People, Not the Sum of Experiences
Summary
At the end of his life, Jesus prays for his disciples, for the people he was sent to teach and those with whom he has a relationship, but not for the world in general. This statement may seem strange. Or, it could be a paradigm shift in how we see and treat the people we encounter daily. People are beautiful, divinely created individuals, and not the sum of their interactions with the world.
An urban church with small
membership and a shrinking budget made use of its space for as much weekly
ministry as possible. Families without homes found shelter in their church
during daytime hours. A biweekly food pantry fed over 200 families. Every
Sunday the soup kitchen offered a hot meal to as many as 150 people. Besides
these ministries, people would pop by during the week, seeking assistance with
an electric bill or rent. If the money was available, it was given.
There were never many people in the
pews on Sunday mornings, but for most of the urban community surrounding the
church it was an invaluable resource for shelter, food and community support.
It was a place where you could go to have your most basic human needs met in
the most human way possible. Each person was treated as a person, as someone
loved by God.
Of course, not all things were
idyllic. There were occasions when the pastor and the leadership at the church
needed to say “no.” When some homeless men and women started sleeping in the
alleyway in the back of the church, making wary the families and children who
used the inside of the church for safe shelter during day, the pastoral
leadership told the people sleeping in the alleyway that they could no longer
stay there at night. Besides, the alley way did not honor their humanity. Wouldn’t
a warm bed at the YMCA or other overnight shelter be preferred?
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