This past week it got pretty cold in Texas. Now, to be fair, that is according to Texas standards, not those of anywhere that gets regular winter chill. Nevertheless, after living in Texas for four years, I am more maladapted to the cold then ever. I did, however, keep my winter gear from living up north, so while I may feel a little cold, I’m ultimately just fine. Well, this was the first day this winter that it was getting truly cold, and the sun had gone down, so I was wearing my winter coat when I went out. I went to the grocery store to buy food, as one does, then walked back out to my truck to get in and go home. As I was putting my bags in the truck, a guy came up to me and asked if I had any money for food.
He was homeless, looked like he was in his 30’s somewhere, walked with a limp, and seemed a bit cold. In talking to him briefly, I found out his name is Sean. I don’t tend to carry much cash on me, so I gave Sean some food bars I had just bought and a few bottles of water. It gets pretty hot in Texas, so I always keep some water bottles in my truck for exactly this purpose. When someone on the street asks me for something, I feel like I can at *least* give them some water. I handed him the small bag of food and water, and it was right then that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said “give him your jacket.” Now, I knew which jacket God meant because it was the one sitting on my passenger seat directly in front of me. My favorite jacket. It was kind of a cross between a sweatshirt and jacket as it was a waist-length zip-up with a hood from North Face, so you could really call it either, but I like it and wear it all the time. Or at least I did up until that moment.
I asked him “Do you have any other warm clothes?”
“No, just what I’m wearing.” Sean replied.
“Then take this. Hopefully you’ll be a bit warmer. I washed it yesterday so it’s clean.”
I handed him the jacket and then that was the end of our interaction. As he limped away, eating a food bar and now hopefully getting a bit warmer, I started to reflect on the encounter. You see, I didn’t say at the time that “God told me to give this to you.” I didn’t try to preach the gospel to him. And I didn’t ask him if I could pray for his leg or whatever was causing the limp. As he was walking away it occurred to me that maybe I could say something about God, but it would have made things end on an awkward note because it didn’t flow naturally in the interaction and would have gotten tacked on as an afterthought. And maybe I should have anyway. I don’t know.
What I do know is that Sean was warmer that night and he ate more than he would have otherwise. The passage in James 2:14-18 comes to mind when I think of that evening. It says:
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
If in our pursuit of being holy or spiritual we forget to take care of basic human needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, then in reality what good is this gospel? Of what value is a gospel that will do nothing whatsoever for one’s current day-to-day life and only comes into play in some theoretical afterlife? What really is that gospel saving us from, or saving us into? And how is this gospel loving if it abjectly ignores human need, lack, and pain? Now that doesn’t mean that we each individually can fix every situation everywhere. But can we change the situation in front of us? And further still, can we learn to trust God to supply OUR needs so that we always have an overflow to give from?
There’s one more piece to this story. As I was driving away, I began talking to the Lord about my jacket specifically because it was my favorite. I have other sweatshirts I can wear. I have a winter coat. I don’t have a lack of things I can wear to be warm—I suddenly had a lack of things I *preferred* to wear to keep warm. So how much was me being selfish, how much was me complaining, and how much was me processing? I don’t think I was being selfish, as I literally gave the jacket away when I was instructed. I don’t feel like I was complaining, or if so only minimally, because I truly did want Sean to be warm and be okay that night. I just also wanted to still have my favorite jacket. So I talked to Him about the mixed feelings I was having, and I didn’t really come to any specific conclusion except that I was going to choose to trust Him to be bigger than the situation and to take care of my desires and likes as well.
Fast forward two days and I was at my aunt and uncle’s house. They live in San Marcos about an hour south of Austin, and my parents had sent some Christmas gifts that arrived late. So early January here I am opening Christmas gifts, and what is the first thing I open? A brand new jacket.
I’m not even kidding. While I was giving Sean my favorite jacket and talking to the Lord about the situation, He had literally already sent me a new one and it was waiting at my family’s house for me to pick up. How often do we fail to trust God to see us through? And how often do we try to figure out ways in the natural that we can work it out for ourselves to somehow come out on top or get ahead or whatever else, not willing to trust that God not only sees and knows, but is faithful to follow through and meet us in those situations.
I think so much of our Christian walk is about learning to trust the only One who is truly fully worthy of it, and in doing so being willing to go anywhere, love anyone, touch anyone, place ourselves in any situation He leads us into no matter how dirty or ugly or unpleasant or even dangerous it may be—simply because we know He is worthy of our trust and all of our love, and so we’ll do literally anything for Him. For me that night it was giving away my jacket. Another time it could be food or money or time or anything else. But as we step out in obedience and trust, God will meet us in ways we could not have expected before—because He is faithful.
