could be sick or in prison no matter how good we think we are. We don’t grant forgiveness, but we do offer compassion.

Finally, interestingly, Michel Foucault seems to offer some insight on being in prison or in the hospital. While he is speaking about the Asylum, there is a sense that applies to sick or in prison. We, society, dictates the terms and conditions upon which others may live, and if they do not meet those terms, we label them as different and as others.