"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them." Isaiah 11:6
We discovered recently that a homeless man was sleeping on the back porch of our church community house. As we've talked about how to respond, we've decided we have to ask him to leave. We wish we could just give him a security t-shirt and call him the night watchman or something, but we are just not sure what else to do.
I'm sure many of you will have ideas about how to respond, but my reflections for tonight have more to do with the passage for today. A picture of the peaceable kingdom, a future God promises where the aggressive and the meek with live together in peaceful harmony, where the powerful and the vulnerable can lie down together without fear, where we can follow the idealistic innocence of a child. As a reflect on this neighbor of ours who has moved in, I wish for that day. A day when all will have clothing and shelter. A day when there will be no need to fear one another. A day without violence and without want.
As I think about our homeless neighbor, I wonder which one of us is the lion and which the lamb? It seems that in this particular passage, God's main concern is to protect the poor and the needy, the bring about justice for the weak and the vulnerable. So I am left to wonder, am I the lion? Are we the wolf? The leopard? The powerful and aggressive?
God help us to bring about this just kingdom...
3 comments:
As a Christian myself, I am appalled at the reaction of God's people to a needy soul such as the homeless. Without having been there, I will comment based only on your post. What did that man do to cause you to wonder who the Lion and the Lamb are? Why, if he was only sleeping on the stoop, would you ask him to leave? Is it for us to choose what God does with His temple? Don't you see that God brought that man there? Why didn't he lead him to a park bench or the local mission? You had a job to do Christian. And how was he greeted? With judgment and disdain. Judgment because he was homeless and disdain because he wasn't what you thought he should be. You asked him to leave. How is that lifting up the name of Jesus? How is that man walking away from this experience? Certainly not with a faith in us as God's people to help him. You should have brought him a blanket and a pillow and told him he was welcome as long as he did no damage or harm. I believe I'd be asking God for another chance.
I think you are right to challenge us to consider further how we responded.
And I did not mean to suggest that the man was the lion! In fact I meant to suggest just the opposite!
As a minister you might try helping this man, through your efforts and through the efforts of your church. Remember that he is us. One new organization in Florida really determined to change lives for homeless (through no fault of their own, but circumstances, economy, etc) is camphaven.org. look them up and you will see what could be. The man is not coming to a stoop, he is looking for HOPE.
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