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.” Matthew 25:40.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13: 9, 12.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13.

This morning in our Friday Retreat we talked about the difficult subject of followers of Christ and how we treat the “least of these”, those marginalized by society and that can include those who are homosexual. The verses above were included as was the example of the Pharisees who looked for sins in others while not understanding they, too, were sinners. The sin police. Do we do that? Are we afraid if we don’t speak out against the sin of homosexuality that we condone it and therefore will go to hell? When Jesus spoke in parables as He did in the first verse cited above, He was speaking of the Father. And what did the Father say? Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. So what do we do? I think we begin to grasp that only Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is complete. If He tells us the greatest of all is Love, then we trust Him and have faith that in His time that He promises, completeness will come and we will all understand; because just as we are all known now, He will be known by all. Scripture tells us the love of many will grow cold. God tells us the greatest of all is Love. Can we trust God when what He says is not what we have been taught? I know many will think – but Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God…He also said, For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. Matthew 11:22-24. This life we have been given is filled with experiences we have no preparation for. And difficult things cloud every part of us. That’s why I am eager to learn from God. He understands everything!

And our psalm, Psalm 98, Lord help me read it through Your eyes of love for Your sons and daughters. One day sins will be no more. They do not define us. God will heal all of our sins. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.