And he said
to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 5:19
“Peter,
Andrew, James, John…let’s go for a walk.
You have been living your life all these years on the sea. Come let me show you what you should see.”
Immediately they left all and followed him.
Where did he
take them? Did they just stay on the
well-worn paths? Did they visit all the
typical sites of business and commerce, trade and tourism? Yes they went to all of the synagogues but it
wasn’t to talk religion. They went all
over proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.
Jesus didn’t just talk about the kingdom; he showed them about the
kingdom. He got right down with the sick,
the diseased, and the oppressed and healed them all. He was more concerned about the marginalized
than the rich and influential.
Untouchable leper? The ugly and
deformed? The poor and hungry? Mentally and spiritually oppressed and
dysfunctional? He went to them. He found
them where they were and he healed them all.
He didn’t judge, he loved. He
didn’t see damaged goods that should be thrown away, he saw people who were
hurting.
And a scribe
came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Matthew
8:19-20
Jesus was
street engaged. He had no home. Do you think that he understands what it is
to be homeless? The King of Kings could
have had all that any man could ever want or need, but he chose the
streets. He knew that to reach the poor
and oppressed he needed to be with them.
And so he walked. He walked for
over three years with his disciples. He
tried to teach them not to see the problem but to see the person. Worn old woman with an issue of blood to be
avoided? No a loving child of God who
needed but a touch. A dangerous, fearful
demon possessed oddity to be chained and left in the tombs for dead? No a man who needed to hear the words of God
and is now seated and in his right mind.
And Jesus
went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every
affliction. When he saw the crowds, he
had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like a sheep
without a shepherd. Then he said to his
disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray
earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew
9:35-38
I recently
went on a street walk with Grace Street Mission. It was one of the most impactful evenings I
can remember. We walked through a city
that I thought I knew. In amongst the
high price condos, busy commercial streets and high rise business towers are
some of the most marginalized people of Halifax. Oh I have seen the homeless around, begging
on the street corners. I have passed the
addict sitting on the side of the street.
This walk showed me that although I may have looked at these people, I
had never really seen them. Where do
they sleep? What do they eat? How are they able to practice basic personal
hygiene? What do they do for companionship, friendship? Do they worry about their safety? In my
little bubble world, I never stopped to see the addict as a person. I have never tried to understand the mentally
and spiritually oppressed and the challenge that is really theirs. We are always taught to not give them any
money…they will only spend it on drugs or alcohol. Maybe…but what would they be willing to do to
get the money they need? When others
look at you like trash you tend not to see the value that you have and are
willing to do almost anything, no matter how degrading, to get what you need. When I help them, I am giving them
dignity. I am saying that you don’t need
to do what you were about to do. You are
a person and not trash. The same people
who taught us not to give to the addict always taught us the importance of
leaving a tip at a restaurant. Do you
judge how your server will spend the money?
Does the clean cut, polite waiter deserve my money any more than the
dirty unkempt guy on the street corner?
I was
challenged when I looked at how Jesus looked at the needy. He looked with compassion. People who are on the street don’t need our
pity, they need our compassion. That
being said, I know that it isn’t possible for me to spend all my time down on
the streets helping others. With that in
mind I started looking at others that are in need around me. What about the lonely student away from
home? What about the single mother suffering
from depression and is overwhelmed with raising her children on her own? What about the husband struggling to find
work to support his family? Don’t just
look around you…see around you. The
harvest is great and the workers are few.
In some small way I choose to be a worker of compassion today. If you ask him, Jesus might take you on a
walk today. If he does, you will never
be the same.
