A week and a half ago, I was at one of my favorite ministry sites that we partner with. It's name is SOME. It is an acronym for So Others Might Eat. I love this site, I've blogged about it a couple of times before. Each time I go to SOME, I walk away having learned a new lesson. This past lesson was extremely humbling: let me explain.
I was sitting in the back of the dining room as we were beginning to serve breakfast, and I was talking to one of my leaders that week, Angela. We were just having a casual conversation, and I was thoroughly enjoying it. I really like Angela so the conversation was easy.
At one point, we began talking and commented on how well our students were doing at initiating and engaging the people at this kitchen in conversation. One of my goals for each week is to let my students walk away feeling comfortable engaging homeless men and women in conversation. As I saw one of the students walking up to a homeless man and having a discussion with him, I was really happy that this student got the ability to enjoy this conversation. As I realized I was happy, I also realized I knew nothing about this man that I wanted the student to be talking to.
Upon realizing that I knew nothing about this man, I had a flashback of some of the stories I have heard from the men and women I have encountered on the streets. I realized that I have talked to individuals who have become homeless by getting out of domestic abuse, bad luck or being laid off their job. I have also met individuals who have confessed to becoming homeless by admitting to murder, rape, theft, drunkenness and mental illness.
It struck me all of a sudden that I was just as likely to be encouraging this student to be initiating a conversation with a woman getting out of an abusive relationship as a murderer. My first reaction was, 'what am I thinking?' My second reaction was, 'what's the lesson I'm missing right now?'
All of a sudden, it hit me. We encourage these students to start conversations, because for some reason that I can't explain...when we serve the homeless, all of their other sins are erased. When someone is homeless, we don't know if they have committed rape in their past, stolen from a convenient store or just had bad luck and been kicked out of their job. All we know is that they are desperate and we are called to love them...so we do. In the oddest way, their homelessness brings a humanity to them where we don't judge them the way that we would if they 'ran in our social circles.' We instead see people who are desperate and meet their needs.
In the oddest way, I am convinced that this is what God does to us. When we as people approach his feet, He never sees us for the sins we have committed in the past. He doesn't inquire or look further into our past. He merely sees that in our brokenness we are desperate for love and he can provide that. So He does. He sees desperate people and meets their needs. Knowing that He gives us the opportunity to practice this unconditional love in a soup kitchen of all places is not only humbling, but also so encouraging. To say the least, rather than discouraging my students from talking to any stranger they may encounter in a kitchen, I will be advocating for them to initiate those conversations and hopefully learn the same way I am so fortunate to.
