hmmmmm……is that possible???….
last sunday was a memorial service for a guy called “stompy.” i’d met him a few times. he lived behind a tire store in douglasville, ga, with jimbo. one sunday, back in the fall, i took some sack lunches to ‘em, climbed up the rope-path, and sat with ‘em for a while. they had a little lean-to shack, complete with a fire pit. it was pretty cold, but the fire felt good, and they offered me a beer while they waited for the nascar race to come on their little battery operated tv.
our food-sharing-friend, danny, seems to have known him quite well. he took food to these guys frequently. when he told me that stompy was usually drunk, i got to thinking, “i know that Jesus wouldn’t get drunk, but, he did say that when we help those in need, we’re actually helping him.” (matt. 25)
so, i guess Jesus is not only the hungry man, the thirsty woman, the widow, or the homeless orphan, but, maybe, whoever we help, their descriptions come onto him. so, we give food to the hungry drunk-man-Jesus; we visit the murderer-prisoner-Jesus; we give water to the thirsty-lying-woman-Jesus. as disgraceful as it sounds, he can handle it. as perfect as he is, he still became the murderer and liar on the cross. and he certainly came out of that with flying-colors in the love department.
as danny helped out the frequently-drunken stompy, he was helping Jesus. let’s continue to take food to the streets, where we’ll probably come across some that are drunk or high. but, hey, if they’re hungry – “here’s some food, dude.”
btw, yesterday, we shared our 8000th meal since july!!!! know this, y’all….. all your efforts are greatly appreciated, and noticed, and written down somewhere.
eh