Shared moments defining my journey

Matthew 25:32-46

“Before him will be gathered all nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come , you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me and I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me.

Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you have me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you as you did not do it to me. And these will go away to enternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Alright- so what do we do with this? This passage raises so many questions in my mind. Is this the true essence of christianity? Have I been missing it? I thought you just had to acknowledge Jesus with your lips, believe in your heart that He is the son of God and then you will be saved. Maybe that is the beginning and this passage above is what our lives are to be about from that point on. This is pretty stinkin clear huh? All I see in my life is sin. It is me missing the mark with all of this. If we are not doing this and we call ourselves a “christian” are we really? If we are not feeding the hungry, clothing them, taking them into our households, visiting them are we really a christian? What is righteousness? Is it staying away from these people because they are “sinners” or “dangerous?” Is it evaluating motives of these people? Is it ignoring a homeless man because he stinks, because he is a little scary and might spend money in a way that we will not approve of? Is righteousness living life with them and trying to find Jesus in their faces? After reading this I want to move to Haiti even more. There are things I can do today to live this out. How does this passage affect you? What does it say to you? How can we ignore this part of scripture??