Kids at our Gate

When we lived in the Philippines every day when we arrived home from school a number of kids would run down the street to meet us at our gate.  These kids were from the squatter area around us and they would appreciate a cold glass of clean water or some cookies or rice.  One of our fellow staff members told us that they came because we gave them something and if we ignored them they would stop coming.  I couldn't help but think of Jesus' words when He said that if we gave a cup of cold water in His name we were doing it as to Him.
These kids were the outsiders.  They lived in squatter huts and didn't always have enough food or proper clothing.  Many of them couldn't afford to go to school.  In Luke's gospel account we encounter children and poor and other outsiders that Jesus welcomed to come in while the rich, the religious elite were often outside.  The Gospel turns things upside down, the outsiders are welcomed in.