Matthew 25:35 says,
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…”
Chi Chi Rodriquez, a famous PGA golfer known for the “saber dance” he did after making an impressive golf shot, grew up poor in Puerto Rico. Interestingly, Chi Chi learned to play golf with just sticks and rocks!
Chi Chi tells the story from his youth of a neighbor sneaking into his back yard to steal bananas from his family tree. As the man skirted to the tree, Chi Chi’s father caught the man. Upon finding this man in his yard stealing from him, Chi Chi’s father told his son to go get the machete. Fearing the worst, Chi Chi obeyed.
Chi Chi quickly returned with his father’s machete and to his surprise, his dad took the machete and chopped off a bunch of bananas from the tree. He then proceeded to give the man the fruit. He told his neighbor the next time he needed something he should come to the front door!
Chi Chi’s neighbor sought to steal something that would have simply been given to him. The elder Rodriguez could have shamed the man; he could have even had the man arrested. Instead he showed mercy and grace to a neighbor who was hungry.
Scripture tells us in Matthew 25:40,
“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.’”
As we all seek to serve and share help and hope to a hurting world, may we never forget that what we do, we do for our Creator.