When I was little, my sisters would always talk about the words of a promise made between man and woman. They always talked about how they would write their own vows, but they always wanted these words said as well.
I, take you to be my wedded wife/husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
If you really look at the words, it is a very powerful vow. This is a vow that you publicly make before God. As a man I sit here and think about these words. In those 47 words, you are making a huge promise to another person. You are making a vow before your God and saying that no matter what you are committed to this person. Granted, this whole marriage thing would have been so much easier if we each came with an owners manual. However, if you read this vow, it says for better or worse, for richer or poorer. As a minister in the homeless community, I see that this vow takes on a whole new meaning.
I know I talked about this in another blog, but as we come closer to Christmas it tears me to pieces to know that when most Christians will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, that there will be families in the cold and they will not be getting anything, and in some cases not even a meal. I know that this year my wife and I have very little to offer each other in way of a gift, and I do feel terrible about this. I know my family is under one roof and we will enjoy the warmth of our home and we will eat a good meal. But not to be able to give this woman that I vowed my forever love to, is so hard. I cannot imagine what the husbands on the streets must feel. I know some of the wives out there on the streets. I know how they live through the winters and the summers. All they think about is their husbands. They have family they can run off to, but the vow they took before God means something to them. In so many cases that vow and that commitment to their spouse is all they have and they would not trade that for anything. Could you do that? Really, think about it for a minute. If you lost everything, could you say that you would live in a little tent in the middle of winter and the only thing you have is your love for your mate? I pray right now that I never will have to put my wife's love to that kind of test.
If you are a man reading this, please pray for those husbands, that they fimd their way off the streets and give their brides what they deserve. If you're a woman reading this, please pray for those wives to continue to be strong and that God sends the Holy Spirit to watch over their family.
"I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds."
As Christmas nears, I am reminded of this little family to be. They too had no where to stay. We will celebrate the birth of this baby, a homeless baby if you really think about it. Wow, what an impact this baby will have. I have read the stories of Jesus many times. I am amazed on how this man walked the Earth and did so many wonderful things. In the Bible it says that Jesus has vowed to return. Another vow that was made that we need to take seriously. After reading about Jesus, I have no doubt, that this will come true. Granted Jesus for the most part was very open and yet he had a mysterious side. He said no one knows the hour in which he comes. Like a thief in the night. For a long time I thought about this and I read the last book in the Bible, and to be honest it scared the heck out of me. I am not joking, if the weather was getting bad, I was on the phone with loved ones for I can say goodbye. When I went to sleep, I was happy to wake up the next morning. Then I thought about this vow he made. I decided that this is not to be afraid of, but it is something I can't wait to happen. Granted, I know several people I have my doubts on, and I am not entirely certain I am going to be one of the chosen, but I know I have seen the ugly of the world and I don't want my children to see what I have. So, I welcome Jesus. I am thankful for his vow.
What does this mean when this blog is to be about the homeless? Because, there are vows that we make. between husbands and wives, between our Lord and his followers. Between Church and the members, and yes between LOS and the homeless we serve. I have seen what you all have done. I drove downtown today and I saw Shaggy and Fox. I stopped and talked with them. It was really amazing, Shaggy looked at me and said, Pastor, I know we are a couple of drunks, and I know we might be going to hell someday, but your group is most likely the closest thing to heaven we will get. Okay, Fox did say "if they don't serve beer then he would rather not go", such a Fox thing to say. I told them, honestly where they are in life, how do they know that where they are at, maybe this is the closest they are going to get to Hell, maybe God has a plan for them. They both got very silent. Then Abby stuck her head out the window and said, "Shaggy ,no one in our group goes to Hell, we love you and you are our family." Then she went back and sat in her seat. Shaggy and Fox both had tears in their eyes. For the first time they both had nothing to say. If you know them, that's kind of impossible. Then one of their drinking buddies came up next to them, someone I had never seen, and said, "I don't want to go to hell, can I be part of your group?" Then it happened, in the middle of W. Broad Street, you had me and three homeless drinkers holding hands praying. Then Fox said I prayed for a beer earlier, but I think this was a lot better. This Christmas these three men will be sitting in a tent eating some can foods, most likely drinking a beer, but they asked for one thing, if you happen to think about us on Christmas, will you say a prayer for us? So to all of my LOS family: Shaggy, Fox and Tyrone say thanks and they will be thinking of all of us.
My wife and I made a vow a long time ago, to continue sharing God's love to the homeless of Columbus. The last several months we have seen so many amazing things. We have seen the most wonderful people come serve. When you have a young man from another state send his allowance to feed our homeless, or a Girls hand over her coat, or a group of fireman giving their boots polished and prayed on, you know this is a service with the blessing of our God. We have seen God work through all of us and to me that's about the biggest Christmas gift I could ever ask for.
God bless everyone this Christmas. Take a minute to remember what this season is all about. It's not what is under the tree, but it's about who died on the tree.
Michael
Pastor Bubba
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