My Friend S.

Before God called me to Atlanta, I had a very stereotypical view of homeless people. I assumed that all of them had some horrible kind of addiction and that they were just after peoples money. I basically reduced them to an in-human level, although at the time I would have denied it. Now that some of my closest friends are homeless people, or "clients" as Safehouse Outreach refers to them, I wish that everyone could realize that they are people just like we are. They have favorite foods, seasons, colors, sports teams, pastimes, places and favorite days of the week just like we do. People are people no matter what.
I met S. on the second night of my first week long trip to Atlanta. He was reading a book and I decided to ask him what he was reading because reading fascinates me. A question turned into a conversation and before I knew it a friend and I had been talking to S. for half an hour. The next night we looked for S. and after finding him started up another conversation. S. broke my heart. He had only been on the streets for two weeks on the day that I met him. Meeting S. forced me to the realization that aside from being considerably older than me, and a man, he and I weren't that different. We both grew up in the suburbs, going to church every Sunday and the only times we really ever went to Atlanta was for the occasional baseball game. S. never imagined that he would one day be living on the streets of Atlanta and getting his nightly meal at Safehouse.
The fourth night of those first five days that I spent in Atlanta was the night that changed life as I knew it. It started out as any other night, our team headed outside the doors at Safehouse promptly at five-thirty to greet the clients before the service at six-thirty. Two of my friends and I set off to look for S.. That night was different because the service was being held outside in the late July smoldering heat. The parking lot was crowded and uncomfortably warm but we eventually spotted S. sitting with a few other guys. We sat down on the warm parking lot near S. and began talking about his day. He was sipping a sweet tea from McDonald's that he had purchased on the way back from the odd job he had found that day. S. was and still is a very hard worker. He had walked three miles to and from the work that day but he was grateful for any work at all. The next event is what changed my heart towards the people in Atlanta forever.
An elderly African-American man (also a client) had been sitting to the left of S. He hadn't said much during our conversation but I noticed that he seemed to be in pain. He had some pain medication that his doctor had given him for his knee (which was very swollen). The man began looking worriedly around as it appeared that the volunteers were running low on the iced tea that they were handing out. He apparently needed to take his pill to make the pain from his knee bearable. Without being asked, S. offered the man the last sips of his sweet tea to take the medication. I was speechless. For me, that wouldn't have been a big deal. I'm not rich but an iced tea for a dollar every now and then is by no means going to break me.
In the few seconds that it took for S. to pass his sweet tea to the elderly man, I realized that he had just given me and anyone else paying attention a perfect illustration of God's love. S. gave the man his only drink without expecting anything in return. Just like God sent this world his only Son. God loves us unconditionally without any strings attached. The choice that the man had was whether or not to accept the gift that S. was holding out to him. It's the same way with God's love. He isn't going to make us take it, it's our choice. The man did nothing to deserve the iced cold tea that S. had but it didn't matter to S..
We, as Christians, are saved by grace. We were born into sin and we did absolutely nothing to deserve the wonderful gift of salvation that God offered us after He sent His only Son to die for our sins. It seems like an obvious choice. Take the tea. Accept Jesus as your personal Savior. But to some people it isn't. When you accept Jesus as your Savior you have to make Him Lord of your life. You have to realize that you have done nothing to deserve salvation, just as the man had done nothing to deserve the tea that S. had bought. We are born into sin and deserve nothing more than death and hell. After the realization you have a choice. You can forget what you heard and live your life by the worlds standards and in the end get exactly what you deserve. Death and hell. Or, you can take up your cross and follow Jesus. You can choose to accept the gift that you don't deserve and live your life for Jesus on this earth before joining Him at your true home in eternity. It seems like an obvious choice.
That night I cried myself to sleep thinking about how S. had given the man all he had just to make his pain more bearable. It brought me to this question: Would I be able to do that? Would I be willing?

Here I am Lord, send me.