He felt good about himself. His bills were paid on time again. There were no outstanding debts. He was able to get his girls the outfits they pointed out last week. He saw his son get the latest kit to go to support his team with the season ticket he renewed on time. He saw that his wife could get that new car she said she wanted.
It has taken years of hard work and no one handed this to him. It was his effort, his sacrifice and his application that had brought all this about. He felt really good. What’s more, he had more than paid his dues in the community. He did the voluntary hours cleaning up as a young man. He even showed up at that old church regularly and was one of those who made a point of being among the most generous.
All his bases were covered. He had looked after his parents in their final days, getting them the best care he possibly could. He could still remember some of those who spoke well of him at the memorial when his Dad was finally laid to rest next to his wife of over fifty years. Of all the children, he was the one that covered the costs and arranged things to go so smoothly.
Life may not be perfect, but as he bustled into the church auditorium, he knew in himself that he had done more than most to make a success of his life. When it got to the time to offer prayers, he found himself mumbling the usual platitudes with the usual lacklustre approach. He barely prayed. He barely needed to. He had made his dreams come true. Sure, there might be other causes to consider, but what could his prayers do if those folks would not do what he did to lift himself above his circumstances? Was it his fault that they didn’t have the sheer tenacity of will to change things like he did?
He felt good. He had done it, even as others hadn’t. He could sit there with his beautiful wife and lovely children around him displaying and reflecting his hard work, his tireless efforts and the fruit of his labours.
Unsurprisingly, he did not pay too much attention to the other guy who walked in after him. He did not notice him initially, until the smell reached his nose. He turned to see the person responsible for the off-putting odour. Oh it was another one. One of those smelly homeless sorts who would stroll in because of the soup kitchen the church ran during the week.
The smell of alcohol was pungent made worse by the clear pong of a man who evidently has not visited a shower and deodorant in a while. Why didn’t these people respect the place by keeping out until the soup kitchen was on? Didn’t they respect the fact that they would put off the decent members of the church?
This guy seemed to at least look sheepish coming in. At least he looked ashamed as he should. He even had the wherewithal not to push towards the middle let alone the front of the auditorium. He kept his stinking and rotting excuse of a person near the back of the hall.
There was something about him that made the self made man uncomfortable. Not just the smell and the disheveled and tattered clothing. His face. It bore the weight of sadness and hopelessness that was disturbing. As long as he didn’t cause a scene to be of further nuisance, all would be well.
A guest speaker was sharing on this occasion and he shares about the amazing love of God. He talked about how the love of the Father reached even those who had ruined their lives in reckless activities. He spoke how the good news was for the poor exactly because the poor knew what lack was about and what it was to depend on someone greater to survive. The poor could then be receptive to the news that the rule of God ushered in compassion and care to lift the poor to enjoy the true riches in Christ not found primarily in better bank balances and the accumulation of material goods.
This talk of the amazing and redemptive love of God caused an outcry near the back of the room. It was the stinking man sobbing loudly. The guest speaker was not put off or disturbed by the outcry. He spoke on about the wonderful rule of God founded on His amazing love turned things upside down, so that those who felt smug and comfortable in their own achievements would be bypassed for the humble and mourning ones aware of their flaws and their need for divine help in the circumstances. Then the speaker did something truly shocking. He got down from the platform on which he was speaking. He walked all the way to the back and got into a conversation with that homeless guy. Everyone watched him but didn’t hear the conversation. What they saw, however, was a remarkable change in the face of what they thought to be a tramp.
The conversation saw him stop the sobbing, nod his head at times, even break out in a wide smile showing gaps where his teeth used to be. From smiling he was laughing and crying again, but this time in happiness. All the while no one heard the nature of the conversation. It eventually ended with the guest speaker helping the man to his feet, support him as he tottered and then helped him from the back to the front of the hall. There at the front, the guest speaker got his plush chair for the ‘tramp’ to sit in. The guest speaker got him a drink of water and some biscuits. Those in attendance didn’t know how to react. The self made man was perplexed and disturbed at what he thought was such a weird way to treat such important furniture.
The guest speaker carried on with his speech on the amazing and redemptive love of God. As the service reached the end, the homeless guy was about to try and shuffle off, but the guest speaker insisted that he stay for the church meal afterwards. The self made man was appalled. He had been there for years and had never got that attention. Not that he needed it, but how could this guest speaker just offer it to this no good loser?
He was going to take it up with the main leader of the church when it looked as if the guest speaker had accurately read his attitude from afar. The guest speaker approached him to say something that would challenge him for years after the incident.
“You’re not happy are you? I can tell. Let me put it this way. When God looks at you, does He judge you on your accomplishments in your own eyes or what He accomplishes through you? What if all you had was put up next to all God has? How poor and insignificant would you be? And what if God still chose to enrich you with what mattered to Him? Think about those things and you might be able to relate with why this is such great news to the poor. Not just the financially poor either.”
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 