Homeless…

I recently got a parcel in the post, from Canada. It’s a photograph of a sculpture. The sculpture, by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, is of a homeless person lying on a bench. The figure is anonymous, wrapped in a blanket so you can’t see much of them at all. All you see, poking out from the bottom of the blanket, is a couple of bare feet.

Look again, and you see that the feet have holes in. These are the feet of the crucified Christ. The sculpture is called, “Homeless Jesus“.

In the gospels we read that, unlike foxes and birds, Jesus had “nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). But when did we ever see a homeless Jesus?

In Matthew 25, Jesus says to ‘the righteous’:

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:35ff)

Conversely, when we did not do it to one of them, we did not do it for Jesus.

“Love is…”

What does God’s love look like? John tells us that he (Jesus) “laid down his life for us”. How are we to respond to that love? “We ought to lay down our lives for one another” (1 John 3:16).

In one sense, it’s as simple as that. But clearly, laying down your life is a big ask – in fact, you can ask no more! Jesus said:

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

Someone once said that we often think that the reason there are so few young people in church is because we’ve made Christianity too difficult. But what if the real reason they reject Christianity is because we’ve made it too easy? We’ve turned it into a hobby, an interest for people who like that sort of thing. And what people need – particularly young people – is a challenge.

John cuts to the quick: if you have the world’s goods and see someone in need, how can you claim to have the love of Christ in you? (1 John 3:17) If you turn your back on a person in need, you have turned your back on Jesus.

On Friday, we had the school’s harvest festival service. Gifts of food were given to the foodbank and we heard about the work of the foodbank. In conversation afterwards, someone told me they weren’t sure about foodbanks. How do we make sure the food goes to those who need it and not to those who are just taking advantage? I said, that’s what it costs to get food to those who do need it. You take the risk of being taken advantage of. That’s what it costs. The person who comes to the foodbank distribution centre will have previously explained their case to a professional – a GP or someone from CAB, for example – in order to get a voucher. No doubt, some people are hard-faced enough to do that, to get a few carrier bags of food. But in my experience, as a foodbank volunteer, most people who come to the foodbank, who have put themselves in the situation where they have to explain that they cannot feed their children, are in genuine need. Yes, some will take advantage. But most have struggled to get to the point where they have to admit that they have come to the end of their tether and grateful that someone cares enough to do something to help.

If you have the world’s goods and see someone in need but do nothing to help, how can you claim that the love of God dwells in you? (1 John 3:17)

The Life You Can Save

In 2009, a philosopher, Peter Singer wrote a book called, The Life You Can Save. He starts with a ‘thought experiment’. Imagine you see a child in a lake. The child cannot swim. You are the only adult around. If you do nothing the child will drown. What would you do to save that child’s life? Most of us would not watch a child die or walk away knowing that they would die without our intervention. Even if it meant getting our clothes wet, ruining a pair of shoes, or being late for work, we would wade into the water and save the child’s life.

Singer points out that as many as 27,000 children die every day from poverty that could be easily and cheaply helped by existing charities.

You might say, I can’t save 27,000 children a day! You can’t. But if you could save one child’s life, by altering your own lifestyle a little, would you do it?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
1 John 3:18