Today I spent the morning at " the gathering," an organization that works to feed hundreds of people everyday in the Milwaukee area. I watched as students served almost three hundred men, women, and children breakfast. I was really proud of the students.
What was most interesting to me was the variety of people who came through. Some shuffled through the line, their heads down, ignoring greetings. Others laughed and joked walking into the hall as if the were walking in to their favorite diner and seeing old friends. Some spoke of being on their way to work. Others looked as if the memory of last months layoff continued to replay in their minds. Some felt entitled to be there, others thankful that we were there. Among the faces and conversations two men stick in my mind.
The first was angry. When greeted with good morning, his response was "Whats good about it?" On the surface he seemed angry at me for being there - how dare I be happy. I don't think that was the case. I do think he was angry. He was angry because he didn't want to need this place. He was angry at circumstances. He was angry because he wanted to pay for a meal, not be given a meal. He was angry because he didn't want help, he needed it and it hurt.
The other man was a man named Greg. He had long blonde hair and from a distance I thought he was a she, which seemed to be the way he wanted it. Greg was kind, soft spoken. The yellow tinge to his eyes suggested health issues. Greg called almost everyone by name. He committed my name to memory upon hearing. He ate his breakfast with people all around him. He stopped volunteers just to ask how they were and to say that he loved them - not in weird way but in a sincere, familiar way. Greg was thankful. To Greg this morning was more than breakfast, it was time with family.
As the angry man and Greg run through my mind, I try to imagine what has led each to this point. The loss of a job, maybe a home. Disconnection from family because choices made or lifestyles lived. In each instance the burning question is what can Jesus do for them right where they are. I know he saves their soul, but they still need to eat, to be loved. I believe Christ's greatest gift to them and to us, second to salvation, is the church. For the man who was angry, the church is a place of hope, to get help, to resource him with friends and neighbors who can love him and carry him through tough times. To Greg, the church is a family. A place to be loved and to give love. To both, it is a place of transformation. A place were sin is exchanged for salvation; pain exchanged for healing; despair exchanged for hope; death exchanged for life. It is the place where heaven meets earth.
