Encountering Christ on the street
As I walked to work along King Street this morning on my way to the subway, I came upon a Salvation Army truck. At the back they were handing out a pile of bedding to a guy who then heaped it on to one shoulder. At the opening on the side another scruffy-looking guy stood waiting for, I assumed, a food handout.
A couple blocks further on I stepped past two guys wrapped in blankets lying on one of those vents in the sidewalk.
Unlike New York City (I understand) Toronto's homeless remain very visible. Living downtown as I do, I'm approached daily for spare change or I witness scenes like those above.
Whatever our take on the homeless--whether we see them as lazy bums or as innocent victims--as Christians we ought to feel some pretty deep sadness at such sights. When Jesus saw "the crowds" milling around aimlessly looking for direction, the Bible says He "had compassion on them."
In my case, I see so many homeless folks regularly (or I'm so callous and self-absorbed) that I'm not much moved by them anymore.
But this morning, I felt something again.
My own approach to the poor and/or homeless I see daily has been the following. Even if I can't give every homeless guy (and most seem to be guys) money, I should at least look them in the eye, acknowledge them as human beings, and say "Sorry." And I ought to pray for them when I can. Due to my particular circumstances I've always told myself that that was all God expected of me at this time in my life.
Hmmm. I wonder.
An acquaintance of mine, Dion Oxford, who runs a Salvation Army men's shelter in Toronto, has written some pieces about what we personally can do for the homeless. (I think the pieces were attached to an e-mail he sent me. I'll see if I can dig them up and share them with you later.) Anyhow, I do remember one possible strategy he advocated and that was: get to know just one homeless person. Say hi, stop and converse. Take them for a meal. Learn their life story.
My wife used to work as an assistant to the director of Yonge Street Mission (which in my opinion is an amazing organization) in Toronto. Regularly, she'd tell me stories--some firsthand, some secondhand--of the poor and homeless.
Bottom line: there are some creeps among them, but most are more or less like you and me, except they've had some tough breaks.
Most of the people who drop into Evergreen, YSM's "street involved youth" outreach, have been abused. Big time. Thanks to YSM, many are now living normal lives and some, as a result of the grace of God (using YSM's low key "incarnational" approach) have become Christians.
So obviously, giving money to an organization like YSM is another clear option for Christians who want to help.
This evening (I'm writing this on the noon hour) I'll again board the bus, then subway, and likely will see at least one more homeless person before I reach home.
Elsewhere in the Bible Jesus told a parable which included this famous verse: "And the King shall answer and say unto them...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Mmmmm. Doesn't seem to be much wiggle room there.
A couple blocks further on I stepped past two guys wrapped in blankets lying on one of those vents in the sidewalk.
Unlike New York City (I understand) Toronto's homeless remain very visible. Living downtown as I do, I'm approached daily for spare change or I witness scenes like those above.
Whatever our take on the homeless--whether we see them as lazy bums or as innocent victims--as Christians we ought to feel some pretty deep sadness at such sights. When Jesus saw "the crowds" milling around aimlessly looking for direction, the Bible says He "had compassion on them."
In my case, I see so many homeless folks regularly (or I'm so callous and self-absorbed) that I'm not much moved by them anymore.
But this morning, I felt something again.
My own approach to the poor and/or homeless I see daily has been the following. Even if I can't give every homeless guy (and most seem to be guys) money, I should at least look them in the eye, acknowledge them as human beings, and say "Sorry." And I ought to pray for them when I can. Due to my particular circumstances I've always told myself that that was all God expected of me at this time in my life.
Hmmm. I wonder.
An acquaintance of mine, Dion Oxford, who runs a Salvation Army men's shelter in Toronto, has written some pieces about what we personally can do for the homeless. (I think the pieces were attached to an e-mail he sent me. I'll see if I can dig them up and share them with you later.) Anyhow, I do remember one possible strategy he advocated and that was: get to know just one homeless person. Say hi, stop and converse. Take them for a meal. Learn their life story.
My wife used to work as an assistant to the director of Yonge Street Mission (which in my opinion is an amazing organization) in Toronto. Regularly, she'd tell me stories--some firsthand, some secondhand--of the poor and homeless.
Bottom line: there are some creeps among them, but most are more or less like you and me, except they've had some tough breaks.
Most of the people who drop into Evergreen, YSM's "street involved youth" outreach, have been abused. Big time. Thanks to YSM, many are now living normal lives and some, as a result of the grace of God (using YSM's low key "incarnational" approach) have become Christians.
So obviously, giving money to an organization like YSM is another clear option for Christians who want to help.
This evening (I'm writing this on the noon hour) I'll again board the bus, then subway, and likely will see at least one more homeless person before I reach home.
Elsewhere in the Bible Jesus told a parable which included this famous verse: "And the King shall answer and say unto them...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Mmmmm. Doesn't seem to be much wiggle room there.
posted by Ted at 10:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home