Man, what an awesome weekend of City Lights we just had! On the Friday night we heard Ants Watt speak on loving the broken, and on Saturday we went out into our communities and served, doing things like gardening, cleaning, handing out food parcels, and working with addicts. On Sunday we invited some of the people we had met on Saturday to come to our church for a free BBQ lunch.
So, on the Sunday morning I arrived at a lodge in Newton to see a group of people hanging around outside having a cigarette in the early morning sun. This is the type of lodge that has people come straight from prison, and also houses those who are substance dependent – despite the sign on the road saying that it provided “tourist and backpacker accommodation”! After hearing their conversation about who got the most smashed the night before, and who in the lodge had the biggest “domestic”, I was introduced to the three guys I was going to take to church. They all confessed that they hadn’t been to church since a funeral last year, but they wanted to come early to attend the service and then stay for the free feed afterward. I found more than one of them a bit intimidating, but we warmed to each other quickly.
Driving to church, and just before turning onto Newton Road, we were held up by “GUCCI”. A middle aged woman driving a Mercedes coupe with a soft top, and to top it off of course with “GUCCI” as the personalised plate. She had not moved for a whole green light so I got out and approached her to find out what was wrong. Winding down her window, I was accosted by the excess of fragrance and found out her car was broken down. I told her I had three friends who could help her out, to which she reluctantly accepted.
As I informed the guys in my car, I was surprised that they were so keen to help this lady who clearly had too much money to play with. As they all shuffled out of my car and proceeded to push “GUCCI” across the road and down onto a side street, I was reminded of Ants talking about how God has an upside-down kingdom. Here were three people with barely a cent to their names, who needed a free meal, pushing a car whose owner’s perfume probably cost more money than they had seen in a long while. The funny thing was that I seemed to have more prejudice towards this lady than what they did… I blame my mood on the perfume though, it irritated my sinuses!
Somehow there was something so beautiful in watching these three guys push that ridiculously expensive car and its owner across the street, which is why I captured it on camera. In the Bible it talks about how true religion is one that comforts the widows and the homeless and the poor. I wonder if God wants us to spend time with these people because it’s actually beneficial for us as Christians.
I enjoyed that church service so much! Surrounded by people who didn’t know the social rules of church, talking over the top of the pastor’s sermon, motioning throughout the sermon to go out back and have a cigarette, and then eating food afterward, discussing methadone, heroin and broken families. Somehow that refreshed my soul. I think it’s a step closer to how Jesus would have done things.