In the movie The Fisher King Robin Williams plays Parry, a man who is mentally disturbed and spends much of his time on the streets of New York City. Jeff Bridges plays the part of Jack, a talk radio personality who through various turns of events ends up getting to know Parry. I won’t vouch for the whole movie but there is one scene in it that I would like to paint for you.

While living on the streets, Parry becomes friends with a varied cast of characters who are also living on the street. Some of these homeless people gather in Grand Central Station at rush hour and hold out cups for people to place change in them. Jack sits with them one morning at rush hour and enters into a conversation with a man in a wheelchair who has had both legs amputated. The man is wearing an American flag pin and has a hat on indicating where he served in the military.

Jack and the veteran get into a conversation about why he comes here to beg for change from the people passing by on their way to work. Couldn’t he get assistance from the government? As they talk, a man walks by and places some coins in the veteran’s cup. "He didn’t even look at you," Jack says. The veteran replies, "He doesn’t have to look. They pay so they can feel good about themselves and let them think they have done something good today. They pay so they don’t have to look."

They pay so they don’t have to look. How many times have we done it? We see the man standing on the corner at the light holding a sign. We look at the line of cars in front of us and hope that we can get through the next green light so we won’t have to be the one up there at the front of the line feeling bad about the situation but wondering what good it would do if we did give him some money. Then, if we are unlucky enough to be the one at the front of the line, all of a sudden our radio gets very interesting or watching for the light to turn is of utmost importance. We will do almost anything to avoid looking at that person holding a sign describing their situation. Or sometimes we give a pitying smile only half-looking at the person. But we don’t really look at them. We might see that their clothes are torn and their hair is in bad need of washing but we don’t usually truly see the person holding the sign.

We don’t like to see people suffering. I heard an interview with an independent journalist the other day. This journalist was photographing and filming some of the horrors of the war in Iraq. He submitted his work to a British television station and they refused to show any of it on their news program. The reason they gave the journalist was, "People will be sitting down to dinner during the news. They don’t want to see these types of things while they eat." Well of course we don’t like or want to see much of the horrors that are going on around the world. We try hard enough to avoid seeing the horrors right outside our door!

In the vision of Jesus’ return we read about in Matthew’s gospel today, Jesus punishes the goats for not feeding him when he was hungry, not giving him something to drink when he was thirsty, and not visiting him when he was sick or imprisoned. The reply the so-called goats give is telling. "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Isn’t that the root of the problem? We don’t see people in need. If we don’t see people in need how will we be able to see Christ in them? If we don’t look at them how can we hope to care for their needs?

I wonder if the goats were just waiting for someone who looked like the Christ they envisioned to cross their path and then they would spring into action. Were they looking for the blonde haired, blue eyed Jesus that many of us came to know growing up? Were they hoping that a person in need would come up to them and say, "I am Christ. Help me." Well, wasn’t the whole world surprised when Christ came the first time in a dirty stable born to a poor family? Perhaps Christ will startle us again.

It is also interesting to note that the sheep in the vision are just as confused and surprised as the goats. Their response to Jesus is similar to the response the goats gave. "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" They are just as surprised as the goats. They didn’t think they saw Jesus either. But here is the major difference between those that Jesus calls goats and those he calls sheep – the sheep see those in need. They may not see that it is Christ they are serving when they serve those around them, but they at least see them. The goats don’t see anyone at all.

Martin Luther had talked of seeing others around us as "little Christs." All those who surround us and are in need are "little Christs" whom we can assist and serve as we would Christ. By seeing those in need as "little Christs" we are to act as Christ to them; showing them the love of God. Those around us might not look like the Christ we envision but each of us has within us the image of God. It is when we can look at another person and truly see that person we serve as a child of God that we begin to live into the calling Christ has given us.

The righteous in this vision of Christ’s coming helped those in need not because they were seeking a reward but because they cared. They had no ulterior motive when they fed the hungry person, gave a drink to the thirsty one, or visited those in need of companionship. They just cared for another person. They were living out the love they had been given.

In one of the final scenes from the musical "Les Miserables," three of the characters who died during the play sing together as they go to heaven, "To love another person is to see the face of God." Isn’t that what this is about? When we show love to even the least among us, we are looking in the face of God.

But how will we ever know that Christ was the one standing on the corner holding the sign, if we don’t open our eyes to see him? How will we ever know that Christ is the one in the wheelchair suffering from the loss of limb and home if we just drop a couple of coins in his cup so we don’t have to look? How will we know that Christ is our brother, our sister, our mother, our father, our friend in need if we don’t take the time to look at the needs around us? Who is hungry? Who is thirsty? Who is in need of companionship? We may never know if we keep our eyes on the radio, waiting for the station to change. We may never know if we just give a surface, "How are you doing?" without expecting a real response.

I will conclude with these words written to the church in Ephesus, "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you." May God continue to open our eyes that we may see Christ around us.