Read
“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.’”
Matthew 25:40
Reflect
David Menasche loved teaching English. After college, he taught for nine years at Coral Reef Senior High School, and he apparently became a very popular teacher for juniors during that time. He was dealt a cruel hand in 2006 when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor the size of a lemon.
Even thought he supposedly only had a few months to live, David underwent successful surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments and was able to return to the classroom. Instead of having months to live, David’s continued his teaching career for six more years until he suffered a massive seizure that left him mostly blind and incredibly weak on his left side.
He had to give up teaching, and he knew that he probably didn’t have a lot of time left. But he was also curious. He wondered what impact he had on the lives of the more than 3,000 students he had over 15 years. David sent out a message on Facebook asking if his former students would be willing to host him for a night to talk about their time in his class about their lives since graduation. He thought he wouldn’t get much response, but about 150 people replied.
From November 2012 to February 2013, David spent 101 nights on the road and visited 75 former students in 31 cities ranging from Philadelphia to Honolulu. He called this his “Vision Quest,” and during it, he learned a lot about the impact he had on his students’ lives. Mostly, he learned that more than the lessons he taught, it was the time he spent in between classes talking to them about life that had the biggest impact on them. Before he died in 2014, David chronicled his journey in a book, “The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons.”
I’ve always been impressed by David Menasche’s determination and by the sense of adventure he must have had in setting out on such an audacious journey. But what has struck me more is the hospitality extended to David by his former students. Most of them took little or no time in deciding to host him in their homes. When he arrived, they had the added responsibility of helping him with even the smallest tasks because he was almost blind. These former students were heroes, in my mind, because they helped a dying man fulfill his dreams.
The writer of Hebrews told us that in showing hospitality to strangers that we might be entertaining angels without knowing it. Jesus put it another way. He said that when we are welcoming to people in need, when we help the sick or visit people in prison that we’re doing those things for Him. Jesus wanted us to know that the generosity, hospitality and charity we extend in love to people in need are a visible extension of our faith.
Today, let the Lord guide you in how and when you will show Christian charity to someone who needs it. It could be that you should buy a meal for a homeless person, or it might just be a kind word you should say to someone who needs to hear it. Just remember if you don’t respond to the Lord’s leading in these moments, you could be missing an opportunity to assist an angel, and when you do respond, that you’re reaching out to the Lord himself.
Reflection copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
