My friend Tim is a homeless man who lives in downtown Atlanta. As we approached the park bench that he was sitting at, he quickly apologized for the cigarette he was smoking and the bottle of liquor at his side.
We didn’t have to work too hard to get him to share a little bit of his story with us. In fact he told us the same story a few times. It makes me wonder if Tim has anyone in his life who sits and hears him out, listening to his story no matter how many times he needs to share it to release some of the hurt and bitterness that was so evident in his voice.
He shared with us about how after getting out of jail, his sister opened up her home to him, allowing him to come live with her and her family. But in the end, he smoked more than she liked (even though he always went outside to do so, he assured us.) He kept the tv turned up too loud, and he came home too late. Basically, Tim felt as though he was always being accused of something, like he could never do a thing right. In the end, his sister kicked him out.
At one point he said he still felt like he was locked up when he was living there. And this is the part that broke my heart. He said, “it’s like my sister still sees me for what I did. She won’t let it go.”
After Tim shared his story, we asked if we could pray for him. He kindly said no because he was intoxicated. Fair enough. But on my inside I felt the Lord nudging me to say something. He needed to know who he is and how our Father sees him.
I looked him right in the eyes, and I told Tim that when God looks at him, he doesn’t see him for what he did. He is not defined by his past but that God sees him as his son. He sees him as strong and he loves him so much.
I can’t get the look in his eyes out of my head as I told him these things. I think Tim knew those words weren’t coming from me. And I pray that even now those words are still echoing in his ears, because nothing is truer. He is a son of God and ridiculously loved.
My teammate Joe was talking to Mike, another homeless man who was sitting in the sun, propped up against a tree. When Joe asked how he could pray for him, Mike simply said “Don’t forget me.”
These men, women, and children who live in the streets or in shelters, sleeping on beds infested with bed bugs, they need a lot of things. Jobs. Shelter. Food. The basic essentials I suppose. But I think more than anything, they need a friend. They don’t want to be forgotten, or slipped to the side, just like you probably don’t either. I know I don’t!
They need someone who believes in them, who is there for them, and who will fight for them. Someone who loves them right where they are.
Thank goodness Jesus doesn’t see us for the mess that we are, the bad decisions we make, and the rotten circumstances we find ourselves in. Instead, he finds us and comes to us right smack dab in the middle of our brokenness and he never loves us any less through it. He doesn’t leave us. He doesn’t forget us.
That is how we are called to love the people around us.
I know that homelessness is such a tricky situation. We can play the “what if…” game all day long.
I’m definitely not accusing Tim’s sister of being in the wrong. I dont know the situation but I know it goes much deeper than just the tv being turned up too late at night.
But when I looked into his eyes, it wasn’t just his sister who saw him for what he did in his past. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t, I don’t know. But that is how Tim sees himself.
I would love nothing more than to go back next week, and the next one, and the one after that, just to sit with Tim. To hear about his life, his hopes, his dreams.
It makes me wonder how many of us are living our lives trapped in shame, regret, addictions, and thoughts that we’re not enough or we’ve done to many wrong things.
As disciples of Christ, we are called to love our neighbor. To be there for them through the mess and allow others to be there for us through our mess. Whether it’s the homeless man on the corner or the woman in the cubicle next to you at work. Who are the Tim’s in your life and what are you going to do about it?
I consider it a privilege to have met Tim. I got a bigger glimpse of just how extravagant the Fathers love is for us.
I’m praying for more encounters with people like Artis and Tim. The Lord is surely using them to wreck my version of love and teach me more about what Jesus’ love is all about.
