Don’t Forget the Hungry
-
The following article has been excerpted from Looking for the One by David McIver.
The man holding the sign is trying to make eye contact with me, but I refuse to look.
After all, the light is about to turn green. Plus, I don’t have any food, and if I give him money, it might end up in a bottle. As I drive past, I see his handwritten sign. “Homeless. Anything helps.”
Jesus has a beautiful way of addressing our hearts’ issues. In my case, he spoke to me about hunger at a conference in Nashville for Christian radio stations. After a long day of meetings and concerts, there was a reception that included dessert. Around 10 PM, I headed for the exit and happened to walk past the kitchen. As I glanced inside, I saw trays covered with cookies.
If you have a soft spot for cookies, you know there is a considerable difference between the packaged cookies that are several weeks old and warm cookies emerging from an oven. These cookies were freshly made. They were enormous, and they were delicious.
Since one of our waiters was nearby, I asked, “What happens to all this?”
“Unfortunately, it goes to waste.”
There was a moment of inspiration. “I have a question. Would you allow me to take some of these and give them away to people living on the streets?”
I loved his response. “Absolutely!”
Moments later, I walked through downtown Nashville looking for the one. But on this night, I found a community. A group of homeless men lived in various locations around Nashville and, at the moment, were seated on the steps of an old building. The street was dark, yet I felt safe as I approached with my bags of food.
The men on the steps were polite, but it was apparent as they began to eat: these men were hungry. I sat down on the steps, and their stories began to unfold. Stories of loss and regret. The pain of being so needy and dependent. As I walked back to the hotel, conviction set in with all the times I had chosen to look away. As I woke up during the night, I thought about this community of men sleeping somewhere on the streets.
I knew I would look for opportunities to feed the hungry from that day on. Because of the men on the steps, I would look for opportunities to hear their stories.
On my next trip to Costco, I purchased several boxes of protein bars. I kept the bars in the front seat next to bottles of water and copies of the Salvation Poem. Instead of looking away, I was looking for my next “appointment.”
One of my appointments was with a young man who stood on the same corner in downtown Minneapolis almost every day. I gave Ronnie protein bars and bottles of water and shared with him about Jesus. I discovered he had no family. He had no home. Then one day, Ronnie was standing on the corner wearing a dress and a pair of nylons. He spoke in a feminine voice as he thanked me for the food. A few days later, we had our first cold snap of the year. By cold snap, I mean wind chills well below zero. As I drove to work, I hoped and prayed that Ronnie would not be standing on that corner. But there he was in a dress and a pair of high heels. When Ronnie walked over to my car, he was shaking so severely that he could barely speak.
As I gave Ronnie the protein bars, I told him there was no way he would spend the day in these conditions. Then I asked if I could take him to the Union Gospel Mission. I told him I knew the staff and he would be safe, warm, and welcome.
The moment Ronnie sensed my determination to help him, his face grew hard. Then his face contorted with anger. As he turned to walk away, he said, “No.”
That was the last word Ronnie ever spoke to me. He was no longer at his corner the next day, and I never saw him again.
I don’t know what happened in Ronnie’s life that caused him to walk away. I don’t know what corner he might be standing on. All I know is that Jesus loves Ronnie and is looking for him. Because Jesus loves Ronnie, he is sending someone to look for him.
If we believe someone is beyond the reach of Jesus, we need to enjoy a few meals with Jesus. “But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with such scum?’ When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners’” (Mark 2:16-17).
If we believe the hungry don’t matter, we don’t understand our inheritance. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me… I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:34-40)
When a memorial service for George Floyd was held a block away from the PraiseLive Minneapolis studio, there was no hesitation from our team. We set up tents near the entrance and brought in cold bottles of water and protein bars. Because of Covid we gave away face masks and hand sanitizer. The banner on our tent was an invitation to be prayed for. In the hours before the service, we noticed a long row of media and saw logos from around the world. Then we noticed many of them had no water. Our team went person to person and were honored to give a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. One reporter from the Middle East opened up about his spiritual background and with questions about Jesus.
As the service was about to begin, we saw a group of people approaching, wearing matching blue shirts. It was the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. They were delighted to share our tents and go with us through the crowds as we shared Jesus one by one.
A Somalian mother needed a place to nurse her baby, and our team created a safe place for her. An atheist stopped by and discovered we were not there to debate her. We were there to serve her. We visited a group of homeless people living in tents. Near the end of the service, I noticed a large group of young men standing on a nearby soccer field. They were listening to the service from a distance, and now it was the most natural thing in the world to carry a basket of water bottles to them.
When it comes to loving one another, I know we have a long way to go. I know that it is overwhelming. But what if we were to begin by loving one person at a time? Recently, I was driving in downtown Minneapolis on a Sunday morning. As I saw the man standing on the corner with his sign, I reached for my protein bars. The van in front of me stopped, and a guy wearing a hard hat leaned out and handed the man a large paper bag. As the van drove off, I saw him smile and say, “Man, he just gave me his whole lunch.”
Jesus spoke to thousands of people, but over and over, he took time for the one. He asks us to love the one. “And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded” (Matthew 10:42).
One smile. One bottle of water.
One whole lunch, so that one person sees the face of Jesus.
Stories of Seeing the Lost, Lonely, and Broken Through the Eyes of Jesus
“I would love to share my faith, but I don’t know what to say. My attempts feel awkward and forced. Sometimes, I push people away. I would never admit this, but I’ve started to avoid conversations about Jesus.”
Looking For The One is short stories about people experiencing Jesus in grocery stores, hospitals, and dugouts. Each story models walking with Jesus as He finds the lost through you.
As you witness the power of the gospel in your everyday life, you discover that the first life to be changed is yours.
Because as you look for the one, you become like the One.You become more like Jesus.
