WEEPING WITH JESUS
WEEPING WITH JESUS
A wave of emotion swept over me as I watched the young boy on the television news story open the lunch bag on his lap. “I wonder if I made that one,” I chuckled. I thought about the day I could make hundreds of sandwiches while volunteering at the Detroit Rescue Mission. The boy’s smiling face on the television interview reminded me that something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich could touch a life with His love. A passionate desire to serve God rushed through me. I wanted to race down to the mission to make more sandwiches for the sheer pleasure of seeing a smile on the face of another child.
On the Detroit Rescue Mission, wall hangs a life-sized, depression-era picture of men and women standing in a long food line. Hardship had etched itself deeply into their sad faces. Their blank, lifeless stares revealed the hopelessness in their hearts. I longed to know them, hear their stories, and find a way to help them. When I came to the man standing in the middle of the line, I felt a lump in my throat. It was Jesus! It was as if He looked into my eyes and said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…” (Matthew 25:35). He humbled me with His example, encouraged me with His Presence, and overwhelmed me with this picture of His love all at the same time.
Jesus is always right in the middle of our lives, but we do not necessarily see Him. He has a special place in His heart for the poor, the shunned, and the outcasts. Dirty faces, tattered clothes, and unpleasant odors cannot keep Jesus away. Why do the homeless make us uncomfortable? Instead of looking into their faces, we turn our backs. We nervously look around when we get stuck at a red light and see a man holding a cardboard sign and begging for help. We wince. We whisper derogatory comments under our breath. I wonder, have we ever wept for them? Jesus has.
I began weeping with Jesus in 1998 when homelessness crashed through the walls of my comfortable life. It became personal when I learned that my son lives under bridges and sleeps in tents. I cried with Jesus every time I imagined people turning their heads in disgust when they saw him. I sobbed with my Lord when I thought of my son begging on street corners and digging through dumpsters to find dinner. I wondered about homeless people when I passed them on the street, but it never pierced my heart until it touched my life. The cause of the poor and needy has always been intensely personal to God. My thoughts drifted as the news story ended. “I hope someone, somewhere, is making lunch for my son today,” I whispered to myself. God heard my prayer. One year later, almost to the day, He carried me across the country to meet the people who had been making my son’s lunches for over a decade.
HIDDEN HEROES
I stood in the parking lot of the Salvation Army several states away, taking in all the sights and sounds. It helped me to connect with my son. I made my way through the double doors to the cafeteria and locked eyes with a woman working the food line. She signaled to me to come to the front. I introduced myself and told her about my son’s recent accident. “I wondered why we hadn’t seen him around,” she said. “Grab a tray and have some lunch,” she offered. I fought back the tears as I pushed the orange, plastic tray through the food line and sat down at an empty table. A few minutes later, the friendly woman came over and sat next to me. As the mother of a missing son, she understood which details would be meaningful to me. She shared her personal stories and filled in more of the missing information about my son’s vagabond life. As she got up to leave, she said, “There’s someone else I’d like you to meet. Wait here.” A middle-aged man approached the table, pulled up a chair, and sat next to me. He spent the next two hours bragging about my young man as if he were his son. I hastily recorded his stories on my legal pad because I did not want to miss any details. They were like a pipeline to the past that helped me understand the surreal experience of the present. I hung on every word as he spoke about my son with the deepest affection, tenderness, and respect. It was a “happy-sad” experience, as the Cabbage Patch Kids would say. I felt happy for God’s faithful provision and sad about the years I had missed with my firstborn.
Joy swallowed up the sadness as I shook the hands of God’s appointed servants, who made lunch for my son each day. They knew him personally and called him by name. They loved him and cared for him. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I hugged the women who made sure he had extra food in his bag for the long, cold nights. I looked into the eyes of those who locked eyes with my son each day. They are the invisible heroes who saw my son’s hidden beauty beneath his smudged face and tattered clothes. I sang their praises and thanked God for each of these courageous, unassuming men and women.
DOING IT FOR ME
The Presence of Jesus at the Salvation Army out west was as palpable as it had been when I encountered Him in the picture at the Detroit Rescue Mission the year before. Everywhere I looked, I saw the radiance of Jesus in the faces of those who had fed and cared for my son. The words of Scripture came alive. “…’ Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:37-40). “Yes, Jesus,” I whispered to myself, “it is just as if these people did it for me.” I felt an overwhelming affection for the selfless men and women who had taken care of my precious son. In this experience, I grew in my understanding of God’s joy when we take care of His needy children. Just as I think about my homeless son every day, the hungry, thirsty, and imprisoned are ever on God’s mind and in His heart.
Excerpt taken from:
The Diamond in Your Disappointment-MINE-ing God’s Treasure in Trial by Beth Weber
To be released in 2021
What makes you weep with Jesus? What situations make your heart break with the things that break His heart? Mother Theresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Here are a few ways you can touch the life of one person today:
Visit the Detroit Rescue Mission website (https://drmm.org) to find ways you can touch one life today
Write down the name of one person who may be struggling during this pandemic and nourish them with the Living Bread of Life from the Bible
Find out what makes God weep by looking up Scriptures about the hungry, poor and oppressed. Make them into personal prayers and ask Him to fill you with compassion for those in need.
“Religion that the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”
(James 1:27)