Homeless ministry

by

Talking about Sin Comfortably

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”- Romans 3:23

The meaning of the New Testament word for sin is missing the mark or target.

All of us aim for something in this life. Aristotle summed up his works on ethics with the thought that we all aim at happiness. There is a general consensus that this is true. However, we know that the world is full of unhappy people. We are not successful in getting what we want. It doesn’t matter who they are and what they have and who they know. The world is quite an unhappy place. The problem is that we don’t know what exactly constitutes happiness. We look to the wrong things to make us happy. We have a deficient idea what brings happiness to our lives. This deficiency in itself is not sin. Our sin lies in not recognizing that we have a deficiency. Sin blinds us from realizing that we are aiming at the wrong things for happiness. This failure to acknowledge our deficiency is an obstacle to happiness.

If we want to help someone to be happy, we cannot avoid talking about sin. However, it is a personal conversation just as the pursuit of happiness is a personal quest. Before out talk about sin can occur, there must be an intimate relationship. We can only talk about sin with those whom we love.

Igor, who is 21 years, is an orphan and has been in the streets since he was a young child. He can read and write because he was forced to go to school in the long periods he spent in the juvenile detention center. He got into a life of crime because he thought money would help him achieve happiness. Instead it just brought more problems and suffering. Now, he is not sure what is going to bring him happiness. He is not motivated to make a change in his life. He is not sure if it is worth the effort to try because there is no guarantee that he is going to succeed.

Igor is not waiting for government help. He does not want handouts. He does not even think that things are going to get better for him. He wants to know if there is a reason for him to hope for happiness in this life. I think that it is impossible to answer any of his questions without a meaningful conversation about sin. However, we cannot talk to Igor comfortably about sin if we do not genuinely care for his well-being.

So, what gives us the authority to speak about sin? This is an important question we ask ourselves constantly. Before we have this conversation with him, we need to know for ourselves whether we are aiming at the right target. Jesus warned us,

“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”-Matthew 7:5

Perhaps we feel uncomfortable talking about sin because it requires constant self-examination. We cannot talk about sin in terms of us and them. We need to talk about sin including ourselves in the mix. Sin is very much part of our lives. We have a deficient idea of happiness as well and we in ourselves cannot claim to know where to aim.

Talking about sin makes us aware that we need to help finding the target. Who can help us find this target? Who can point to us the path of Happiness? The best we can do is to point to the person of Jesus Christ. Many do not think that Jesus has something to offer. However, for those who realize that our vision of happiness is deficient, Jesus can open our eyes to see a new reality in the Cross. This is our hope for Igor, but first we need to talk to him about sin.

Share Button
by

The Feast of Pentecost: The Birthday of Missions

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.-Acts 1:8

Not all churches commemorated Pentecost Sunday in Brazil. There is a strong anti-catholic sentiment among the evangelical Christians and they avoid anything that bears any resemblance to the Catholic Church. This, unfortunately, means that traditional feast days are mostly ignored in the evangelical churches. Consequently, it has impoverished them. We need to reflect on the important events of our spirituality. It reminds us of our spiritual vocation. Our team is made up of mainly evangelical Christians but we did not allow this day to past without reflecting on its meaning in our ministry. The presence of the Holy Spirit is crucial in our ministry. It gives our ministry a purpose and most important of all, it is a reminder of what it means to work in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In São Paulo, most people have grown accustomed to the presence of the homeless children and teens. A good Christian man who was not afraid to be honest and politically incorrect told me that most people in São Paulo are more disturbed to see stray dogs in the streets than to see children. He said that homeless children have always been there whereas stray dogs are something new.

None of us, including the only Brazilian in our team, are from the city of São Paulo. We are sent and supported by churches outside the city and country. Sometimes we feel like we need to justify ( this is perhaps a feeling just in our hearts) why we are serving in a place that has nothing to do with the reality of our sending churches. Why invest time and money in a Catholic nation where there are ample churches both Protestant and Catholic? Sometimes we feel like we need to justify our presence here and then it hits us. We are here because of Pentecost Sunday.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.”-Acts 2: 4-6

We cannot separate the speaking of different languages from the coming of the Holy Spirit. In some churches, the gospel is read in many different languages on this day. It is an important symbolic act to show that the Holy Spirit changed the way the first disciples understood the message of the gospel. God’s favor was no longer restricted to one people, but His Spirit is upon all peoples. The presence of the Holy Spirit has been with the Jewish people always, but now it is poured out to the world. The word for “Spirit” in Hebrew could mean “breath” or “wind” with which Jesus symbolically describes the movement of the Spirit in His conversation with Nicodemus. It is an appropriate symbol. We cannot domesticate or control the wind or air. It is free to go where it pleases. The church is only truly a church when it is willing to allow the wind of the Spirit to carry it to places and people to testify to the power of the gospel.

We cannot understand the reason for missionary work if we do not understand the power that comes from the Hoy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has only one purpose according to Jesus. The power of the Holy Spirit lies in this role. Our power comes from recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit.

He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.- John 16:14-15

Our power comes from recognizing the presence of Jesus in our midst. This is the only thing that makes the church relevant. If we allow ourselves to be distracted with other tasks, then we lose our authority and power in this world. If we make power our goal, then we lose all authority. Our goal is to testify to the work of the Holy Spirit.

The feast of Pentecost reminds us of this. The New Testament writings after the gospels are about recognizing the presence of Jesus in this world through the Holy Spirit. The apostles never wrote about doctrines; they just testified to the living presence of Jesus. The doctrines become alive and living testimony of the gospel’s power when we use them to recognize the presence of Jesus. They become dull and lifeless if they are end unto themselves.

The feast of Pentecost reminds us that it was the Holy Spirit who brought us to the red light district of São Paulo. None of us ever imagined spending the prime of our adult life walking through trash and filth to find homeless children and teens who might be too drugged out to talk to us. However, we wouldn’t be anywhere but here because the Holy Spirit brought us. This is the only reason we need to be here. We need to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost to remind ourselves of this Truth.

We are here for the sole purpose of testifying to the transformative presence of Jesus. Every encounter with the living presence of Jesus is transformative. This is why our power lies in recognizing His presence in this world.

Share Button
by

Jesus of the Palms or of the Passion

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”- Matthew 21:8-9

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”-Matt. 27:22-23

At first Jesus was accepted joyfully.  They thought Jesus was a problem solver. They wanted a Jesus that would heal their illness, they wanted a Jesus who would be a political reformer, they wanted a Jesus….. They wanted a Jesus who would solve their problems. Jesus actually did all these things in his ministry but they wanted him to just do these things. The real Jesus had much more to offer. He is much more than just a solution to a crisis.

There is a danger in our ministry to preach “Jesus, the crisis manager”. The needs of the homeless are so overwhelming that there is temptation for us to present Jesus as a solution. However, this would be watering down the gospel to the level of marketing. The church is called to sell the Jesus product. Jesus is more than a product. Some people argue that we can use the tools of marketing in evangelism. I think we can only use these tools when we preach a different Jesus. The Jesus of the gospel was not selling anything. He won’t be reduced to the level of a product. A product is only good until it fulfills its purpose. This is what happened after Palm Sunday. Jesus was no longer necessary for the people’s purpose and He had to go. They killed Jesus because He outlived His utility for the people.

This is the problem with the “Jesus, the crisis manager”. Once the crisis is over or unsolved, Jesus loses His purpose. We cannot preach this Jesus to the homeless children and adults. It would be kinder to leave them in the streets than to give the false hope that Jesus is their crisis manager. Jesus does not want to fulfill this role and He won’t do it. Jesus is much more than this.

Who is Jesus then? Only Jesus can answer this question. The best we can do is to walk with people to the foot of the Cross. This is why I am a priest of a liturgical church. Good liturgy teaches me the meaning of evangelism. It is not convincing people that they need Jesus but it is walking with them to the foot of the Cross as we do symbolically during this week. The answer is at the foot of the Cross. Jesus came to fulfill one purpose and this was to hang on the Cross. St. Paul was right when he said that this sounds like foolishness to the world. It is a disappointment for those who are waiting for a social or political reformer. Yet, for those who can see and hear the Holy Spirit, they can testify with the centurion, “ Surely He was the Son of God.”

The best we can as do in our ministry is to walk with the homeless to the foot of the Cross and experience the Living Presence of God hanging on the Cross. This Jesus on the Cross is not a disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

Share Button