Dear Friends,
What a joy it has been this past week to listen to the sounds of the season and be touched by the children who presented to us a slightly different version of the 3 wise people and the shepherd! The Soup Supper and Christmas Carol sing last Wednesday was a great time to sit down and enjoy a relaxed meal together (thanks to Jim Allardice, Hope Boije and Bill Neely who prepared the food!), and then sing our hearts out together with a wonderful mix of popular songs and Christmas hymns, which Kim so ably played on the piano and organ.
Believe it or not, after having such a fabulous time in Celebration with the children’s presentation of the Christmas story, I went home feeling very annoyed. Why? For 5 out of the past 7 Sundays that I have been here, Albert has shown up. Albert is a homeless man who is also schizophrenic. He is harmless, as are most homeless and mentally-ill people, and he is coming because these are desperate times and he wants money. Albert has a history here because he used to come once or twice a year and he was tended to by Karen Stokes and one of you. If what he is saying is true, he is a Vet and he is sometimes employed and sometimes finds places to live that are not outside. So why I am annoyed? I find myself resenting the fact that he waits for Celebration to end and then wants to talk to me. How am I supposed to greet you and get to know you if I am distracted by Albert? A few weeks ago I was greeting a whole family who was visiting and Albert jumped right in the middle of the conversation. So there I was, trying to do ministry and Albert just wouldn’t leave. Each week he has come I have taken time to speak with him and he has had the nerve to tell me how unwelcome he feels by the congregation. My feelings of annoyance with him have been strong enough that I know I need to pay attention. Sometimes God uses those feelings to wake me up.
Do you think it’s possible God has sent Albert to us? When I was newly ordained 20 years ago, I remember someone telling me to pay careful attention to the disguises Jesus would wear when showing up in various places on earth. One of those disguises, of course, was as a homeless person. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that in this season where we anticipate and celebrate the incarnation of God in Jesus, born to parents without a place in which to give birth, that I could feel so annoyed by someone who is homeless? Am I annoyed because Albert has the nerve to ask for what he needs? Am I annoyed because he is taking my time? Am I annoyed because I don’t want to give him money? Am I annoyed because he is such a tangible reminder of how so much of the world lives and I am called to do something to alleviate that kind of suffering but feel overwhelmed by it?
What would happen if every time Albert showed up, we believed him to be Jesus? What would we do differently? What would we say differently? How would we treat him differently? I don’t have the answers, but you can be sure I am asking myself these questions. How welcoming are we to all? How can we be welcoming without handing out cash to those in need? When I preached my sermon “Jesus is Coming – R U Ready” on November 28th, I had no idea Jesus might show up dressed like a homeless man. Maybe together we can provide an extravagant welcome.
Beth