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The system had been installed two years ago not to water the lawn, but to soak the building's alcoves to deter homeless people from sleeping in them. The sprinklers ran for 75 seconds about every half hour from sunset to dawn.
Some homeless people tried to ride out the drenchings, using umbrellas and waterproof coverings, but they got wet nonetheless. They eventually abandoned the alcoves at night.
The church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, which supports and helps the homeless. A spokesperson for the archdiocese explained that the intention at the time of the sprinkler installation was to redirect homeless people to safer areas on the cathedral grounds.
In announcing the decision to remove the sprinklers, Auxiliary Bishop William Justice, rector of the cathedral, said, "We are sorry that our intentions have been misunderstood and recognize that the method used was ill-conceived. It actually has had the opposite effect from what it was intended to do, and for this we are very sorry."
The problem wasn't just that homeless people were sleeping in the alcoves, but that feces, needles and other dangerous items were often left there.
"The problem was particularly dangerous because students and elderly people regularly pass these locations on their way to school and Mass every day," Justice said. He added that the archdiocese is one of the largest supporters in the city for services for the homeless and helps thousands of people every year "through food, housing, shelter programs for people at risk including homeless mothers and families, and in countless other ways," he said.
What to do about homeless people using the church grounds is a matter faced by houses of worship in many cities across the country. Congregations struggle to confront the health and safety issues caused by people dwelling on their grounds while still being true to Christ's calling to care for the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40, 45).
Recently, one Washington, D.C., congregation found a way to move people off its porches while assisting them in moving on. Over the years, a few homeless people have used the sheltered porches of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church for sleeping quarters, but the number of people doing so has increased, with people using the grounds for bathroom purposes. Some were leaving their belongings on the porches, some in plastic-covered four-foot-high piles.
The members of the church were themselves divided over what to do. Some felt an obligation to offer shelter to homeless people while others believed it was important to reclaim the building as a clean and safe place.
They eventually came to a decision: as of March 1, no one was allowed to stay on the porches. The church even hired security personnel to enforce the decision. But the next part of their decision is what made it a good solution.
Linda Kaufman, an Episcopal priest who works for a community agency housed in Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, explains the rest of the plan and some of its outcome:
[Ahead of the March 1 deadline, we met] weekly with anyone who had lived on the porches to help them make the transition. ... the church has resources to support the changes we were imagining. If anyone wanted to go home, we had the money to buy a bus ticket. If folks needed something, we would do what we could to provide them with it.
So every Tuesday at 7 a.m., a small group of us met with our homeless neighbors for breakfast and discussion. We talked about what it would take to find permanent housing and kept track of commitments.
At our meeting the first week of March, some miracles occurred:
• Dominique came for the first time and told us he had a job if he could get a bike helmet. (Bob, a parishioner, left the meeting, went to his nearby home and arrived back moments later with a bike helmet.)
• Ivy told us she had had an interview for a job at Starbucks.
• Stephen said he was going to interview later that morning for a restaurant job.
Several folks needed help with transportation, so after the meeting, Kris, a very committed and active parishioner, put more money on their church-provided transit cards.
After six weeks of support, no one is living on the porches anymore. It wasn’t easy, and we did have challenges. We did have to call the police when Eddie refused to leave his place on the porch. Having to call the police was the single sour note in the trajectory to reclaiming the porches and building an amazing community.
As a pastor, I have had to move people off property in the past. It has always felt punitive and mean. This time it felt different because we gave ample warning; we formed a team to get to know and support everyone individually; we consistently enforced the rules; and we used the resources of the church and the neighborhood to help.
I am convinced that those individuals who were sleeping on the church porches are better off now than they were in January, before we started.
I recently saw Dominique, with his bike helmet. He told me he got the job. Later that day I heard that Ivy got a full-time gig. Herbert and Sonia have a place to live. The miracles keep rolling in.
More on this story can be found at these links:
No Sprinklers Required: How My Church Kept Homeless People Off Church Steps. UMReporter
Cathedral to Remove Sprinkler System That Drenched Homeless. Yahoo! News
The Big Questions
1. Have you or someone in your family ever been homeless? If you are willing, describe that experience for the group.
2. How do you define compassion? Is it important for Christians to behave compassionately even if they don't feel empathy toward a particular person or group? Explain. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a compassionate person?
3. Are there homeless people in your community? If you're not sure, how might you find out?
4. How do you decide what helping ministries are appropriate for your church?
5. In some cases, being homeless is related to a person's mental condition. Some individuals are unable or unwilling to take advantage of programs that might improve their situations and mainstream them. Nor can they be forced to enter programs, hold jobs, take medications or otherwise be channeled into safer situations. What is our obligation to help those who do not desire any help or are unable to receive any long-term benefit from it? What is the best approach to work with the homeless if mental illness is a component in their affliction? Should the possibility of successful outcomes be a prerequisite for helping the homeless? How would you define a successful outcome?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Exodus 22:26-27
If you take your neighbor's cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor's only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate. (For context, read 22:21-27.)
This is one of the many detailed biblical provisions that flesh out the Ten Commandments. The basic point of this one, as with many of the Old Testament laws, is that compassion, mercy and a sense of community should trump personal benefit. True, for a lender to return a pawned cloak before the debtor repays the loan does not help the lender's bottom line, but it may save the debtor's life, and it recognizes the common humanity of both the lender and the debtor. It places community above personal aggrandizement or personal comfort.
And note that God adds the statement about his character: "I am compassionate." Another function of the law was to tell people how to be holy as God is holy. Since compassion is part of God's holiness, then people who seek to be holy ought also to be compassionate.
Questions: How might these verses apply to today's "In the News" section? To what extent does our high standard of living constitute taking our neighbor's coat? Can we reasonably assuage any guilt we feel for our level of prosperity by addressing social problems like homelessness?
Matthew 7:12
In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. (No context needed.)
This is what has been called the "Golden Rule." Its application to today's news story is probably obvious, but note that Jesus added the words "for this is the law and the prophets." The law and the prophets was another name for the Scriptures that were available in Jesus' day -- essentially the Old Testament. So Jesus was saying that treating others as you would like to be treated is the essence of the Old Testament laws. Thus the Golden Rule is not merely a nice suggestion; it is the very heart of scriptural morality.
Questions: Should the Golden Rule apply to long-term societal problems such as homelessness? Explain your answer. Is the Golden Rule only applicable regarding people in our own social and economic class (in other words, our comfort zone)? How comfortable are you implementing the Golden Rule with the extremely poor or those who are difficult to serve?
Matthew 25:37-40
Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (For context, read 25:31-46.)
According to these words from Jesus, helping the needy, which certainly includes the homeless, is not optional for those who wish to be judged faithful to God.
Questions: When have you ministered to the "least of these"? How was your life changed? When have you turned away from the "least of these"? How was your life affected? When have you been one of the "least of these"? As you are comfortable, share a bit of your story with the group.
Mark 14:7
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. (For context, read 14:3-9.)
This text is often quoted out of context, sometimes as a way of saying that since Jesus said we'd always have the poor with us, we probably can't do much about the problem of poverty so we ought to leave well enough alone and tend to religious things. It can even be quoted to suggest that Jesus intends for some people to be poor.
But in this text, Jesus is paraphrasing Moses in Deuteronomy 15:11: "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'" And Moses' words are part of a larger passage that says when the people come into their land, they must recognize that everything they have comes from God and they have an obligation to take care of the poor among them.
Questions: What are the limits of your obligations to the homeless? What have you done when a homeless person has shown up at church? Do you think you have done too much? Enough? Do you believe there is any solution to the problem of homelessness? What are the differences between being "poor" and being "needy"?
Luke 4:16-19
When [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (For context, read 4:16-21.)
Questions: What is the relationship between Christ's "mission statement" found in the Luke 4 verses above and his Great Commission to his followers to "make disciples of all nations, ... teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" found in Matthew 28:18-20? How does his statement in Luke 4 affect your church's mission efforts?
For Further Discussion
1. What's your opinion of the sprinkler-system approach to the homeless-on-the-church-grounds problem? Do you agree that homeless people on church grounds is a problem? What's your opinion of the other approach described in the news section of today's lesson? Would it work at your church? Why or why not?
2. Read and discuss how each of the following passages applies to today's topic: James 2:14-17; Isaiah 58:6-7; Luke 14:12-14; Proverbs 19:17.
3. Respond to this, from TWW team member Mary Sells: "It can be very challenging to keep focused on the need of the persons instead of the cause of homelessness. I find myself judging whether they are sincerely in need for reasons beyond themselves, or is it drug addiction or whatever. Big-city living can certainly make one skeptical. A friend tells me that Jesus always sees the need, not the cause. So the question is not only how we aid the needy, but also how we focus on that and get away from judgment as to what leads the person to homelessness."
4. Respond to this, from a TWW team member: "A good friend of mine who helped run a lunch program for homeless in D.C. through a church eventually had a massive stroke and for a while drifted toward the possibility of homelessness himself. He became convinced that change was not possible for most homeless, though he was committed to serving them, which he did beyond the limits of his physical capabilities.
"The congregation I served in those days, which was only a couple of hours from D.C., still participates in working at that church once a month. Church members are committed to serving the best possible lunches, for which they bring all the ingredients and cook them on the spot, not because they will be successful as the world measures success, but because this is what Jesus wants us to do.
"Having observed some of the problems, I have a guilty relief in not living anywhere near a major homeless population, though we certainly have enough in the county where I live. I admire those congregations who have recognized this as part of their mission, and sympathize that they soon discover that the presence of homeless brings with it the possibility of danger. However, one of the focuses of the ministry of Jesus was centered in the issue of redefining clean and unclean. Jesus states that it’s not what goes into us but what comes out of us that makes us unclean. I wonder if avoiding the homeless to avoid a level of uncleanliness actually makes us unclean according to the upside down standards of Christianity."
5. Should a person's life choices -- some of which we may disapprove of -- affect our willingness to offer that person assistance? For example, if a person hasn't been a good steward of his or her own money, should we help that person out when in need? What if the person appears to be able-bodied but is not looking for work? Do potential recipients of our help have to be, in our opinion, "worthy" of the help? How do we decide?
What guidelines can you glean from Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 5:1-16; and Leviticus 23:22 to help you in your decisions regarding distribution of resources to the needy? Are there any considerations that might cause you, in a particular case, to set aside the advice in one or more of these verses?
Responding to the News
This is a good time to review your church's arrangements to help the needy and perhaps encourage changing them if you feel they are inadequate or fall short of the Matthew 25 standard.
Closing Prayer
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