Exodus 28:1-43 ~ Matthew 25:31-26:13 ~ Psalm 31:9-18 ~ Proverbs 8:12-13   So Jesus offers a challenge again.  Most of the things that he says are so direct and they offer absolute, clear-headed wisdom that we can’t help but sit up and pay attention because our very lives depend upon it.  So he’s talking about the sheep and the goats and the end and the judgment.    So the king turns to the sheep and says, “Come enter in.”  The reason that he gives is that you cared for the least of these.  Then he turns to the goats on the left and says, “You didn’t care for the least of these.  Depart.”  That’s a big deal because God is saying when you do for the least of these, you are doing it as if you are doing it directly for me.  Alright, again, this isn’t some real wacky metaphor.  This is what Jesus said.  This is how the Kingdom works.  It is not one of these you just really can’t understand, it’s too difficult, we just don’t know what the true meaning is, it’s just too far out there.  It’s not!  Jesus is saying the least of these, care for them.  Do whatever you must do for them so that they are not the least of these, because when you do, when you care for the least of these, you are caring for me.    But there is an interesting juxtaposition because immediately after that Jesus says, alright guys, you know just a couple days from now I’m going to be stripped away from you.  So he’s in Bethany.  A woman comes in with this beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume, right?  So expensive that it could have been up to 6 months’ worth of money.  She cracks it open.  She begins to anoint Jesus with the scent and the aroma, pours it over him.  The disciples are like, “We could have just used that for the least of these!”  Jesus says, “No, you’ll have the poor with you all the time, but you’re not going to have me.”  So that’s a fascinating juxtaposition between the 2 stories and ultimately what Christ is saying is I am the center of everything.  I am the most important.  So if you’re caring for the least of these just to follow tradition or to obey a command to get yourself off the hook, you’re really missing the point.  That wouldn’t be doing it unto me.  That wouldn’t be doing it from the heart.  That would be doing it from the mind, keeping yourself out of trouble.  I am the center of it all.  I am the most important thing.  Nothing is more important than me.  Everything flows from that place.    So he blessed this woman who had brought this expensive gift, this extravagant gift and poured it over his head.  He said no one is ever going to forget this.  No one will ever forget what she has done.  From now on, wherever this is told, she will be in the story and she is.    Prayer:  Heavenly Father, we come before you understanding that you are the center of our universe.  Everything revolves around you.  You are the most important pursuit of our lives.  Our heart’s desire is for more intimacy with you, to give of ourselves extravagantly, to pour the alabaster jar out full of the expensive perfume of our lives over you, to lavishly love you, and from that place, that place of deep respect and honor, of intimate love, of abiding hope in you, we go out and touch this world in your name, doing for the least of these what you would do.  We ask, Holy Spirit, that you come.  Guide, direct us we pray.  We ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.   www.dailyaudiobible.com is the website, as you know.  As you know, I mean, when we talk about the least of these, one thing that is so near and dear to this community is that we reach out in every way that we can to those women and children and even men who are in slavery today around this world.  27 million people, mostly women and children, mostly trapped in the sex slave trade.  This has become a serious issue in the world and the awareness of it is growing and growing and growing and it is on our radar.  We do everything we can because it is our social justice issue here as a community.  So one of the ways that we are using right now to harvest resources to combat this is through our Coffee~Justice~You program.  We have custom-roasted some of the finest fair trade coffee beans that we can get, roasted for us by Mission Coffee Roasters and blended into the WindFarm blend.  We sell this and use the proceeds for human trafficking.  On the one hand you can go, well, why don’t we just all donate some money?  We have done that and we’ve raised and sowed a great amount of resources into the issue through Exodus Cry, but I felt like coffee was a really, really good symbol because it is doing good in every possible way.  It is fair trade coffee so that people can have sustainable lives around the world in third world countries, but I felt like it was something tangible to us right now.  We drink coffee most every morning, not every one of us, but a lot of us.  I drink a cup of coffee every morning and I just felt like it was a reminder, a symbol.   Symbols are really important things around here in the Daily Audio Bible community.  We see monuments erected in the Bible so that people will never forget what God has done.  So God uses a symbol often because it connects us to an event or a time.  I just felt like we are going to drink a cup of coffee in the morning anyway.  Let’s remember every time we partake of that cup of coffee what it represents:  Freedom.  Freedom for a woman somewhere right now being abused.  Freedom for a child somewhere right now being abused.  This is the least of these.  I can think of nothing more least than a child who is sexually abused, systematically, for money.  I can’t think of anything more least than that.    So if you haven’t yet, you can get a bag of WindFarm blend coffee at the store or you can subscribe and have it sent to you every month.  The proceeds from that we sow into the rescue of the least of these.    Alright, that’s kind of heavy, so I’m not going to say any bright cheery announcements.  If you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number that you can call.   That’s it for today.  I love you.  I’m Brian.  I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.