Knowing How To Help

I dropped off a birthday card a few weeks ago  to a friend of ours.    I could not mail it because this person has no mailing address.  You see, he lives in a tent not very far from where I live.  It probably was the only birthday card that he received. He is not married and does not have any children.   His parents are deceased, and he is alienated from much of the family that survives.  He does receive some governmental assistance, but it is not enough to afford a traditional sort of home.  He does not work a typical job, but only odd jobs that he picks up every now and then.  It is easy to say “get a job”, but it is hard to get a job if you are a convicted felon. Who wants to have a convicted felon working at their business? 

Ann and I have tried to help him in all sorts of ways: getting him a temporary home to live in for a new start… bringing him food… giving him odd jobs to do… giving him money and other things to help him survive… giving him ideas on how he could better himself.  We have prayed for him and prayed with him.  We have wondered if we are helping enough or if we are helping too much.  Despite the best of our intentions,  he continues to subsist on a “day to day”  basis. His health is fragile.  Thanks to our local free medical clinic, he does get some  medical help. While I am glad he does,  I wonder about his mental health.   Sometimes, it seems he does not think clearly or act rationally. 

I tell his story not to give my wife Ann and I a pat on the back for helping this man or to receive your consternation as you think we are  enabling his plight.  I tell his story because his story is legion.   There are thousands of people across this land of prosperity who live drowning in their poverty.  Their names are many, and their stories are varied.  The questions are many, and the answers are hard.   They are young and old, men and women, veterans and civilians,  black and white.    As I think of their story,   I think of a story of Jesus in Matthew 25:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’     

Whether we are homeless and a convicted felon or not,  all of us are people Christ died for.     May God help us to know how to help those in poverty around us  that their number  might decrease.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  I pray with awe and thanksgiving that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  I  pray for the thousands of people who struggle to simply survive. Lord, the questions are many,and the answers are hard to come.    Show me how to help their name to be fewer; for the sake of Christ I pray.  Amen.