Giving...and Receiving

He looked like Jesus. Except for the fact that he wasn't Middle-Eastern. And he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt while carrying a backpack. And he was in Fresno. But if you take one of those European paintings of Jesus where he is white and thin, not so much effeminate but not Grizzly Adams, either. He had a beard and longer hair, and my first thought when I met him was that he looked like Jesus. Especially his eyes. Piercing blue eyes that seemed to look within me. The kind of eyes that almost make you uncomfortable when you look into them.

But, let's be honest. I did not expect him to speak or act like Jesus. After all, he was a homeless man from Fresno's Tent City. He resides in squalid conditions that most of us would not consider humane for our dogs. I assume addiction or something similar has led him to the streets, but I was apprehensive about asking. Truthfully, I expected him to smell - a weird mixture of beer, cigarettes and body odor so common down there - but he didn't. Still, I did not expect much from him, especially in the spiritual realm.

His name was John. I was intrigued by his name, especially since I thought he looked like Jesus. I remembered reading a short book by a Christian author a couple years back that hinted at meeting John, as in the apostle. Recalling that book I laughed to myself, or maybe at myself for thinking this tent-dweller could be remotely like an apostle or the Rabbi.

I found out that he had visited the church where I preach, but not since I have been there. His impressions were positive. But Sundays were hard for him. He did not want to come to worship without a shower, but the showers were overcrowded on Sunday mornings. Maybe there was more, but I had heard this from another homeless man who attends our services so I knew this to be a real issue. The man with me offered to pick him up early enough to get use the showers at our building, but he balked at this suggestion. In my mind, I couldn't help but think that maybe he just wasn't interested in church, or Jesus for that matter. The resemblance was just a coincidence.

What happened next moved me so deeply that I found myself fighting back tears. In fact, it was several hours before I could even talk about it.

My friend told John that we would be in prayer for him. John responded by asking, "What do YOU want ME to pray for, for you?" When neither of us gave much of a response, he got more specific. "In the next few minutes and hours of this day, what can I pray about for you?" The next thing I knew (it was as if this was happening in slow motion) I was standing in the street holding hands with my friend...and with John. And instead of my voice praying over this poor homeless man, I heard John's voice. His prayer was long. Not wordy, really. But he had a lengthy conversation with God, and his words told me that he was well acquainted with the One to whom he was speaking. But even more moving than the fact that he was praying was the content of his prayer. He did not ask for one thing for himself. His whole prayer was focused on my friend and me, sprinkled with praises to God for His greatness and provision, for His mercy and grace. In that moment I was taken aback to realize that I had showed up downtown to minister to the homeless, yet here I was being ministered to by John.

In Matthew's account of  Jesus' life, he recorded this quote (Jesus speaking in the second person about Himself): "That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage" (20.28). Though John was homeless, and by all indications destitute, he was not there to be served but to serve. It was humbling, to say the least. It forced me to come face-to-face with my own sinfulness. I was brought low, and at the same time lifted up.  So come to think of it, he really did look like Jesus.

Thank you, Father, for reminding me of my constant need for your mercy. Thank you for showing me that being a minister does not exempt me from the need for ministry in my own life. And thank you for using John to change me. Through Jesus, Amen

Nigel's Big Plans

He said his name was Nigel. He was sitting at a table outside the Poverello House waiting for the doors to open for lunch. I don't know why Nigel is homeless, if he is an addict or if he is mentally ill. I don't understand how he got from Virginia to Fresno, or even if he really did. But very quickly, this outgoing black man had my attention. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, nothing memorable. He appeared to have more teeth than his mouth was made to hold, and big smile that showed itself often. He was quick to introduce himself and was immediately curious why I was there. When he found out I was a preacher, he seemed to get a little excited, and we began a conversation about biblical matters.

I will confess that I did not expect much theological depth from a man living on the street. I figured he might have heard some preachers, or maybe picked up some religious statements from recovery meetings. But what followed blew me away. Not only was Nigel familiar with basic Bible facts, it was soon obvious that he possessed a deep understanding of the Word, and how it fit together. I listened as he walked through not only several characters, but how their lives and stories were interrelated. I listened as he talked about Biblical structure, wondered about God's reasoning behind the story of Job, and quoted verse after verse from the KJV in a rich, bass voice. Almost James-Earl-Jones-ish. He then told me that he loved reading his Bible. I commented that it was obvious he had read more than a lot of people in churches I knew. He said, "Well, I have a lot of time and not many distractions, so I just sit and read for hours."

He then changed gears, though, and shared his big plans. He had once seen a news story about a young girl who had a seizure-detecting dog. It was able to smell or sense the changes in her body chemistry before the onset of the seziure and would alert her so she could get help. Nigel was moved by that story. Enter Nigel the inventor. He wants to invent a device that could be worn like a bracelet that would perform the same function as the dog...and then some. He said his device would provide a two-hour advance warning before a major medical event, including heart attack, stroke, blood clots, etc. With his proceeds, Nigel wants to purchase a company, perhaps McDonalds, that he would then give to the government to fund Medicaid and other such programs for the needy. With his leftover money, he would build a community of houses for the homeless. Upon approval, homeless people would be allowed to move into the house and given $100,000. They would have one year to get back on their feet and manage the money. If, after that year, they had not done well or wasted the money he would evict them and move the next person on the list in for their trial year. When I commented that I might see his name on the news one day, he said, "Give me two years and I WILL do it." Gotta commend his positive attitude and his goal-setting.

And then he started telling jokes. They were not inappropriate or off-color. Some were - frankly - not very funny. But Nigel did have a good time telling them, complete with big belly-laughs after delivering the punch line.

Now, follow me back to something Nigel said, in the part about his Bible study. He said that he was able to build his Bible knowledge because he read often and long. But he said the biggest thing that helped this was that he had no distractions. Perhaps for many Christians today, that is the single greatest barrier in our own knowledge of the Word of God. We love the Lord and his people. We live lives based on the moral code contained in the Bible. We attend worship and give generously. But our lives have become so full and busy that even some good things become distractions (our interests, the activities of our kids, the stress of work, on and on). And those things that ultimately receive our time and attention become our top priorities. I talked with someone this week who is a couple days ahead of schedule on the 90-day Bible reading plan. I asked him about his impressions of the plan and the first thing he said was, "I have to MAKE time to do it." He is a busy man, running a large business, being a husband, father and grandfather, watching out for his aging parents. But this thing of reading a large portion of the Bible daily has become a part of his routine. He has found ways to lessen the distractions of life in order to make time with God a priority.

I am not ready to put my family in a tent and stake my claim on G Street. But I hope we can all take a lesson from Nigel and lessen the distractions clamoring for our attention and make time with the Word a big part of our daily lives.

And who knows...maybe Nigel's invention will one day save your life. Or at least his jokes might make you laugh, which the Bible says is good medicine!