We often ask, “Where were you on 9/11?”  We all remember what was happening, how we felt, and what we were doing.  In moments of pure honesty we ask, “God, where were you?”

This is the question many of us ask when something tragic happens.  We look at those people on the TV screen and our hearts break for their loss.  But God, he takes it personally.

Look at Matthew 25. It starts with the nations standing before the Lord at the end of time and he separates them into two groups.  To the first one he says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

They are floored!  They don’t ever remember seeing the King of the Universe in any of those situations!  Then comes the clincher, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Woah.

He addresses the second group in a similar way, but this time he is angered because they didn’t help him.  They too are taken aback and don’t know when they ever saw God in any of those terrible circumstances.  He says the same to them but in the negative, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” The punishment is severe.

You see, God takes these types of situations personally.  When bad things go down, we get flustered and angry and wonder where God is while this is happening to these people.  But God… he gets flustered and angry and wonders where you are while it is happening to him.

The big problem isn’t the bad things all around you and me.  The bigger problem is the bad thing inside you and me.

The question isn’t, “Where was God?” The question is, “Where were you?”

We all know living conditions in Africa are bad in many places.  I have some friends who have rearranged their lives to adopt from there.  We all know there are hungry people in our community, but how many of us volunteer at food banks.  We all know someone with broken heart, but will we pick up the phone.

So here’s todays question:Where were you?