Everyone Has A Story

One of my favorite times of the week here at Living Hope Neighborhood Church is Saturday morning. Every Saturday morning we have a worship service at 8:45am, and then we serve breakfast at 9:30am. We make it clear to those who come, that both parts of Saturday morning are optional. In other words, you don't have to attend the service in order to be served breakfast (and vice versa). Interestingly, most of the men and women come to the service faithfully, and then stay for breakfast. Only a small handful choose to only come for the breakfast.

We have a small group of men and women who faithfully serve in the kitchen each week preparing the food for the morning breakfast. Most of them get to the church every Saturday at 6:30am! Some of them come in on Friday to cut potatoes. The faithfulness of these men and women is amazing. At 7am the kitchen staff and the pastors gather for prayer, committing both the service and the breakfast to the Lord. People begin coming as early as 7am to come and get a cup of coffee and to just relax, read the paper, and catch up with people.

As a pastoral staff, we intentionally arrive at 7am, so that we can visit with people before the service starts at 8:45am. Over half (not sure what the exact percentage would be) of the men and women who come on Saturday mornings are homeless. (However, even in stating that we have to be careful not to assume that someone is homeless based on appearance.) From my first Saturday morning at the church back in September to now, I have built some great relationships.

One of the ways we can easily sin in the area of partiality (James 2), is by "lumping everyone together." This happens way too often when it comes to the homeless and/or those who are struggling financially. We make sweeping statements like "they should get a job," "they are probably hooked on drugs," "they choose to be homeless," or "they are just lazy." These types of statements, and the hearts from which they flow, are way too common within the church, even amongst ministries that "target" the least of these. A common critique of rescue mission chapel services is that the preachers speak down at people, and communicate as if everyone has the same story, habits, background, etc. It too often becomes a one size fits all, "get it together people" type of message.

In the 6 months or so that I have been here, and in my outreach experiences with folks on the street in Chicago, I have learned that everyone has a unique story. The question is, do we have the time and the Gospel-fueled compassion to intentionally build relationships and listen to people's stories. I have met several men who find themselves homeless and living at the mission, yet contending for their children and doing all they can to be a father and a provider in the midst of a difficult season in their lives. I have met computer programmers and bankers who life dealt a tough hand, and who are battling to maintain hope. I have met a man who openly shared with me that he battles an addiction to crack, yet whom loves the Word of God and has told me that the Spirit brought tears to his eyes as we sang, "I believer You're my healer."

Ministry can be messy. It is messy because our lives are messy (all of our lives!). Yet if we are truly to be the Church that Christ died to purchase, then we must enter in to peoples pain, struggles, and messes. We do so not as "rescuers" but rather as those who have been rescued. As the Church, we share a common phrase, "but God." I once was this and was headed in this direction...but God!

When we preach on Saturday mornings (and on Sunday mornings), we make it our aim to preach the Gospel every sermon. We try to be intentional to not make the Gospel the "tag on" at the end of the sermon, but rather the very lifeblood of the sermon. It is the Gospel message that non-believers need to hear. It is the Gospel message that believers need to hear. It is the Gospel message that compels us to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. It is the Gospel that transforms us from being "partial judgers of men" into a people of compassion, empowered and burdened to love our neighbors and to listen to their stories.