Reaching for the Invisible God

A few years ago I was reading Philip Yancey's book "Reaching for the Invisible God". It was full of all kinds of choice nuggets I wanted to remember (and this was a library book so I couldn't mark it up like I wanted to) so I kept a notebook of little tidbits I wanted to remember. One phrase that stood out that I have clung to over the years is this:

"The Spirit may lead us to the same groups Jesus ministered to--aliens, widows, prisoners, the homeless, the hungry, the sick--so that we gradually come to view 'the least of these' as God views them".

When I first read this it brought tears to my eyes. When I first started working at Covenant House the kids were a mystery to me. I didn't know how to relate to them, didn't understand their values, their (seemingly) lack of morals, why they thought and behaved as they did. In fact, a few months after I began there, I stormed out in a huff and ended up a crying, frustrated mess on the boardwalk. One of my co-workers came after me and said, "Do you want to know what the staff says about you? They say, 'She's so white bread, middle class American and she's never had anything happen to her. She'll never make it here'". Hmmm...I initially stayed at CH out of spite...And, ironicly, one of the workers who'd actually said that statement admitted it to me years later when I received my 5 years award for sservice (I'm about to enter year 15).

I'm sure my "God view" of the least of these isn't anywhere near what it should be...but I do think that I have developed a deeper view (more compassionate? more sensitive?) than others. That doesn't make me better or more holy or a better Christian...but I do feel some type of way that I've been led to minister to many of the same groups that Jesus ministered to, that my work (or much of it) was the same as His. I mean, Jesus wasn't an accountant, He didn't make pizzas, He wasn't a doctor or sell stuff. He was a carpenter and He ministered to sick, messed up people that no one else wanted to bother with.

I often want to bring people into my world at work, just to see how they will react. The picture at the top was taken when I participated in a homeless event in AC a few years ago. The people who came were cold, smelly, drunk, and even a little nuts. But as we handed out clothes, food, toothbrushes, and soap, they all said thank you, some of them joked with us, a few told their stories...I wondered how many were angels that God sent just to see how we would treat them. The other picture of the kids and me is precious--how I wish I could show their faces so you could see how beautiful they are! But if you were to encounter them on the street or sit in their presence for a few minutes, hear their language, learn of their living situations, lifestyles, and habits, could you love them? Could you feel compassion? Or, going back to my pride blog a few weeks ago (and NO--I HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH THAT DOOR!), would you think, "I'm not like that"...Thankfully Jesus never said that...

Yancey also wrote, "Through the lense of Jesus, God is made visible". I believe that I get to see God every day through the work that I do and I'm so thankful for that...I just pray that I bring honor to Him in the way that I do it!