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 began teaching at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, where he became a popular teacher, particularly among his junior students. He had been teaching for about nine years when he was dealt a cruel hand in 2006: doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor the size of a lemon.
His prognosis was grim, but David underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments and was eventually able to return to the classroom. Instead of living only a few more months, he continued teaching for another six years. By 2012, however, his deteriorating condition had left him mostly blind and incredibly weak on his left side, and he finally had to give up the classroom he loved.
David knew that he probably didn’t have a lot of time left. But he was also curious. Over 15 years, he had taught more than 3,000 students, and he wondered what kind of impact he had actually made on their lives.
He sent a message through Facebook asking whether former students would be willing to host him for a night so that they could talk about their time in his classroom and about what had happened in their lives since graduation. He wasn’t sure how much response he would get, but within days former students across the country were offering him places to stay.
From November 2012 to February 2013, David spent 101 days on the road and visited 75 former students in cities across the country, traveling from Philadelphia to Honolulu. He called the journey his “Vision Quest,” and along the way he learned a great deal about the impact he had made on his students.
Mostly, he discovered that the lessons they remembered most weren’t necessarily the ones he had written on the board. They remembered the conversations between classes, the encouragement, the time he spent listening to them and talking with them about life. Before he died in 2014, David chronicled his journey in his 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 strikes me even more is the hospitality his former students extended to him.
David began the trip wondering what difference he had made in their lives. In some ways, their response answered the question before he ever arrived.
Come stay with me.
Those former students weren’t merely offering him a couch. David could barely see, and even many ordinary tasks had become difficult for him. Hosting him meant helping him navigate unfamiliar places, assisting him with things he could no longer easily do himself and caring for a man they knew was dying.
The teacher who had spent years giving to his students now had to allow his students to give back to him.
And they did.
The writer of Hebrews tells us not to neglect hospitality because, in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Jesus put the idea even more directly. He said that when we feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for the sick or visit the prisoner, we are doing those things for Him.
Jesus wanted us to understand that the generosity, hospitality and charity we extend in love to people in need are visible expressions of our faith.
David set out hoping to discover whether his life had mattered. One answer was waiting for him in the homes that opened their doors to him. The people he had cared for when they were teenagers were now caring for him. Somewhere along the way, perhaps without even realizing it, he had taught them something much larger than English.
He had taught them to care about another human being.
Today, let the Lord guide you in how and when you can show Christian charity to someone who needs it. It might mean buying a meal for someone who is hungry. It might mean helping someone who is sick, making room for someone who feels alone or simply offering a kind word to someone who desperately needs to hear one.
We may never know the significance of one small act of kindness. Hebrews reminds us that some have entertained angels without realizing it. But Jesus gives us an even greater reason to respond.
When we reach out in love to someone in need, He tells us to remember:
“As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
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Reflection copyright © 2026 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.
