"There's an old man with a bum hand, sitting with a dog who's afraid of his shadow.....On a park bench, slightly out of reach from the concept of reality.
People passing by see the tears he's crying, but their hearts of stone says it really doesn't matter. He's an old fool from the old school, and they're the upward mobile movers and the shakers.....
You've got to give a little, or else your going to find yourselves plopped right down, smack dab in the middle of a hard rain. Like a discarded lover without any covers. Driving you crazy 'bout to go insane."
This is the opening verse from a song I wrote years ago. Didn't know at the time that it would become something that God would call ReCovery Church to.....but isn't that the way God works?
I thought we were only going to deal with those in addiction. Those who's bad choices had taken them down the dark path to a life of what some refer to as "slow suicide". A life of bondage to their drug of choice. But God called and instructed us (ReCovery Church) to put some legs to what we believe. In other words, don't just talk about it, demonstrate the love of the Father to those who have been marginalized in our society. Treat them with some dignity, acknowledging that they also have been created in the image of Almighty God.
So this is why we do a breakfast giveaway every other week. A hot meal seems like a little thing, but we wanted to take this out a little farther. We wanted to offer them choices. We wanted to add a special touch to the meal, such as giving them options in choosing their breakfast. I remember one of the first time we did a breakfast, we had a young girl come off the street. My wife, Vicki, took her order and asked, "How would you like your eggs cooked?" The young girl kind of hung her head and said, "It doesn't matter. Beggars can't be choosey." My wife looked into the young girl's eyes and said, "Honey there ain't no beggars here. How would you like your eggs cooked." Sounds like a little thing, but to this young girl, it may have been the first time in a long time that someone had treated her with a little respect and dignity, and that she wasn't looked down on.
We try to spend time with those who come into to eat a hot meal. We sit with them and just talk (and the most important part is that we listen) to what they have to say. Some are difficult because they don't want to talk, but we sit with them anyway.
The one thing that we don't want to do is look down on these folks as if we thought we were better than they were. We approach each breakfast as a servant there to meet their needs during that meal. We offer a place where they can take a hot shower and maybe get a fresh set of clothes to wear. We offer razors, shave cream, deodorant, socks, and other necessities that you and I take for granted. Bottom line is that we simply want to love on those who stop by. In that act of love, if we can drop some Jesus "seeds', sharing the gospel, we do. We may never know or see what happened to that seed that was planted in them, but we trust God that He will use it in the life of each individual.
We will be downtown this morning in about 4 hours, the doors will be opened. The coffee will be hot. The doughnut lady will have brought her offering of doughnuts to be given out. Eggs will be cracked, and the waffle iron will be hot. It does not matter how many come by to eat. Whether it is 25 or 2. We will be about the Kingdom business today. Bless those who come by, Father. And may they find You this morning. In Jesus name, Amen.
Matthew 6:40 - "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me."
God on you...
mbb
