I was feeling glad I was going to miss half of our service at Sacriston on Sunday night and that Dawn was preaching at the service.
I know that sounds really bad for a Salvation Army officer to be sayIng that!
But.
I have done so much speaking, been to so many different churches lately that I just needed a break from it.
So.
I was ultra pleased when one of our homeless guys called me and said that he had left his brand new sleeping bag in our building at Durham. And considering the sub zero temperature on Sunday I knew he would need it.
So I arranged to meet him outside the S21 at 6.30pm.
He showed up right on time.
He looked like he needed a coffee, so I made him one and we sat downstairs looking out onto the cold city street watching hundreds of people coming and going.
He told me about an incident from the night before.
I want to share it with you guys today.
He said he was lying in the doorway he sleeps in. He was awake and it was about 11pm. He said a gleaming red Ferrari car pulled up right next to the doorway. A guy got out and asked him if he was ok. Then he asked him if he wanted some food. The homeless guy said no but a coffeewould help. So this guy walked down to a nearby restaurant and came back ten minutes later with a coffee for him. The homeless guy asked who he was? He replied, "you don't need to know who I am." And then he got back into his Ferrari and drove on up the street and out of site. The homeless guy said to me, "It was like an angel had turned up in a red Ferrari!"
Hebrews 13: 2 immediately shot into my head.
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
I thought of the guy in the red Ferrari.
I wonder if he knew the magnitude of his beautiful act.
The homeless guy thought he was an angel, I wonder if the guy thought Lee was possibly the same?
I've been so honored to work amongst the poor, particularly these last few years. I've been in their doorways with them, I've sat and ate with them, I've cleaned them up, I've fought for a roof over their head, I've written endless food parcel forms for food parcels. I've listened to their countless stories and got wrapped up in their plights. I've laughed with them,move cried with them.
It's cerebrally draining at times.
But I just feel honoured.
I've go to say these last five years in the North East have changed me to beyond the point of no return.
Changed me for the better.
And I have realized more than ever why I am a Salvation Army officer.
It's not the glamorous platforms to exercise your speaking skills. It's not the fact that you become an instant leader and can direct stuff daily. It's not the security that comes with being assured of a house and a car and a ministry. It's not the fact that you are largely left to your own devices and can construct every day virtually how you wish. It's not the structure that can lead you to supposedly bigger and better leadership roles.
No.
None of those things.
It's the honour of sitting amongst the poor, the needy, and the broken. It's the sheer blessing of becoming part of people's lives. The total honour that comes with people allowing you to share their lives with you. It's the responsibility of carrying the love of Jesus into a dark world where you become like a bright white light that helps people to see something better, something real. It's the privilege of rescuing people from the deepest of pits. It's the sheer exhilaration of always hoping, hoping for healing, restoration and transformation. It's the security that the truth of the gospel gives us. It's the thrill of leadership with a servant heart.
Yeah.
It's an honour alright.
But that Job isn't just for officers, ministers, leaders or whatever.
It's the responsibility of every Christian.
It's the work of the church.
It's definitely in the Salvation Army DNA that the Spirit of God has laid on us.
I've been reading a lot lately about Dorothy Day, the activist who headed up the Catholic worker movement in the USA. I'm continually stoked by how she was drawn consistently the plight of the poor.
I understand that.
I feel the same pull.
The plight of the poor is a battle ground where the soldiers fighting on their behalf are few, you know the harvest is plenty but the workers are few kind of thing? My dream would be to see the Salvation Army marching to that battle field in our droves. There are certain things we do fantastically well guys, hospitality is one. Throughout the history of Christianity hospitality has been at its heart. Hospitality is so much more than soup and a cuppa. It's about open hearts, open minds, open lives, open churches, and open arms. The open arms of a hospitable Christ. We generally have that gift ingrained into our movement. I pray the arms will start opening on a grand scale. I pray the doors of our citadels will open a little wider to accept those who have nothing. I pray we will take our mission to rescue the perishing even more seriously.
The guy in the red Ferrari shows us the simplicity of mission.
The homeless guy saw something spiritual in that episode.
A simple act of sheer beauty.
Better than talking.
Better than calling a meeting to discuss.
Just beautiful action.
I'll leave us with this powerful scripture.
Chew it over.
Allow God to speak to you through it.
Take in its magnitude.
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13: 2
Massive Favour in you today.
I know that sounds really bad for a Salvation Army officer to be sayIng that!
But.
I have done so much speaking, been to so many different churches lately that I just needed a break from it.
So.
I was ultra pleased when one of our homeless guys called me and said that he had left his brand new sleeping bag in our building at Durham. And considering the sub zero temperature on Sunday I knew he would need it.
So I arranged to meet him outside the S21 at 6.30pm.
He showed up right on time.
He looked like he needed a coffee, so I made him one and we sat downstairs looking out onto the cold city street watching hundreds of people coming and going.
He told me about an incident from the night before.
I want to share it with you guys today.
He said he was lying in the doorway he sleeps in. He was awake and it was about 11pm. He said a gleaming red Ferrari car pulled up right next to the doorway. A guy got out and asked him if he was ok. Then he asked him if he wanted some food. The homeless guy said no but a coffeewould help. So this guy walked down to a nearby restaurant and came back ten minutes later with a coffee for him. The homeless guy asked who he was? He replied, "you don't need to know who I am." And then he got back into his Ferrari and drove on up the street and out of site. The homeless guy said to me, "It was like an angel had turned up in a red Ferrari!"
Hebrews 13: 2 immediately shot into my head.
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
I thought of the guy in the red Ferrari.
I wonder if he knew the magnitude of his beautiful act.
The homeless guy thought he was an angel, I wonder if the guy thought Lee was possibly the same?
I've been so honored to work amongst the poor, particularly these last few years. I've been in their doorways with them, I've sat and ate with them, I've cleaned them up, I've fought for a roof over their head, I've written endless food parcel forms for food parcels. I've listened to their countless stories and got wrapped up in their plights. I've laughed with them,move cried with them.
It's cerebrally draining at times.
But I just feel honoured.
I've go to say these last five years in the North East have changed me to beyond the point of no return.
Changed me for the better.
And I have realized more than ever why I am a Salvation Army officer.
It's not the glamorous platforms to exercise your speaking skills. It's not the fact that you become an instant leader and can direct stuff daily. It's not the security that comes with being assured of a house and a car and a ministry. It's not the fact that you are largely left to your own devices and can construct every day virtually how you wish. It's not the structure that can lead you to supposedly bigger and better leadership roles.
No.
None of those things.
It's the honour of sitting amongst the poor, the needy, and the broken. It's the sheer blessing of becoming part of people's lives. The total honour that comes with people allowing you to share their lives with you. It's the responsibility of carrying the love of Jesus into a dark world where you become like a bright white light that helps people to see something better, something real. It's the privilege of rescuing people from the deepest of pits. It's the sheer exhilaration of always hoping, hoping for healing, restoration and transformation. It's the security that the truth of the gospel gives us. It's the thrill of leadership with a servant heart.
Yeah.
It's an honour alright.
But that Job isn't just for officers, ministers, leaders or whatever.
It's the responsibility of every Christian.
It's the work of the church.
It's definitely in the Salvation Army DNA that the Spirit of God has laid on us.
I've been reading a lot lately about Dorothy Day, the activist who headed up the Catholic worker movement in the USA. I'm continually stoked by how she was drawn consistently the plight of the poor.
I understand that.
I feel the same pull.
The plight of the poor is a battle ground where the soldiers fighting on their behalf are few, you know the harvest is plenty but the workers are few kind of thing? My dream would be to see the Salvation Army marching to that battle field in our droves. There are certain things we do fantastically well guys, hospitality is one. Throughout the history of Christianity hospitality has been at its heart. Hospitality is so much more than soup and a cuppa. It's about open hearts, open minds, open lives, open churches, and open arms. The open arms of a hospitable Christ. We generally have that gift ingrained into our movement. I pray the arms will start opening on a grand scale. I pray the doors of our citadels will open a little wider to accept those who have nothing. I pray we will take our mission to rescue the perishing even more seriously.
The guy in the red Ferrari shows us the simplicity of mission.
The homeless guy saw something spiritual in that episode.
A simple act of sheer beauty.
Better than talking.
Better than calling a meeting to discuss.
Just beautiful action.
I'll leave us with this powerful scripture.
Chew it over.
Allow God to speak to you through it.
Take in its magnitude.
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13: 2
Massive Favour in you today.
