The link above is to WPTA 21, a local station, that chose the >ahem< unfortunate headline of “Homeless camp sites pop up in Fort Wayne, present a challenge for police.”
What about the people who are trying to live there? Is it possible that Ft. Wayne weather might be a challenge for them? They get warned that they will go to jail for trespassing, yet how many would welcome the relief of a warm bed and a meal?
Then we have the person who is complaining about what “they” are doing to the river, blaming all of the trash on the homeless.
Does no one see the disconnect?
The homeless are a challenge for the city. The challenge is how do we take care of people in the most need.
The challenge of Epiphany is this: How do we show the love of God to these people? How do we see God in them?
Matthew 25 is pretty clear about God’s opinion on what you do to the stranger and the hungry.
This is what I so often repeat. If we are Christians, if we accept the values of Christ, then we must act on them in every aspect of our lives. Not simply as members of a church, but as members of a community, as citizens of a city, state, and country. We must show it in our words, actions, money, and votes. Do not tell me there is no money, no way. The only thing we lack to care for these people is sufficient will.
Our friend Joshua Gale of Just Neighbors has the last word in the article, but the entire thing is written from the perspective of homelessness being a problem like aphids on your roses. Something to be exterminated. It radically fails to see this as a problem of human suffering.