Why I Help the Homeless

By S. R. Morris

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17 (NIV)

ROLL UP THAT WINDOW!” I said to my startled wife when I saw her begin to roll her car window down.

“Don’t talk to that guy!” I continued. “He probably just wants money for drugs. He can go out and get a job like everyone else.”

A man, obviously homeless, stood beside our car near an intersection where we were waiting for the light to change. Dressed in tattered, dirty clothes, needing a shave and haircut, he held a sign that read: “Homeless. Please help. God bless you.”

Now that I’m actively involved in a ministry to the homeless, I look back on this incident as one of the turning points in my way of thinking about the poor. The Holy Spirit used it to teach me how God looks at the situation.

By the Book

My epiphany came one day as I read Psalm 103:10. Speaking about God, it said: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”* As I reflected on my own life and the ways God had blessed me, I knew this was certainly true in my own experience. The gospel itself is an indication that God doesn’t treat any of us as we deserve.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” wrote the apostle Paul (Rom. 3:23). And he said further, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Slowly, the more I reflected on the gospel, the more my attitude about the homeless began to change.

One day, my wife and I walked toward my car in a store parking lot, I saw an obviously homeless man shifting under a small tree in a feeble attempt to find shelter from the oven-like heat of the Arizona sun. Again my heart was moved, and without much thought, I reached into my wallet and pulled out several McDonald’s tokens, good for free sandwiches, fries, drinks, etc. Someone had given them to me, and when I took them I thought I could use them someday when I needed a quick lunch. In reality, I knew they would probably stay in my wallet until the expiration date passed.

I walked over to the man and handed him the coupons, along with the change in my pocket. “Here, get yourself something to eat and drink,” I said. I turned from the surprised man and walked back toward the car to find an even more surprised look on my wife’s face.

“Why did you do that?” she asked. Knowing me as she did, having heard all my speeches about the United States being the land of opportunity and my tirades against those who were unwilling to take advantage of those opportunities, she was somewhat shocked by my actions.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “He just looked as if he needed something to eat. Besides,” I added in an attempt to appear less of a sap, “it’s so hot today, he looked as if he might be dehydrated.”

My Action Plan

In July 2000 at the urging of the Holy Spirit, and I decided I could no longer wait until God erected a billboard with my name on it detailing exactly what He wanted me to do in the area of ministry for others.

A friend had been distributing cold bottled water to homeless people for some time, and I had accompanied her once to see first hand what it was like. I decided it was a worthwhile project, but reasoned that her ministry was not mine. I needed to do something myself, closer to home. I decided to copy her example by taking cold water bottles to a park near our old home, a place I knew was a hangout for the homeless. I thought about it, and even though I understood that I really didn’t know how to begin or what to say or what I would actually encounter, I decided just to do it.

What began with a case of bottled water and a bag of ice in a cooler has steadily grown. Within a couple weeks I added lunch sacks filled with sandwiches, fruit, and cookies. A few weeks later, as I thought about the needs of the homeless, I decided to cook an entire meal, just as if I were having a family picnic. I unloaded our picnic meal and invited the park’s homeless to join me.

It now takes several of the homeless to help me carry the coolers, thermoses, pots, pans, and other containers I unload from my pickup each Sunday afternoon. In less than a year my original group of about 10 to 15 has nearly doubled. On an average Sunday I cook about 20 pounds of potatoes, make a half gallon of gravy, go through several loaves of bread and a large pot of beans or other vegetables, and feed two to three dozen people.

How can I afford it? Last year I would’ve told you that I couldn’t. God, however, is faithful and has promised to repay whatever I spend to help the poor. We have claimed the promise: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done” (Prov. 19:17). My annual income has increased by nearly $10,000, much more than I spend in feeding the homeless. God is indeed faithful.

A Changed Life

My life as changed in other ways since I made the decision to begin helping the homeless. Whereas I once argued that homeless people were that way because of their own bad choices. I know now that this is not always the case. It’s true that many are homeless because of drug and alcohol addictions, or because of various other wrong choices they have made in life. Others have simply been victims of: abuse, poverty, divorce and other circumstances.

Now, instead of trying to determine whether a person is worthy of my help, the Holy Spirit says to me, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you�"who are you to judge your neighbor?” James 4:12 (NIV)

In the past, when someone would approach me and ask for spare change to buy a sandwich, I would try to size up the person or determine whether or not he was actually conning me and would use the money to purchase alcohol or drugs. No, in addition to the above scripture, the Holy Spirit also brings to mind Proverbs 3:27, 28: “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” �"when you have it with you.” (NIV)

I think my Heavenly Father that, as unworthy as I am of all He has given to me, He did not cast me aside. He sent His Son to redeem me from my bad choices, and He’s promised that I’ll never be homeless, because He’s prepared a special home for me.

Copyright 2002 by S. R. Morris