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“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:
Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you something to drink?
When were you a stranger, and we took you in? or naked, and clothed you?
Or when were you sick, or in prison, and we visited you? And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me’.”
We hosted five homeless men last Friday evening at St. John’s. One of them, Nelson, a short thin man from El Salvador, introduced himself to us by exclaiming with a smile as big as Big Bunny, “El Salvador, the greatest country in the world.” His love for his native country was matched by his devotion to God, on display as he knelt down at his blowup mattress to say his evening prayers.
Gary was the son of a preacher from Atlanta. When I asked what kind of preacher he was, Gary said, “Oh, he was all kinds,” indicating to me his father preached in multiple venues in multiple denominational settings. When Lee Gray asked if any of the men would like to say the blessing before eating their dinner, Gary volunteered. And he prayed a beautiful prayer that would have made his father proud.
Darrick from Michigan was a wanderer, wandering off several times in the evening and even throughout the night. At first, I was concerned about this and discussed it with my host partner, James Laney, but then remembered, “We’re not running a prison. We’re providing a bed for the homeless.” In the morning when I was dust sweeping the gym floor, Darrick asked if he could do it. I was happy to oblige and Darrick was proud to help.
Brandon was from Boston, but had lived in D.C. and New York throughout his years as a restaurant manager. As expected, he was a Patriots fan and was glad to talk about the connection with Charlotte native Drake May, quarterback for the Patriots. We won’t talk about the game. Ugghh!
Finally, there was David, who arrived from Wisconsin 4 days ago after finding out his wife had been cheating on him throughout their 31 years of marriage. (That’s a long story). He thought he was coming to stay with his aunt, but that didn’t turn out well, so here he was, in our church for the evening.
These are 5 of the approximately 2300 homeless people living in Charlotte. The homeless population in the U.S. is around 775,000 with an estimated 30 percent with some form of serious mental illness.
St. John’s is not going to solve the homeless problem in Charlotte or the U.S. with our cooperative efforts with churches and volunteers with Room in the Inn. But we are trying to treat Jesus with respect and dignity when he shows up. We have a hot meal for him, a clothing closet where he can have some new underwear, socks, t-shirt, a warm hat and perhaps a pair of new pants. (Nelson’s pants were ripped where he had fallen on the ice.) We don’t treat him like a prisoner. We treat him like a guest. He may have a mental illness that was transmitted genetically or due to severe trauma or merely the accumulation of pains, indignities and slights throughout his life. Whatever may be the nature of Jesus’ illness, it is our honor to serve him and treat him as our brother.
That’s what we do at St. John’s.
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