"Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." - Luke 11:12-14
Jesus' words were the inspiration for the banquet we held yesterday for 32 homeless men and women from the Portland area. We had a wonderful group of volunteers who helped feed, gave of their clothes and time, cut hair, cleaned up messes, gave up their home for a day, and generally loved on people who have little or no hope.
Shane Claiborne, author of the book Irresistible Revolution, used the Indian word "namaste" which means seeing "the Divine within someone," or literally "I see God within you." The obvious connection here is that those who we blessed with our time and effort saw God within us, but that is not entirely true. Many did, one man who lost his wife in a car accident 5 years ago and has never recovered from the depression that set in, mentioned that he had seen a lot of Christians in his life, but we were the first to "talk the talk and then actually walk the walk." (This guy was very interesting, he had two degrees from Princeton (English and History) and was a high school teacher for years before the accident. His wife was African and he had traveled extensively.)
However, it was much easier to find Christ in these broken and hurting people. Jesus said, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). Jesus was running around everywhere in Aurora, Oregon and we had the pleasure of serving Him, loving Him - face to face. This is the joy of serving the poor, especially when it is your calling.
Most of the 32 had some sort of story, some true, some not, but one thing I know is that God loves all of them no matter if they are living a lie or not. Many of the stories broke my heart, stories of tragedy, of death, of estrangement. Some of drug abuse and poor choices, some about how God has worked in their life, and some who question the reality of the Trinity and whether God truly exists. All of the stories reminded me how we all need a savior, how we are all broken and need Jesus to patch us up.
Not only did I see Christ in many of these people, I saw myself. Where I could have been if I would have made different decisions, or if I would have made the same ones, just at a different time. And that just drove my point home even more - we are not better or superior, we have nothing "figured out." As Brennan Manning writes in Ragamuffin Gospel, "we are all, equally, privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God's mercy" Christ has just showered His love and blessing down on us and rather than hoard that we are pouring it out onto those who need it just as bad as we do. I like to use the term "voluntary redistribution:" because Christ is in us we choose to pass along (or redistribute) or Earthly goods to those who need them (or don't). Hopefully, this action will evoke the response of "namaste."
Shane Claiborne, author of the book Irresistible Revolution, used the Indian word "namaste" which means seeing "the Divine within someone," or literally "I see God within you." The obvious connection here is that those who we blessed with our time and effort saw God within us, but that is not entirely true. Many did, one man who lost his wife in a car accident 5 years ago and has never recovered from the depression that set in, mentioned that he had seen a lot of Christians in his life, but we were the first to "talk the talk and then actually walk the walk." (This guy was very interesting, he had two degrees from Princeton (English and History) and was a high school teacher for years before the accident. His wife was African and he had traveled extensively.)
However, it was much easier to find Christ in these broken and hurting people. Jesus said, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). Jesus was running around everywhere in Aurora, Oregon and we had the pleasure of serving Him, loving Him - face to face. This is the joy of serving the poor, especially when it is your calling.
Most of the 32 had some sort of story, some true, some not, but one thing I know is that God loves all of them no matter if they are living a lie or not. Many of the stories broke my heart, stories of tragedy, of death, of estrangement. Some of drug abuse and poor choices, some about how God has worked in their life, and some who question the reality of the Trinity and whether God truly exists. All of the stories reminded me how we all need a savior, how we are all broken and need Jesus to patch us up.
Not only did I see Christ in many of these people, I saw myself. Where I could have been if I would have made different decisions, or if I would have made the same ones, just at a different time. And that just drove my point home even more - we are not better or superior, we have nothing "figured out." As Brennan Manning writes in Ragamuffin Gospel, "we are all, equally, privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God's mercy" Christ has just showered His love and blessing down on us and rather than hoard that we are pouring it out onto those who need it just as bad as we do. I like to use the term "voluntary redistribution:" because Christ is in us we choose to pass along (or redistribute) or Earthly goods to those who need them (or don't). Hopefully, this action will evoke the response of "namaste."
2 comments:
Amazing! Awesome! Beautiful! We wished we were there! Good on ya Coloumbe family! (That's from our Australian friend influence!). YEAH JESUS!!! We love you guys!
locke family
Hey, I'll bet you didn't expect to hear from me but you two always bring back good memories from my days at Grace Chapel...I just got to your blog from an email through the Locke's and read about your new ministry and life mission. Wow, what an inspiring venture! God bless you as you read His signposts along the way...I know you will do the right thing. I especially loved your New Year's idea and with your permission (or without it :)) our family is going to steal it some time. We went downtown with some food, too, but we had nothing like the experience of your feast. God's best,
Scott Smith
ps/Hapuna Beach is one of my favorite spots in the world! We stood right in your pic spot over Thanksgiving...
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