Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Again, I'm being sporadic with my posts. The holiday last week threw me off a little and to be honest, since the time change it's been more difficult to spot stuff because it's dark on the way home. Tomorrow I'll start looking again in earnest while I'm driving and try to update every day but at least several times a week.

This post is about last Tuesday. I met a couple of guys for breakfast at Chik-Fil-A. We were walking in about 6:30 and were stopped by a guy standing outside the restaurant with a simple request: "Spare a quarter for the homeless". I gave my normal response which was "I don't have any cash on me" which is normally true but that morning was false. I didn't really think anything of it at the time as I walked inside and placed my order.

The next person through the door was a lady in her mid thirties. She brought the homeless guy in and took him to the counter to place his order on her tab. He ordered a chicken biscuit and she asked him if he wanted coffee too. If that wasn't humbling enough, the homeless guy then asked her if he could get some cinnamon clusters too to which she replied "sure". He ate his meal with a smile on his face and went on his way.

I screwed up - even if I didn't have cash my agenda was more important that the person standing outside looking for something to eat. It would have been so simple to give him a hot meal but I gave my short pat answer and walked on. Why did I do that? One of the cashiers asked the woman if she knew the guy and she said she didn't, she's just seen him around town a lot and figured he could use a meal. Would I have even noticed him around town?

It really reminded me of the lyrics to the song "This World" by Caedmon's Call:
And the least of these look like criminals to me
So I leave Christ on the streets

The whole asking for cinnamon clusters really got to me too because the woman didn't even bat an eye or huff or sigh. She was willing to give to this guy unconditionally even when he asked for something he wanted not just something he needed. This reminds me of us with Christ - the guy asked for 25 cents and got a full meal plus cinnamon clusters! We come to Christ with nothing looking for only forgiveness and get salvation plus so much more which is given to us willingly and without hesitation.

After that experience I hope that I never look at someone as worth less than a quarter like I did that morning. I need to remember the generosity that has been given me through Jesus and pour that out into others. It's messy and time consuming but well worth it!

Thanks for reading... see you tomorrow...