FAITH, HOPE & LOVE
Today marks three weeks from the moment we took that leap of faith into the streets of Canton. Our aim, though simple in nature, was to see the city of canton through the eyes of the homeless who get to walk the streets and see the Canton most people do not know. When I think of the week three words come to my mind. Faith, Hope and Love from 1 Corinthians 13. These three words were the prayer and meditation of my heart and the place where I was transformed more into the image of Christ. My heart at the end of the week was to see myself blossom into a man of great faith, great hope in all situation and above all to have love for God and my City.
Through the homeless experience I exercised my faith and trust in God by going into harm’s way and into Gods hands not knowing what would happen. I started the week with different thoughts running though my head such as my job, my doctor’s appointments, my sons first day in kindergarten, my wife and kids sleeping alone at home without my protection and many others. I knew in my heart this vision to see rising hope in Canton was not my own and that to birth it I had to walk in faith. If we are truly a people of faith, spiritual seed from Abraham, then that means that we are called to pursue the knowledge of God while also not ignoring the Call to live like Jesus. It is amazing how the Bible gives us a blueprint for how to live our lives and we continue on in our ignorance.
The experience of living as a homeless man in Canton was able to strip the ignorance I had built up and gave me fresh perspective on what God is doing in my city. The posture of my heart was of meekness and God really gave me and renewed my faith in what He could and wanted to do in my city. I learned that when I begin to live out my faith people are given a window peek into who Jesus is like through me. As believers we must remember that we are the only Bible that some people may ever read. We are His body on the earth and we have to follow the lead of the Head who is Christ.
The word hope is contagious. Hope has the power to keep us in a place of endurance when we are tempted to quit or give in before the task at hand is finished. We usually use the word hope when we hope for a new iphone, computer, car, watch and any other superficial thing we can think of. In all the pursuit of the superficial we can forget the power of hope in an actual hopeless situation. We can forget that beyond our superficial wants there are people in need of hope and a community of broken people 5 miles down the road.
Through my experience downtown I became close to a man named Ken. I was asked to pray for him and talk with him at Samaritan’s Kitchen and since then God has placed Ken in front of me three times so we can talk and I can pray with him the last three weeks. All of the encounters with him have been very random like God is setting up divine appointments for us. Ken and his wife lost their jobs and now live in an abandoned house. He now walks the streets collecting scrap so that they can have their basic necessities met. In my talks with Ken he has said he hopes for a SHOWER, SHOES, JOB, AND A SAFE PLACE TO SLEEP! These are the dreams of a man who wants to simply provide for himself and the wife that he promised on his wedding day that he would protect and fight for till he breathes his last. Through meeting ken I saw God teaching me about the condition of his people downtown. Not only did they have physical needs but they also needed a friend and friend they could confide in. a friend to speak hope into their lives.
If we continue to look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 we must love. Love God and Love each other right? If people within a 5 mile radius of us do not have basic human necessities how then can we say that we Love our neighbor as we Love ourselves? If we read James Chapter 2 Paul tells us exactly what to do and that is to take care of the needy around us. Our homeless friend from the video Shadrack said to me, “We don’t want a hand out, we want a hand up.” We must begin to grow in showing grace and mercy to those around us if we are to walk as Christ walked.
Love is a action!