We got to the house just as they were loading him on the vehichle to take him away. The youth leaders had moved the kids to the backside of the house so they wouldn't have to see quite as much. It only took a couple seconds to figure out what had happened.
We'd met the officers the day before. They were really helpful for the work the kids were doing and were incredibly kind men. They could have made the call to remove him months ago but had been patient and kind, not wanting to take him away but rather to find some way to salvage his way of life.
His name is Paul. Right now I'm not sure where he lives. In many ways he'll go down in the history of K.S. as a failure. We didn't really help him. In the end our efforts were for nothing. He's a WWII veteran. His wife passed away a few years back and he has 3 kids. One in AZ and 2 somewhere up north. We never met them becuase we had to leave town before they got there.
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Paul's house was a project we had in Florida the week after Christmas. This man had a lot of junk. A lot of junk. He'd lived in his home for a long time and during that time he'd aquired a lot of things. The code enforcement officers said he was in violation of a ton of city rules. Some people have junk in their yard, Paul had no yard. When we measured the yard it was somewhere around 50 feet deep and over 100 feet wide. He had trash and stuff at least 3 feet deep everywhere. The kids moved over 12 dumpsters full of stuff and they still weren't within 25 feet of the house. They uncovered..uncovered...a van at one point. And a fishing boat still on the trailer. The cops said they'd found rats and snakes everywhere when they first found the place.
On the final day of the project they let a youth leader and one of the students inside the house. They wouldn't talk about it. The code guys said that when they were in there they watched in horror as an opossum came in through the wall and ate food out of a cat food bowl. Turns out he's become friends with the thing and it was his pet. Inside his house.
The first day we got there Paul was in the yard begging the guys to not throw all his stuff away. It was all good stuff, all useful, all stuff he was going to use or just needed a couple new things and it would be good enough. They began to barter with him, allowing him to keep certain items in exchange for letting us dump tons of stuff. We pulled a mattress,ski poles, trunks, boxes, cofee makers, tools, tires you name it, we moved it out of there.
By the end of the second day it was clear that we couldn't do enough. The house was a wreck, there was one place where they'd planted a tree too close to the house a few years back and now the tree had grown into the house. It had pushed through the side of the house and the bark was a part of the inside wall--you could actually see in and out of the house around the tree.
When we got there the second day it was just as they were taking Paul away. He was headed to a facility to spend the next couple nights until his family got to town and decided what they were going to do with him and his property.
The kids were in the back talking with a city pastor who worked with these things. He was telling them about Paul's future, about what their work meant to him and helping them cope with watching a huge orange CONDEMNED sign get slapped on the house. They'd wanted to say good bye but never got to.
As we were standing there the code enforcement officer came up to us with tears in his eyes. He told us how much the work meant to him, how he hated this part of the job and how they'd done everything they could to keep Paul in his house. Here's the part I cannot shake from my mind: "I feel like I betrayed Paul. After today I'm going to take a couple days off and have some conversations with myself because I feel so badly for Paul. I tried everything I could but in the end it wasn't enough and I hate that." He just stood there and finally turned away. I was so struck by this guys kindness, by his compassion and that a guy who wasn't a believer could have such a Christlike attitude towards his job.
I talked to the youth pastor for a minute. I told her that I was so sorry they had to see this but that I was so happy they got to see this. We talked with their kids for a few minutes and they looked emotionally spent. We talked about why we do what we do and that we'll never know what that service for Paul meant.
We left a few minutes later and as we were walking back to the truck our worship leader who was hanging out with us said "Oh my goodness." I looked up and saw he was pointing 1 block down. It was exactly one block down and across the street from Paul's house. A church. It's located at the end of the cul-de-sac and the only way to their parking lot is right by Paul's house. So they drove by it. Every Sunday, every Wednesday. Now I do not know whether or not they tried to help Paul. Nobody else in the neighborhood did, we do know that. Not even the guy with the Escalade across the street. Maybe the church did all sorts of nice things for Paul but I seriously doubt it. Clearly marked on their building and all over their property were signs with 2 words. NO TRESPASSING.
Ever since I started working here, ever since DC and some comments by Tom I've been telling groups every week that I don't give a rip if they ever come to K.S. again but that they start serving where they are, where they live. Their impact will be better and last longer there. I tell them all the time that they'd probably be shocked by what is happening within 10 minutes of their church building. Both outside the home and inside. And if there isn't anything happening within 10 minutes of your building you probably need to rethink what's going on there. Paul's house was 1 block away and I bet if you showed up on any given Sunday you could mention something about the house and most of the folks would know about it and you know what they'd say about it.
I'm speaking twice in the next 10 days on James 2. I've spent a decent amount of time studying the passage and until last night totally missed something. Mercy. The words been spinning since our discussion on the good samaritan and last night Jayson was talking about forgiveness and mercy and he read a verse from the passage "I'm using". James 2 in the context of favortism towards the wealthy, in the context of caring for those that are abused or neglected by society.
"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!"
Mercy. Same word used in both places. Mercy over judgement. I am so convicted by that sentence because all I have to do is put myself back in situations where I come face to face with poverty or needy people and I know where my mind jumps first.
One final thing. The word mercy is the same one used of God "who is rich in mercy " Ephesians 2. mercy-the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of hi who recieves it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it.
Mercy-we've recieved it when we were powerless with our own spiritual poverty. So it's not as if scripture outlines a specific thing were supposed to do or say when we encounter those in need. We're simply to show mercy.
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
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