Homeless

In the six months I have lived in NYC, I have spent 100 times more time with the homeless than I have in all my years before moving here. I think it is mostly because unlike anyplace I have ever lived, they are my neighbors here. I pass them on the sidewalk, sit next to them on the subway, see them sleeping under the awnings of the local stores at night. But it is also a part of God's call on my life in coming to New York. As I read and reread the gospels over the past few years, I came to see that I actually had very little to do with people that Jesus had a lot to do with and a lot to say about...the poor.

Tonight I spent about 90 minutes talking with a homeless man. We did not talk on the street or in the subway, but at our Communitas Sunday evening gathering. Two of our members spoke with him an hour before our service, and invited him to come and have dinner with us and if he wanted to, to stay for the service. I think they were surprised when he showed up. As I taught from Acts 2 tonight, I looked out over our small gathering and felt joy that there were two homeless men present- men who have hopefully found love and acceptance in a community that is trying to follow Jesus and to see them as Jesus does. Should not the "Church" be the one place where they feel wanted, safe, loved?

Not always. The man told me as we spoke tonight of a church in the area where he sleeps at night that has never once offered help, but has called the police.

I know I have a great deal to learn about the appropriate way to help someone who is homeless. I can't just give money- I'd be broke in a week. And I can't invite them to live with us. We are already pretty tight, the four of us, in our little apartment. But I can offer friendship, a listening ear, love, and community. Probably a good place to start and see where it takes us.