The Subway Solution

I am sad to say that I have not had a very good attitude toward homeless people.  My whole life I've ignored them and thought of them as deserving of their fate. I mean, if they would just get their act together and actually get a job, they wouldn't be on the streets right?  If they would stop drinking their money and wasting it on drugs, they wouldn't be where they are.  It also doesn't help that I've heard stories of people pretending to be homeless to get the handouts.

It makes me sad when I think of how cold and unfeeling I was toward people in need.  How I thought of myself as better than they are (and sometimes still do...it's a work in progress).  God has been working on my heart and my attitude. The Bible clearly says that Christians should feed the hungry and poor.

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"   Matthew 25:37-40

I would say that the homeless count as the "least of these."  When we help the lowest people, the most undeserving people, we are obeying Jesus.

In Isaiah 58:6, God says:

 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
   and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
   and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Finally, Romans 12:20:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
   if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

God doesn't say only help people you love and care about.  Or only help people who are deserving.  I don't think homeless people are my enemy, but it is not my first instinct to help them.  That doesn't matter.  God says to do it anyway.  Who am I to decide who is "worthy" of my help?  I just need to obey.  God will take care of the rest.

So in light of all this, we decided that we needed to be better about helping homeless people.  But we still didn't feel comfortable giving them money.  After all, I think it is reality that in this country, many people are homeless because of the bad choices they have made, and money may be spent on alcohol or drugs, both things we do not want to donate money toward.  But we could no longer turn a blind eye and pretend they didn't exist.

Then someone from our Hands and Feet group suggested handing out Subway gift cards.  We thought that was great!  There are Subways all over the place here, and it would guarantee that they are getting food from our gift.  My grocery store sells packages of three $10 Subway gift cards, so I bought one and just waited for the right opportunity.

It took a while because we don't see a lot of homeless people where we live, but we finally got to give one away!  It was really neat, I was super excited.  Then when I was going to the mall there was another guy with a sign so I gave him one.  And James had to go downtown this week so he found someone to give one to.  Each time the people have been very grateful and it just thrills me that we've found a way to help without feeling uneasy that our gift may go toward something we don't support.  This past week I got another package of cards to give away, and I have a feeling that this will be something we stick to.