I work as a secretary at a small Baptist Church located on a busy highway that runs through south Georgia. It’s not uncommon for locals to call or come in seeking help paying a power bill, but it’s rare that God brings us a homeless person or a hitchhiker.
Recently Joe stopped in who was hitch-hiking from Cape Canavaral, Florida trying to get home to South Carolina. He was looking for a bite to eat and some rest from the cold morning air. He had taken a bus to Florida looking for work, but his glimmer of hope was met with more available workers than jobs and a nasty bout with alcohol.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. …if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:30, 34-36
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The church pantry is stocked with canned goods and baby food, but God’s providence was shown in a different way that morning. It just happened that I had brought myself a generous portion of fried chicken and rice for lunch. My wife had picked up our favorite Church’s Fried Chicken the evening before and I fixed more rice than usual.
For someone with a bit of extra weight around the belly, you’d think I eat large lunches all the time. That’s a myth that overweight people eat too much too often. Most days my lunch is a banana and a few apples. I suppose I’m on the Pharoah’s Diet — that’s where, as a Calvinist, I recognize that God says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15) I’m not very concerned about a few extra pounds, my health is in God’s hands. Or perhaps health food just looks different in the South… it manifests as fried chicken and rice? Anyhow, back to the story…
So while the Pastor was making Joe a cup of hot coffee, I grabbed my lunch and made him a big plate of chicken and rice. That’s when I noticed that Joe was wearing a blazer on top of a flannel shirt. So I asked him a somewhat rhetorical question, “Is that blazer keeping you warm? Do you have a jacket?” That’s when Joe began telling us that his ride dropped him off last night and he had to sleep in the grass on the side of the road. Apparently he used that blazer as a blanket.
The heater has been broken in my car for a few years, I would have never thought that God would use that as an opportunity for ministry. His grace manifests in many different ways. Because my heater is broken, I tend to dress like an eskimo when I drive to work in the morning. And because I’m lazy and don’t bother to take my clothes back into the house each evening when I return home, my backseat is filled with winter gear.
So I went out to my car, grabbed the heaviest coat I had, filled the pockets full of gospel tracts, and found a set of gloves and a hat. When I came back in the Pastor was sitting with Joe while he ate and was asking him about his family/background and sharing the gospel with him. I told Joe that if he had to sleep again on the side of the road, he could use that blazer as a pillow instead and handed him the coat, gloves and hat.
Before Joe left, he was able to call a family member in South Carolina and let his brother know where he was and how he was doing. I was grateful that I was able to be used through my shortcomings — the extra food and my pile of clothes in my car — I see it as an evidence of God’s grace as I share the gospel from one beggar to another.
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