I Don't Think That God Would Mind

"That's what I wanted to say to her Cindy...I wanted to tell her I didn't think God would mind."

One of our homeless guests who had only been out on the streets a short time, told me he was waiting for a meal at a local church. He was just "kicking it" waiting for the meal to begin. He told me that a lady drove up in her BMW and rolled her window down and asked him if he was planning to sleep on the church grounds.

Our guest had been telling me that weariness sets in for homeless people...they are always being told to "move on." He was just sitting there waiting for a local organization to open the doors to the meal. He was able to reassure the wealthy woman that he would not sleep on the church grounds. Yet, as he talked with me, he wrestled with the mixed message this "woman of God" had given him.

Here he was, at a church...a place that is supposed to accept the lost and the weary, and one of the church members asked him, quite abruptly and somewhat rudely, if he was planning to sleep there. Her message was clear...THAT would NOT be okay!

I understand the need for rules and boundaries for churches and other kinds of facilities. What I DON'T understand, and was now having a difficult time accepting in hearing his story, was the damage (the doubt, sadness and mixed message) this man received about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

He asked me, "Why don't more people who are supposed to love and serve God LIVE that message? He continued, more rhetorically this time..."I don't believe God would treat me that way...why does she?"

I didn't have an answer for him. I couldn't explain this woman's less than Christ-like behavior, other than...perhaps her response was born out of her own fear. Or, perhaps like most human beings, she falls short sometimes.

Our guest continued to express his gratitude for Grace House, for a place where the weary can come and rest and be accepted with loveÖjust the way they are. I was in awe of the fact that he did not stay in a place of bitter resentment toward this woman or her falling short of the message of the Gospel, but he chose instead...to focus on gratitude.

He continued. "I wanted to tell her that I didn't think God would mind if I rested my head there Cindy, but I thought better of it and gave her the answer she was looking for...that I would move on...that I wouldn't sleep there at the church. I hadn't intended to sleep there anyway. But, the TRUTH is...what I really wanted to say was, "I don't think God would mind...in fact, I think GOD would welcome me!"

My heart aches at the mixed message our homeless guest received about the love of God. I could focus on my frustration and dwell on how much he was wounded. Yet, today I will choose to follow his example of Christian grace and wisdom and focus on gratitude instead.

I'm grateful for church members who are truly sharing the message of Christ's love by living the Gospel in their daily lives.

I'm grateful for a "home away from homelessness" at Grace House where our guests can rest during the day.

I'm grateful to serve in a ministry that offers food for the body and food for the soul.

And...I'm grateful for the homeless guests who teach me the truth of the Gospel...because they truly GET it! They live the Gospel because they have walked the road our homeless Lord has traveled. They have the daily experience of what Jesus taught when He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)

I'm grateful for the experience of the living Christ as I watch our homeless guest give up his own meal to another homeless friend who enters the Grace House and say with a loving, welcome smile..."that's okay...I don't think God would mind."

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