SCRIPTURE
Matthew 25: 34-36, 39-40
Then the King will say: “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 in prison and you came to visit me.”
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord,…when did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Photo by Grant Durr on Unsplash
REFLECTION
I’m not gonna lie, visiting someone in prison is hard. It sounds easy enough on paper, but then you have the reality. First of all, it’s a time commitment. You have to set aside half your day to drive to the jail, go through screening, wait who knows how long before you’re called, then be escorted to the visiting area, all for a 10-15 minute visit. Even with current online visiting replacing in-person visits, you have to plan ahead to reserve a time, make sure you allow time to login on your computer and make sure everything’s working, then sit and wait out the time, hoping they noticed their scheduled visit on the monitor at the jail and actually show up (it’s not the guard’s responsibility to go get them, after all), and finally get very frustrated when they don’t show up – what a waste of time!
It's very easy to let mean, selfish thoughts take over. Like, “Geez they don’t even appreciate how much time I spent just to come see them.” Or “They just want to know what I brought them or what I can do for them.” Or maybe “Man, why even bother, it’s their own fault they’re in jail anyway, right?”
But then you remember the real reason you came. To let them know someone cares. To let them know YOU care. To let them know GOD cares. The prisoner certainly doesn’t want to be in jail, removed from family, from society, from freedom. Locked away, feeling lonely and isolated, maybe remorseful for what landed them there. Maybe angry if they feel they’ve been wrongly incarcerated.
And what about those suffering in other types of prisons. Maybe a prison of their past, or a prison of their current situation. Maybe the prison of a failing body, or even the prison of their own thoughts. The Bible tells us that God hears the groans of the prisoners and will release those condemned to death. They are children of God just as we are, and it’s not our job to be the judge or the jury, but to show love. If we can ease the burden of any one of these “brothers and sisters” then we are showing love. GOD’s love. As a Matthew 25 believer, we must see Jesus’ face on every stranger, every beggar, every prisoner. A kind word, a listening ear, your TIME, can be a gift that really helps someone who feels imprisoned.
PRAYER
Dear God, you came to set the captives free. Help us give hope to the prisoner who needs to know your grace, by showing them your love. Help us remember that we were all prisoners to sin, all condemned to death, but you sent your Son to redeem us and set us free. Help us to share that good news with the other condemned sinners around me in order to show them the reality of your love. Amen.
Jeanne Harris is a Ruling Elder and the Treasurer at Byers Community Church. Together with her husband Brian, Jeanne provides the technical skills to manage the Zoom church services and Advent and Lenten study videos as well as providing many other services for our church.