Matthew
25:14-30
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Six
years ago on my first Sunday, there were 2 homeless men sitting out on the
stairs before worship. And someone came
to me and shared that he had asked the men to leave, in essence so they
wouldn’t be a bother to the church people.
I asked if he had invited them into church and he said no, and I
suggested that maybe the next week he could invite them in. And he did.
And so David and Allen sat in the back of the church for service. And the next week they returned, and then
again and again and again.
As
the two men became more and more comfortable sitting in worship and getting to
know people, many folks in the church became more and more uncomfortable. They weren’t sure we wanted “those kind of
people” here. They weren’t sure what
other people would think if there were shopping carts sitting out front. It was a struggle. Allen would sleep in the gazebo and we
definitely weren’t sure that was acceptable.
So the trustees began talking and discussing what to do about the
homeless. And we were regularly reminded that we weren’t dealing with “the
homeless” we were dealing with Allen and David.
We weren’t dealing with an issue, we were dealing with people. And though we struggled and though there was
never 100% consensus, we kept growing in the ministry we were doing. We started inviting folks to join us for
Sunday breakfast. Bonnie and Cesar were
cooking for a Family Camp fundraiser, and since there was food available
anyway, we thought we might as well invite those who were particularly hungry
to eat too. Soon others were sleeping on
campus as well. And we were regularly
reminded that it wasn’t the homeless we were dealing with. It was Mona and Ed.
It was Jimmy and Carlos. It was Cuca and little Allen (not the same as the
first, but a short jovial man who grew on you instantly).
The
discussions and debates continued. We
wondered if we were really helping. We
wondered if we were enabling behaviors we didn’t support. And we were learning stories and getting to
know people trying to help in a myriad of ways.
Soon we offered showers. After
all, we had the means, and there was a need, so we opened another set of doors
to help these new visitors. Not soon after, or maybe even before, Betty Jones
asked if she might offer a Bible study.
She’d go outside to where they sat and congregated and share the Word of
God with them.
Each
ministry stretched and grew and changed.
Allen became a liturgist, reading scripture on Sunday mornings and
eventually joining the church. Bonnie
and Cesar began feeding more homeless folks and people in need than church
members at Sunday morning breakfast that it stopped being a fundraiser and
became entirely an outreach. Betty
continued teaching the Bible and she and others helped coordinate the showers
and started doing clothes and hygiene supplies too. Emaline and others offered to take clothes
home for individuals and wash them. Some
folks cleaned showers. Some folks washed towels. Some folks cut potatoes. Some
folks washed dishes and others wiped tables.
Jimmy and Carlos and Mona also started coming to worship. What began with 2 grew to serve many.
We’ve
grown a lot and been stretched a lot in these ministries. We’ve also had our struggles. Many folks were fearful as they stepped
around sleeping bags leaving an evening meeting. Others were angry that this wasn’t the
atmosphere they wanted coming to church on a Sunday morning. We battled against drinking on campus. We have had more than a few conversations
with the fire department, police and EMTs.
We have written and rewritten rules.
We have put people on notice, others have had to have a period of
probation with the hope that they might be willing to adhere to the rules at
the end of it. There have been messes of all kinds and a laundry list of other
items that have made us scream, cry, laugh, and shake our heads. We have discussed and re-discussed wondering
if we were making any difference. And
somehow the answer of whether or not we should do this ministry with “these
people” has stayed the same, yes, we should.
Yes, it makes a difference.
After
17 years on the street, Allen moved into permanent housing. After more than 6
months on the street and some severe health struggles, Ed found a place to
live. Mona went into rehab. Carlos, after nearly losing his life, became
sober. Some of our friends, including
Cuca and little Allen, and Allen Anderson have passed. And while we don’t celebrate that, I
celebrate that they weren’t alone when it happened. I celebrate that they knew
the love and care of community before entering heaven. There are other stories of these friends who
have struggled for a lot of reasons finding jobs, finding hope, entering a
recovery program, getting sober, finding a safe place to live, and knowing that
this place is a safe place for them to come, for a hot meal, and a hot shower,
some clean clothes, and people who care.
At
the outset, we were worried what shopping carts on the front lawn might say
about us as a church. I’m not sure what
everyone in our city thinks, but I know there are a whole lot of people,
hundreds and hundreds of them, who see them and know this is the place that
helps. This is the church that cares.
This is the place where you don’t have to have it all right in your life
in order to walk through the doors.
When
I look at this journey, I see the story of the talents. We have taken what we have been given: a good
kitchen, with plenty of space to serve and eat, a bathroom with a shower,
closets and hand-me-down clothes and shoes and towels, and a lot of loving
people who care about others and we have been faithful. YOU have been faithful. You have used your gifts of hospitality,
cooking, generosity, grace, love, forgiveness, tolerance, and compassion and
you have blessed people. And in blessing
a few, God has entrusted you with more. And in being faithful with that, God
has entrusted you with even more than that.
Some
days, it could be easy to be frustrated.
Some days it can feel like all we do is give and all others do is
take. Some days we wonder what we get
out of this. A few years back when we
went from a handful of folks to a couple of handfuls, we weren’t sure we could
handle serving more people. And someone
even commented, “They’re only going to invite their friends!” It was stated as a potentially negative
thing, and if we couldn’t find the resources to help, it could have been. And yet, with some perspective, it’s a
blessing, a truth that should be proclaimed from a group of people living as
the body of Christ. The work and
ministry we do here should make us, and anyone else WANT to invite our
friends. I wish everyone would invite
their friends. Because it means that
what we are doing makes a difference. What we are doing matters. What we are doing is worthy of inviting
others to be a part.
Some
of you are a bit anxious about the future, particularly in the next couple of
months. You’ve been fearful of the
change, and all that it brings. Some of
you are skeptical. Others of you are so
very Methodist at your core that you just shrug off another change in
appointment. =)
I
want to reassure you and remind you of how very faithful you have been as the
body of Christ. Not just in ministries
of outreach with the homeless, though the evidence of those treasures and
talents are quite clear, but in all kinds of ways. You have been faithful. You have been
prayerful. You have listened to God’s leading, even when it took us in a hard
direction. We have been pruned back, and
new growth has come forth. You are the
body of believers. You are the core here.
To use an analogy, you are the tree that has grown tall and strong with
deep deep roots in this place. You have weathered many storms and born much
fruit. You have gone through seasons where you were malnourished only to
receive extra nutrients and water in later years and been more fruitful than
ever. Others of you have been grafted in, coming from another tree, but getting
tied in and connected here and becoming part of this tree, bearing your fruit
and growing together in ministry.
As
your pastor, it is my honor to help cultivate this tree, the body of Christ
called Wesley Church. It is my challenge
to see what needs to be pruned and cut back so that new growth might arise. And it is my joy to celebrate the amazing
harvest of fruits that you bear. Fruits
of joy, patience, kindness, compassion, charity, hope, faith, love, gentleness,
and even self-control. As your pastor, I
am not the tree, you are. I am here to
nurture and help you grow, and it has been an ultimate gift to me to be a part
of this chapter in your journey together.
And I am proud to pass my responsibility to another talented
cultivator. Pastor David will come with
different nutrients to offer. He may help you bear new fruits in addition to
growing larger sweeter fruits. And, he
will also have the challenge of seeing other areas that need pruning so that
there might be even better healthier growth in the future.
Friends
you have been faithful with a little and then more and now much. God is sharing even more with you so can be
faithful with much much more.
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