Finding Jesus in the least of these

A couple of weeks ago, a friend approached me and wanted to go downtown on a Friday night and hand out water bottles to the homeless in Wichita. I eagerly accepted. God has been breaking my heart for the people that most of us drive by on our way to get a nice warm cup of coffee at the local coffee shops downtown. I have to admit that I once was one of those people. I did not notice how many homeless persons were in Wichita. I barely took notice to the man sitting on the bench at the public library or the homeless woman walking to the Lord's Diner to get her meal. I was blind. Blind to the people whom I considered "less" than me. It seems like there is always an excuse to not notice or help these people isn't there? Some of my false pretenses included that of, "well if I give this man money, then he will just buy some booze with it so why should I feed his addiction?" That is a common one. Or the other that is just as popular. "That man needs to find a job and sober up and then he will be able to get back on his feet, its his fault that he is homeless, not mine." But who are we to judge what the homeless person will do with money that we give to them or how they ended up homeless in the first place. I am convinced that there is much we do not know about our brothers and sisters that live on the streets. Believe me, I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty about anything. Don't take me the wrong way.

I am a Christian. If I am to claim that title, then that means that I am a Christ follower. And if I am to call myself a Christ follower then that means that I follow Christ. Why would I follow Christ? Well, I follow Christ because I want to be LIKE Christ. Think about that. "be like Christ". What did Jesus do when he saw a person hurting, sick, naked, hungry, thirsty or what have you? He helped them. To Jesus, nothing else mattered except for caring for these people who are just as such. The "least of these" as he calls them. He came to heal our broken world. And it starts with Love.

When Christ change my life last semester ( and man, did He ever change my life!!), I began to search for what it means to be a Christian. God has since been transforming my heart, mind and soul. In my search for what it means to be a Christian, I read the gospel of Jesus. This may sound rhetorical but I never seriously read the gospel for what it was before. God spoke many things into my heart but one stuck out. It was Matthew 25:45. "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." With that scripture in mind, I was immediately approached by a friend to read "Irresistable Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. That story of a man living out the gospel truly changed my life and pumped me up. God has since then instilled a living passion in me to change the world. And I found that I would be starting this process with some friends on a Friday night, on the streets of downtown Wichita.

The first Friday we went out, there were four of us. We walked and saw very few homeless people. Most of the ones we did see were either sleeping or very very drunk. With faith however, we did not give up. We split into two groups. It was me and one other person. We walked past the little park on Douglas st. to find a man sitting alone on the bench. This seemed promising! we approached him and gave him a bottled water, which he accepted. This man was not homeless mind you but nonetheless looked like he could use company. So we talked and talked for about 30 minutes. He told us some of his story and we told ours. It was going great. One thing I have learned is that most people just want someone to talk to and to listen to their stories. We exchanged names and handshakes and gave him blessings as we parted from him and continued our walk with the Spirit guiding us. Not even 50 feet from where we left we saw a small man sitting by a building. His name was Richard. Richard was short and skinny, had long dark hair and the one thing I noticed about him was that he was wearing a "diamond" studded cross necklace. This man appeared to be a little high or drunk or possibly both. And without a doubt, homeless. So we began talking. I asked Richard about his cross necklace and his face lit up with joy. He told us the story of how his mother gave him the necklace as she was about to pass away. Tears welled up in his eyes (and ours too) as he passionately and emotionally told us the story. I truly felt love for this man that I did not even know! and I did not care. He started talking to us about Jesus and how he has Jesus in his heart. It was affirming and it was a blessing to hear a man who obviously was living on the street talk about Jesus like I never heard before. I'm sure this man has made many mistakes but who hasn't? I know I have! After our hour long conversation with Richard, I offered to pray for him and so the three of us prayed. I told Richard to remember what that cross means, the one hanging around his neck. Then we parted, as it was getting very late. We walked away with love in our hearts for this man and for the people that we would meet in the future.

If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I would be willing to spend my Friday nights hanging out with homeless people for hours, I would have laughed at you. seriously. I was selfish and only cared about when the next party was. But Jesus has a way of changing lives drastically. I am one of those lives.

I am writing this blog not only to reflect on my journeys downtown but I hope that you will take a look at your life, then take a look at Christ's life and reflect on what it means to follow Him. Reflect on how broken this world is. But then get pumped up! I believe this generation has the ability to change this world so LETS GET IT DONE! It will take a lifetime but it has to start somewhere. Everyone has gifts given by God. Lets use them to bring the Kingdom of God to our neighbors. Not religion. Not judgement. Not condemnation but LOVE. The Love that God has for us, let us pour that Love on others. This Kingdom is here. Lord give me eyes to see the world through your eyes and break my heart for what breaks Yours.