The least of these

I left the grocery store today, with the two basic necessities for making fake blood: Corn syrup and food coloring. That's sounds weird doesn't it? Okay, well it's not important. The point being, that as I pulled out of the parking lot there was a rather haggard looking man standing on the corner with a sign that read "Homeless. Please help. God Bless." I saw him. You couldn't miss him. I did what, I suppose, most people would do and pretended not to notice him as I kept driving home so I could attend to all the important things that I had to get done before heading back to campus. Here's how I justified it: How do I know this guy is actually homeless? Woodford county isn't a hotbed of homeless people. I'd feel like such a shmuck if I gave him money and he was playing me. Better to not bother, right? The fact is that I didn't have any cash on me anyway, but that's not the issue...not for me at least. It was my immediate response. The verse from Matthew where Jesus said, "When you've done it unto the least of these you've done it unto me." If I had been able to meet this person's immediate need, at least part of it, would I have done it? Probably not. Why not? It's easier to ignore the issue and go on being comfortable. I believe we need to act with wisdom, but shouldn't our first reaction be to want to reach out?