Getting Beyond the Dogma of Personal Reponsibility

James Tissot [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday my friend Robert Charlock submitted a letter to the Indianapolis Star regarding the need for a Homeless Bill of Rights in Indianapolis.  The self-righteous on-line comments of those who assume poverty is usually the result of personal choices quickly emerged: "How many brought this upon themselves? When having a place to live and a job is no longer a priority for oneself, why should we fix their problem?", "So a select group of people need a special 'bill of rights'?", and such.  If you stand with those on the margins, you're sure to encounter the finger pointing of those who espouse the dogma of personal responsibility.

As I read those comments, the story Jesus told of the Rich Man and Lazarus came to mind:

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

I wonder what the rich man's response was when he walked by Lazerus.  Did he assume Lazarus was where he was in life because he brought this situation on himself?  Or that he no longer considered a place to live and a job a priority?  Given the context and the reference earlier in the chapter to the Pharisees' love of money I wonder if the rich man in this story was the type of man society as a whole viewed as a righteous man.  Perhaps he faithfully performed his religious duties without flaw and would have been considered a prime candidate for paradise by others.  Could he have been one of those Jesus rebuked for being "careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith"? (Matthew 23:23)  Apparently, God had a different view of the situation.

When we presume that our own prosperity is the result of our own work and other's poverty is the result of their bad decisions or behaviors, we tend to assume others just need to get it together and do the right thing to get out of their situation.  It's easy to assume others deserve the misfortune they experience while we are entitled to the good things we have earned.  Though we cannot totally minimize the role personal decisions may play in a situation, we are on shaky ground if we assume it is not our responsibility to watch out for and care for those experiencing poverty.  God calls on us to care for those who are suffering and stand up for those who are ignored and oppressed.  From the experience of the rich man in the story Jesus told, it appears He considers it a serious matter.  So should we.

 

 

Atypical Christmas Songs: Christmas at Denny's

I've previously mentioned wanting to assemble a collection of posts about some of my favorite "Christmas Songs" that most people may not think of when they think of  Christmas.  I've decided this will be the year.  They won't be in any particular order and I'm not sure how many I'll come up with, so I wouldn't exactly call it a countdown.  Perhaps that will be a future year.

For those not familiar with Randy Stonehill, he is known as one of the pioneers of the Jesus Music movement of the early 1970's and what later became known Contemporary Christian Music.  He's best known for his high energy, quirky songs such as "Shut De Do," "American Fast Food," and "Can't By A Miracle."  He also has a gift for folk-style storytelling and ballads, though.

In 1989 he released "Christmas at Denny's" as part of his Return to Paradise album.  It's the haunting tale of a drifter who's spending another Christmas Eve with other nameless lonely souls at a Denny's restaurant because they have nowhere else to go.  It tells a story that has become all too familiar to me as I have gotten more involved in the lives of friends without homes these past two years.  It's not a song that you can ever say you enjoyed, but it sticks with you over the years and touches your soul if you're willing to let it.

As our nameless drifter reminisces of the life he left behind and the circumstances that brought him to this place he has one simple prayer, " I don't need no miracle, sweet baby Jesus.  Just help me find some kind of hope in my heart."  When you reach a point of total despair, this is sometimes the only prayer you know how to speak.  It's the kind of prayer Jesus entered this world to answer.

So, here we have "Christmas at Denny's" by Randy Stonehill:

Humility Critical For Real Change To Happen

This past Monday I watched our local city-county council get bogged down in petty politics as they debated a proposal to provide legal protections to our neighbors living without homes.  As I watched this, I kept thinking of how important the quality of humility is if we are ever going to see any substantial change in the treatment of our friends without homes.  In his book Spiritual Leadership J. Oswald Sanders called humility one of the essential qualities of leadership.

Humility is needed by the current ensemble of professional service providers in our city to admit that, although they have done much good, there are still many not being helped by their services and some people fall through the cracks in the current system.  The assumption can be that the ones not being helped are choosing not to receive the help, but reality is more complex than that.  They must also recognize that grassroots efforts to bring necessities to those living on the street are not about enabling the homelessness, but about building trust in order to assist our friends off the street.

Humility is needed by those of us involved in grassroots faith-based efforts to recognize that many of those in the professional service industry entered the field with good intentions, though it's not always apparent by the way things are operated.  It's possible that some of them have lost sight of their original purpose in the struggle to keep their organizations afloat, but the heart that got them involved in their mission must still be there somewhere.  Perhaps our efforts will yield fruit in seeing these providers spending time in self-examination and stepping up to meet the challenges they face in a way that yields the type of results we would like to see.  So, we need to see them as colleagues in the fight against poverty and not obstacles.

Humility is needed by conservative politicians to recognize that the dogma of personal responsibility does not define the story of every person in poverty and some may need help pulling on their "bootstraps."  As someone who lives among you and grew up with many of the same views I had to learn to listen to people to find out what they really needed instead of just giving them what I thought they needed.  I had to take time to listen to their stories instead of hurrying to find a "solution" that would make me feel good, but not make any real difference in their lives.

Humility is needed by those of us who champion the cause of the poor to recognize that we don't hold the corner on compassion.  Sometimes questions asked by political conservatives are simply an effort to understand the issue better and have answers to bring back to their constituency that will be looking at the cost of our efforts.

My hope is that all involved will find the humility to come together for real change and not simply stay entrenched in their divisive views while our friends without homes struggle through another winter.

Being At The Mercy Of Another

This past weekend I had the "opportunity" to experience just a piece of the helplessness many of the most vulnerable people in our city experience on a daily basis.  This was not a staged learning experience where you know no matter what's going on it's only pretend, but instead a situation where you are in the wrong place at the wrong time for just a moment and you feel totally at the mercy of another person.

Last Sunday, our missional community had its biweekly service Sunday where we deliver food to people living in tent cities at different locations throughout our city.  Our final stop was near a railroad track with several camps lined in the woods along the side.  As our team wrapped up this final food station and prepared to go to our favorite coffee shop to debrief, I heard some commotion back by the tracks.  I went back just to make sure everything was alright and saw two trucks driving along the track to deliver firewood to the people living in the camps.  Shortly after that the Railroad Police vehicle appeared from behind the tree with lights flashing.

Though we always park off of railroad property when we deliver our meals, my standing on the property at this moment placed me in the middle of the whole situation.  From the officers position, he saw six individuals on railroad property (three people delivering wood, two friends who live in the camps, and me).  He exercised due diligence and collected all our ID's in order to run checks on any outstanding violations, warrants, etc.  I complied and waited as most of the conversation revolved around one of the individuals delivering firewood.  The rest of my team watched from where we were parked, wondering if they would need to back up my story or bail me out of jail.  After what seemed like eternity, my ID was returned and I was able to head back with no further problems.

Even though I knew there was little to be concerned about, in a moment like this it is not hard to feel like you are at the mercy of another person.  Thoughts about the possibility of a ticket or being detained begin to enter your mind.  And for a moment I understood how harassed and helpless my friends without homes feel on a daily basis.  They have run-ins like this on a regular basis where they are left at the mercy of another person for their sense of security.  There are not only the run-ins with police that they have to be concerned with, but they also deal with any number of strangers every day that could take advantage of them.  So, I can't help but have empathy for their plight.

This makes me think of Jesus entering our crazy world.  He lived among an oppressed people.  He experienced hardship and injustice.  I wonder how many times as a young man he was forced by a Roman soldier to carry the soldier's equipment before he said, "If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles." (Matthew 5:41)  How many times did he have his shirt taken before he said, "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well."? (Matthew 5:40)  Jesus identified with the harassed and helpless.  He lived among them.  He identifies with us when we feel the same way.  He's walked in our world.

So, we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus identifies with us in our moments of vulnerability.  He can also help us empathize with the most vulnerable citizens among us.  For this we can be thankful.

Wisdom Found Under A Bridge

During our missional communities time serving friends without homes alongside Food 4 Souls yesterday, we served a different route than we usually travel.  Though we missed the friends we've made on our normal route, this change gave us the opportunity to meet Fred.  Fred was travelling along with one of the outreach workers from Food 4 Souls.

Fred is a twenty-five-year veteran of life on the streets.  Most recently, he spent 10 months living at a large camp on Davidson St. in Indianapolis that was cleared out by the city in August 2013.  After that experience he decided to go it alone in another area of town while maintaining relationship with some of the people he had met at Davidson St.  Fred is now getting ready to take a step back into life in the real world.

As Fred told his story, he said the key for him finally coming to a place that he could be ready to reenter society was when he began to be honest with himself about the causes of his homelessness.  It was that honesty with himself that gave him the freedom to seek the help he needed to change his life.  "If I had met you ten years ago," he said, " I would have given you all kinds of excuses of why I was homeless.  When I got honest, I began to admit the problem was within me."  That change in perspective helped him to realize he could hope for a better life as well.

As he continued to share his story, I couldn't help but think of how many people have yet to discover the freedom that comes from self-honesty.  Whether we live under a bridge or in a nice house in the suburbs, our tendency is to try to pretend we have everything together.  If something goes wrong, it must be someone else's fault.  It is only when we give up hiding behind a facade and become honest with ourselves that we find true freedom to carve out a greater existence in our lives.

This is the nature of grace, too.  It is when we come clean with our shortcomings that Jesus meets us there to offer us freedom to be different.  So often we think we need to pretend to be perfect among the people we gather with in church or in the workplace.  A healthy Christian community, though, offers space for everyone to be honest with themselves and each other recognizing that we all, in a sense, live as beggars on the street in desperate need of God's grace.

Those of us who live in suburbia are not that far removed from our friends without homes we see on the street each day.  It does us well to listen to the wisdom we can learn from those that most of society would pass over.

Trusting The Only One Who Can Help In Times Like These

Winter has arrived in central Indiana on a level people here haven't experienced in twenty years.  The family and I enjoyed playing in the snow that kept falling through the day yesterday (nearly 12" total).  Today we will hunker down in the house while the temperatures plummet to levels we haven't seen since we left Minnesota (possibly -21 F by tomorrow morning).  As we experience the luxuries of a warm home on a frigid day, I can't help but think of the friends for whom days like this are a matter of life and death.

Saturday I spent part of the afternoon with a friend visiting those living in the allies and in tent cities around downtown Indianapolis.  We brought extra blankets with us to give them something more to bundle up in during the coldest of days.  We talked with people and encouraged them to find shelter in one of the emergency shelters the city had set up.  In the end, though, we knew we would eventually return to our homes with no idea what would happen to them during these days.

Occasions like this are times when phrases like "all we can do is pray" hit home for me.  As much as I want to serve and help others, there are limits to what I am capable of doing.  This is when I have to place my friends in the hands of God and trust that He will watch over them.  Our resources are finite, but God's resources are infinite.  So, as I go about my routine today, I will be in a constant mode of prayer for those who are in God's hands today and hope for happy reunions and stories of survival when we are reunited on the other side of this weather event.