On Tuesday I had the privilege of
helping at an Easter dinner for the homeless and poor in downtown Ottawa, put on by Ottawa Innercity Ministries. I have been able to volunteer at several dinners in the
past. I help a bit in the kitchen with
preparations, and then take photos of the event and the guests. Some of the guests are excited at the
opportunity to have their photo taken with a friend or family member. I can then get them copies (digital or
hardcopies) later. I end up spending a
lot of the time just chatting with the guests. Many have lived lives that we
would never wish on our enemies, let alone our own children. They have faced abuse of all kinds from
people that should have loved them. They
got caught up in addictions in a desperate attempt to hide from the horrible
pain in their lives.
I spent the most time with a man
probably in his early 50s – I’ll call him Tom.
Tom lives alone and barely survives on his disability cheque. He has just started seeing his 3 year-old
granddaughter this past year. Tom can
only see her on holidays, as his relationship with his daughter is shaky. His son swindled him out of a lot of money
and they are no longer speaking. As far as I could tell, Tom has no other
family. I spent a lot of time with Tom
because he was so desperate for someone to care about him. At one point the loneliness became tangible,
as the tears rolled down his cheeks.
When you see a homeless person or
beggar on the street, what do you do? I
have heard so many religious people tell me that the homeless deserve to be
there. They categorize all the people on
the streets as people who made bad decisions and became alcoholics or drug
addicts because they were somehow morally deficient – or at least worse than
the good religious person telling me this.
They refuse to give the homeless person any money because “they will
just use it to buy more alcohol or drugs.”
So, with the self-righteous logic in place they hurry past the most
needy people in our culture without even a glance. (It sounds a lot like the priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan.)
What was Jesus’ attitude towards
these hurting people? In Matthew 25:41-46
Jesus challenges anyone who turns a blind eye to those in need that their lack
of love will result in eternal punishment!
“Then He
will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart
from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no
drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked
and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they
also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it
to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mt 25:41-46 NKJV)
When you walk past that homeless person, you have walked
past Jesus in His greatest need. If
you won’t give him or her money, how about taking ten minutes and buying them a
cup of coffee and a muffin? Will you even give them acknowledgement? A smile?
A handshake and prayer? If we
came across a homeless dog, we would smother it with attention and do our best
to help it out. When we come across a
homeless person we do our best to pretend we don’t even see them.
We will explore this
topic further in the next post.
What do YOU do when
God brings you into the path of someone who is needy?
Please share in a
comment.
For further information on Ottawa Innercity Ministries
and their work with the poor and homeless, click here
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