Church Told to Stop Feeding the Poor
UPDATE: Today the AZcetnral.com news site picked up this story. Some of the quotes in the article are priceless.
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Crossroads United Methodist Church in Phoenix feeds the hungry, but today they were told they can no longer continue this practice because in doing so they constitute a “charity dining hall” and, as such, are breaking local ordinance.
Even though this hateful decision has been masked in a facade of local code issues, Rev Escobedo-Frank rightly identifies at the root issue:
“Or, are we just discriminating against people who are poor and who don’t have homes, because we don’t like what we feel when we see them? The real issue, is not that there are hungry people out there, or that we serve food in church, the real issue is that we are afraid. Afraid to reach out a helping hand; afraid to see what the economy could do to us; afraid to face our worst fears…”
Afraid indeed.
Last year I wrote over at Twoshirts.org about the case of a Detroit teenager accused of murdering a homeless man:
Perhaps her son saw a bit of himself in the homeless man; something he was ashamed of. Often our anger towards others is rooted in self-rejection. When people represent the worst of us, or by their very presence seem to confirm our greatest fears, we can lash out in anger.
More recently, my friends Cory and Crissy Verner have decided to spend every Saturday morning at Grape Day Park in Escondido, CA, eating with a local homeless community. Over the past 6 months they’ve built genuine friendships with folks there. Sadly, the local Police have harassed Cory and Crissy about it on and off.
Whatever guise it takes – outright violence, mere dismissal, or the thin veneer of prejudicial local codes – our anger and contempt toward the poor reveals more about our own sin than it does about their brokenness. Listen to Jesus:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
It would do us good to remember that Jesus’ words here are spoken in the context of who will, and will not, be ready for the day of judgment (Matt 25).
Personally, I think believers should be ready to help Crossroads UMC in whatever way we can. I’ll keep you posted on any news regarding how Reverend Dottie Rev. Escobedo-Frank and the people of Crossroads UMC can be supported in their important ministry.
There are times for civil disobedience, and this is one of them.