“By The Way, She and Her Son Have Aids.”

(My Monday “Travel as Pilgrimage” post will have to wait until Wednesday this week)

There is a soup kitchen a few blocks from our house that provides two warm meals for local homeless each day near downtown San Diego. They are the longest standing soup kitchen in SD and one of the only ones still open. Before each meal is served, there is a 30-minute service led by a variety of local pastors. I was asked to speak before this morning’s meal.

I thought, “these people have to hear 14 messages a week?! What else could they possibly need to hear? Would some simple human interaction go farther than another ‘sermon’ being preached at them? After all, I can’t pretend to have any idea what it feels like to live a day in their shoes.”

Adjusting my attitude and perspective (and knowing I wasn’t the guy to change how things had been done for the past few decades), I began to prepare by exploring what it could look like to share the tangible Good News of a Kingdom where the first will be last and the last will be first. A Kingdom where the hungry are fed, the suffering find peace and the hopeless offered new life. A Kingdom where Jesus is most evident within the suffering. A Kingdom that isn’t only a future reality, but something to be experienced in the here and now.

Walking through the doors, I was able to look into the eyes of God’s Kingdom inhabitants.

I’m always convicted walking into such places, as it is so easy to talk about injustice, but all to rare to actively step into the lives of those being impacted by injustice. Far stronger than the guilty conviction was the sense of God’s Spirit resting on his beautiful children. Most stared numbly at the ceiling or slept with their head resting on the table. They had all been let down at some point in their lives. Whether through abandonment, loss or suffering, each had an earlier chapter in their story that led to their current chapter. I recently heard that 90% of homeless sincerely desire to get off the streets. They don’t want to be there, but they are held captive. While society has in large part turned a blind eye to their suffering, Jesus announced that they are the center of his attention.

Upside-down Kingdom

I told the story of the pain, suffering and depression that surrounded the loss of our first child (Read More Here). We had so much hope in the life of that baby and it was instantly taken from us. I shared Jesus’ words that announce the poor, hungry and weeping as the inhabitants of God’s Kingdom (Luke 6). We read Luke 13 where Jesus describes the great Kingdom feast where the first will be last and the last first. I concluded with Jesus’ announcement that the Kingdom is at hand (Mark 1) and that in the midst of the suffering, pain, disappointment and abandonment, the hope of God’s Kingdom is now. It is in Jesus resurrection that we can trust the Story of God as being good and leading to life…not just in the future, but today. Finally, I shared the news of my daughter Ruby’s birth just 7 months ago and the hope that her life embodies everyday.

When I finished, a young woman (I’ll call her Gloria) with a baby son came up to me. I saw them as soon as I walked in the door this morning, but hadn’t been able to connect with them. She put her son in my arms and shared how much she loved him, but was sad that his development was stunted. He was 10 months old, had already had one surgery and was scheduled for another this week. I could sense that she felt alone and even guilty for his condition as she didn’t know she was pregnant until nearly 5 months along. He put his hands on my face and smiled. I wondered if he had ever experienced the love of a father.

About 20 minutes later a women came up to me and said, “I know you’re close to that God of yours and thought you should know that both Gloria and her son have aids. She might have to give him up in the next year. Maybe you could pray for them?”

My heart broke.

As is often the case, I went in to a situation seeking to initiate transformation…but in the end, I was the one transformed. My prayer is that we both were.

I also pray that we will all choose to step into the stories of those forgotten by society and affirm the reality of God’s Kingdom come in both word and deed.

What faces do you see everyday that you sense God calling you towards?  What can you learn about their story?  How can you point them to the hope of God’s Kingdom through your words and deeds?