In his sermon on Homelessness Sunday, Danny Abraham reflects on his time working with homeless people in Preston.
We have probably all heard a variation of the phrase ‘can you lend me some money please?’ Those of us with children will likely have heard this more than a handful of times, and often, our response is to dutifully hand over £5, £10, £20, whatever that figure may be because doing so allows our children the opportunity they may otherwise miss out upon through our loving generosity.
So why is it then that when this same phrase, albeit altered slightly, is uttered desperately by someone living on the streets, our attitude and even our response changes so radically? Why is it we lower our heads and pretend they aren’t there? Why is it we speed up, or even get our phone out to avoid looking desperation square in the face? Is it because they will be simply be an inconvenience en-route to our next destination? Because they are not related to us? Because we judge the book by its cover? Assume we know what they will use the money toward? Take a moment to reflect honestly on what your first reaction is most of the time you are asked this on the high street by someone living rough, and then ask yourself why.
After the celebration of the harvest last weekend, this week the UK has been marking national Homelessness Week, a time we are to draw to mind more consciously the plight of those who find themselves without a roof over their heads that they can call home and often find themselves as non-recipients of that for which we gave thanks to God for last weekend. The comparison between the bounty of the harvest and the reality of homelessness couldn’t be more stark, and while that which we give in harvest celebrations goes toward alleviating some of the pressures homeless people face, it also highlights the deep divide between those who have and those who haven’t in our society today.
Homelessness is devastating, dangerous and isolating for anyone who finds themselves in its grips. Figures from the charity ‘Crisis’ show that homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population, with the average age of death for people experiencing homelessness being 46 for men and 42 for women.
People find themselves without a home for lots of different reasons, such as a lack of affordable housing, falling into rental arrears, landlords selling their property, poverty, mental or physical illness or unemployment. In addition to this, life events can also push people into homelessness such as when people leave prison, care or the army with no home to go to or a relationship breaks down. And let us not forget that many women experiencing homelessness have escaped a violent or abusive relationship, and so lurch from one desperate situation to another.
Sadly, being homeless can become a vicious circle and make many of these problems that initiated homelessness even harder to resolve. However, in nearly all cases homelessness is preventable and in every case it can be ended.
I have to confess that until I went on a short term placement to St George’s Preston earlier this year with Fr David Craven, I was very naïve when I looked at the problem of homelessness. It was only when working for the church on the frontlines of Preston city centre that I arrived at a place that provided me with a greater depth of understanding of what those who find themselves homeless endure on a day to day basis.
The most powerful encounter I had was with a young man who was slightly younger than myself, and who had found himself without a home through his landlord changing the locks on his apartment while he was at work trying to earn the money to pay his rental arrears. With every single one of his possessions locked inside his flat, he had nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep and no hope. He wearily stumbled into St Georges on a morning I was there, and after a few coffees and some food, he told his story to me and Fr David. This poor young man was desperate to get back into his flat to retrieve some clothing, some bedding and for him, it was important that he could access ID documents to allow himself to get back into full-time work and to get a new place to live. He had never experienced homelessness before, and it was obvious how much distress he was in. He had seen others in his situation be beaten up and had what little possessions they had stolen from them, which sadly is not uncommon.
Crisis says that people sleeping on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence, with more than one in three people sleeping rough being deliberately hit or kicked or experiencing some other form of violence whilst homeless. He was determined to not become another statistic, but to actively seek a way out of his dire situation.
Through this encounter, any presuppositions I had about how people come to be without homes and so living rough were transformed, and seeing how he was so determined to prevent a vicious cycle of despair beginning was powerful. I was challenged by God in that moment allow my hidden prejudices to challenge me, and to see with fresh eyes the role of the Church has as the body of Christ in both alleviating the situation, but more importantly, in challenging and transforming the unjust systems that contribute towards such disparity between rich and poor.
In our readings today, we are reminded by the prophet Isaiah that God is in His very nature a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress and so is a shelter from the extremes life can sometimes throw at us. And because we as disciples of Christ are drawn into his resurrected life through our baptism, we are to care about those things which God himself cares about. The Scriptures point time and time again to the fact God has a special dispensation for the poor, the needy and the destitute, and by spiritual osmosis, we are to have that same dispensation too.
The heart of the Gospel reading this morning is the point that how we treat others is how we treat Christ himself. The person of Christ is present in the poor, the hungry, the homeless and the needy, and so to ignore them is to ignore and subsequently neglect Christ through our lack of provision. People who fall into these categories are people who can become invisible and left on the edges of community and so the call to be Christ’s disciples cannot be taken up fully if Christ on the margins is not recognised and responded to. As people of God, our care for people in need is not optional, and while we cannot hope to respond to every single person in need that we encounter, to do nothing is never the answer. Pennies make pounds, and small seeds grow into large plants; our small actions are better than no actions at all, and collectively as the Church of Christ, our actions can contribute to transforming the unjust structures within society today
The parable also focusses on judgement. This is not a comfortable topic and it is easier to ignore those parts of the Scriptures we are less comfortable with. However, face them we must, because to not do so would be to be selective with the Bible, and ALL Scripture has been given to Gods people for challenging, building and forming us as disciples of Christ.
Our concern should be less about how those around us judge us to be according to what society thinks a proper and good life looks like, and more concerned about how God will judge us and look at our lives more deeply through our action or inaction. It is so important that we do not just think about “the poor”, “the needy”, “the hungry” or “the homeless” as nameless and faceless categories because they are individuals, all made in the image of God and are people who are without the resources they need to live a dignified life. The gospel reading tells us how Christ is present in each person in need, and so by actively seeking to hear peoples individual stories, giving them the dignity, time and space they deserve, we can then respond accordingly in actions and deeds and by doing so, share the love of Christ in word and in deed that transforms lives for the Kingdom of God.
In closing, let us heed the words of both the gospel lesson and of St Paul in his epistle to the Philippians in how we respond to those in need;
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable…think about[ these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard…and the God of peace will be with you.”
