Entertaining Angels

 This last week has been an interesting week in ministry and it has been a real challenge to juggle our mission of helping the needy in our community, especially the homeless.  

Jesus says in Matthew 25:35-36:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

The salvation army has always encouraged its people to look after and minister to the people who are often forgotten in society. Its founder William Booth felt passionately about caring for peoples physical needs as well as its practical needs. He once said:

‘What is the use of preaching the Gospel to men whose whole attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive?’

However, as is often the case when we are doing God’s work, the enemy doesn’t like it. Unsurprisingly, as we started a preaching series in our corps about spiritual warfare, we began to experience attack, especially around the work we are doing with the homeless community. 

Over the last few days there have been two instances where God has been teaching me and encouraging me to persevere, even amidst attack and discouragement. The first instance was as I was travelling to London over the weekend. I stopped at London Victoria station for something to eat before my onward journey, and as I sat eating my meal a homeless man came around the tables asking for money. I always feel torn when this occurs. I want to help, but I often worry that giving money rather than meeting their needs with food and drink etc could feed any addictions that they have rather than helping them. However, I felt compelled to give this man something, so I looked in my purse and all I had in there was £5, so I gave it to the man and he went on his way. 

I returned late home from London and had intended to get a taxi home from the train station. However, as I went to order it, I realised that I had given my last bit of cash, and the amount I needed to get home, to the homeless man! I momentarily got annoyed with myself by giving my money away, but felt the pang of conviction very quickly! I got off the train and began making my way to the taxi rank. There was no one around and as was going down the stairs I noticed a £10 note on the floor. As i picked it up I was reminded of Luke 6:38 in The voice translation:

“Don’t hold back—give freely, and you’ll have plenty poured back into your lap—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, brimming over. You’ll receive in the same measure you give.”

The following day I was leading our CAMEO group and as lunch was being served, a gentleman came in asking for help. He was in a desperate situation,  struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse and had clearly struggled to look after himself. 

We gave him lunch and I sat with him and chatted. It didn’t take long to realise he was very incoherent and the conversation was bizarre to say the least. He had asked for a bible and as we talked I tried to share with him something of the love of God, but the truth is I really didn’t know how much he understood. At times when the gentleman was talking about his life and the struggles he had, he got quite aggressive and, in all honesty, I felt quite uncomfortable, but I really felt that he needed my time and attention.

As the conversation drew to a close and I felt like a bit of a failure as apart from food I hadn’t really be able to help him in any way, I asked if I could pray with him. He declared, however, that he wanted to pray for me. He picked up his bible and began to pray. As he prayed over me, he prayed the most profound, spirit filled and coherent prayer that I have ever had prayed over me! He prayed for things about me that he couldn’t possibly have ever known and he prayed for the mission of The Salvation Army in Macclesfield to the lost and desperate. He was completely coherent and even eloquent in his prayer! As he prayed over me I was reminded of Hebrews 13:2 as the message version says:

“Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it!”

The gentleman finished his prayer and I prayed over him and his situation. As he got up to leave he continued to talk to me in his incoherent state. He thanked me for lunch and off he went! It was such a profound encounter. 

Helping the people that much of society rejects is not always an easy thing to do and it can feel at times like you are being attacked on every side. However, as Galatians 6:9 says:

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up!