All of us are probably aware that somewhere in the Bible, Jesus says something to the effect that part of our job in life to "feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison" (btw--in case you're wondering, it's Matthew 25). Jesus says that each of us will be judged according to whether, during our lives, we did these things "for the least of these who are members of my family." He doesn't say how often, or that we can't do anything else... just that we need to be doing these things.

This is one of those Biblical passages that, in my experience, can either motivate you to action to do these things, or tie you up in knots of guilt because you don't or can't do them.

Sometimes we lose the underlying meaning of these ethical instructions. Matthew 25 has been used by well-intentioned people as a club to beat me over the head for not doing the things that I know I should be doing. Now, sometimes I need a good swift kick in my guilty butt to get me moving. But guilt is not Jesus' point.

The underlying point is that he wants us to acknowledge that all of us are members of a single family. We are kin, sisters and brothers. This means that we have a special obligation to every other person--to engage them as family. Particularly, we are invited to give special care to those members of our family who are in trouble.

Not every family is perfect... we're not always kind or loving or fair to family members. But we are never not family. The poet Robert Frost said that "home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in." The bonds of home and family are not ones we create--they are created for us, defined for us by God.

Every time you meet a homeless man, he is our brother. If there is a hungry person, she is our sister.

We can't always fix the problem. We can't always make them whole. But we can always care and do things to make sure they know we care.