Yesterday my friend Parker and I went to see Paul in the hospital.Paul is a homeless guy.
They had to take him at the hospital when he complained of having chest pains. He called our church and said he was scared. He was scared that if he died no one would ever know. I can't relate to this crushing loneliness.
Paul has a Masters degree in Art.
We stopped by to check on Paul, listen to him and pray with him. Paul talked almost non-stop for almost an hour. His loneliness and neediness was evident. I was reminded of what my wife and I often teach in pre-marital counseling and marriage class, "listening equals loving". So we just listened to Paul talk about everything from guitar playing, to art history, to Jamaicans that smoke lots of weed. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't awkward.
Does not the Biblical call of love teach us to do the "awkward" thing sometimes?
Luke 14:12-14 - He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”Sounds pretty awkward to me, but don't miss the blessing that comes as well.
Yeah, yeah, we need to have a careful conversation about what is the best way to minister to these types of people. I get that. That is another post for another day. But may it not be an excuse for our lack of action and compassion in this area.
Call me a mystic if you want, but I could see Jesus in Paul. Remember, we worship a homeless guy. Did not Jesus say that we minister to HIM as we serve the poor, the outcast and oppressed (Matt 25)? I want more of Jesus in my life. Perhaps doing this type of thing more often is a way to get more of Him. I just wonder...
Paul did not have a heart attack, but he might have lung cancer. He is having a biopsy today. I told him to call and let us know the results. I hope he does.
4 comments:
Thanks for posting this, Zach. Your life example encourages me. Recently I preached on The Good Samaritan. It convicted me big time. Sometimes the simple stories of Scripture are the toughest to live out. Yet, I'm learning that the more I experience the love of Christ in the gospel the more I want to express this love to others. 2 Cor. 5:14-15, "For Christ love compels us ...
Keep loving em' brother!
Zach, this post is alternately heartbreaking and encouraging to me. Heartbreaking, in the sense that this man is in such a very rough situation in his life. Encouraging, in the sense that he felt the freedom to call Desert Springs Church in a time of great need, and also encouraging in the sense that you and Parker got the call and responded as you did. To paraphrase D.A. Carson, we as Christians are called to "love in hard places." Thanks for living that truth out with Paul. The effects of a fallen world are not abstract-- they can be seen in the fact of homelessness, to use just one example, and we are called to love people in the midst of these awful effects of sin in the world. Thanks for doing just that, my brother. Please keep us updated on Paul's condition. I'm also going to post some thoughts and questions on this subject over at the Far Country blog.
Good stuff.
Hey Zach,
I'm a friend of Emily Wards. We both moved away from the great flat land of Iowa about two years ago, at the same time. She headed to Texas to get Wacky and I headed to Chicago to be blown around by the wind.
She sent me your blog this morning and it couldn't have been more encouraging to my heart.
I've been doing the same sort of thing up in Chicago, going down and helping the homeless on Lower Wacker and other parts of the city.
Lately, some elders have been "providing" other options for me to minister to the homeless, besides bringing them warm dinners, underwear, socks and blankets.
Just like that guy wrote, there are more orthodox ways to help the homeless, which is still very important and what I want to strive for, but I don't see my outreach as a ministry, I just want to love and listen.
Thanks for posting that and God bless!
Feeling less alone.
Finding peace-Jenni Lobb
here's my blog site: whowillcare.blogspot.com
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