Atom‘Sleeping in the Rain - for the Homeless”
“Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, was a stranger and you welcomed me…” Matthew 25:34ff.
“It was a dark and stormy night”…”the cardboard boxes were placed in the parking lot with care”…”the rain came down and the snow piled up…” So, it went with the Youth Sleep Out for the Homeless. Shall we say it wasn’t the best of nights for a youth outing? It certainly took more than one pot of coffee to keep the adult sponsors happy! But then again, maybe it was the best of nights. It certainly accomplished the purpose of raising awareness of the challenges of those who are homeless in these United States – even in Minnesota – even in Detroit Lakes.
With estimates of nearly 40% of the homeless being children, a snowy, wet, cold night was particularly poignant for the youth of First Lutheran and Trinity who came together for this experience. Yet the youth remained in good spirits in spite of the conditions. Perhaps part of that was that most of us have never experienced homelessness and it was an “adventure” and part of it was knowing that the warm church building was always there for back-up if the conditions deteriorated and the boxes collapsed (which they did). But probably most of the good spirit came from knowing that after this one night we would be back in our warm homes with warm beds and plenty of food. Which…of course…was part of the purpose of the event…to not only raise awareness of those who are homeless…but also of the blessings of home and food and family that we may take for granted…to remember…
And so we gathered for worship in the sanctuary that night and remembered. We saw a video and remembered the homeless. We read the Scripture and remembered the love of Jesus for us and the love of Jesus for those with little of the necessities of life. We gave thanks for our blessings and determined to be a blessing to others. We received the body and blood of Jesus and heard the call of Jesus to be the “body of Christ” to the world. This is, of course, the rhythm of discipleship. We receive the love and grace of God by faith, not by our effort, but then we respond to that love and grace with lives of “thanks-living.” It is the way that Martin Luther helped us to understand our response to the goodness of God in his reflection on the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed (Do you remember all that memory work from our youth?):
“God provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day…all this he does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it. Therefore I surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”
So, the youth thanked and praised and served and obeyed…they gathered over 300 dollars in change to share with the ELCA world Hunger Appeal’s “Change for Change,” brought 120 items to the Food Pantry, and made five fleece blankets to give to the Crisis Center. Thanks be to God! And thanks to Grant (our Youth Director) and to Suzie Porter from Trinity for making it happen and to the other adventurous adults who joined the youth.
“The rains came down and the snow piled up,
And the Body of Christ stood firm.”
Serving with you,
Pastor Wade
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