Every week, I spend a few hours with the poor. It's good for the soul - it connects me with the part of the Good News of Jesus that says, "Blessed are the poor." That, of course, means me, too... if I accept the fact that I am bankrupt in the areas of love, holiness, and righteousness.

I don't know why, but hanging out with the homeless reminds me of my own spiritual poverty. It's like looking in a mirror; I'm faced with a truth that I spend so much time avoiding - I'm still broken. I still need a healer. I still need to be picked up and carried to the King's table. I can't make it on my own.

Shane Claiborne in his book the Irresistible Revolution writes:
I saw one woman in a crowd as she struggled to get a meal from one of the late-night food vans. When we asked her if the meals were really worth the fight, she said: "Oh yes, but I don't eat them myself. I get them for another homeless lady—an elderly woman around the corner who can't fight for a meal."
I saw a street kid get 20 bucks panhandling outside of a store and then immediately run inside to share it with all of his friends. We saw a homeless man lay a pack of cigarettes in the offering plate because it was all he had.

I met a blind street musician who was viciously abused by some young guys who would mock her, curse her, and one night even sprayed Lysol in her eyes as a practical joke. As we held her that night, one of us said, "There are a lot of bad folks in the world, aren't there?"
And she said: "Oh, but there are a lot of good ones too. And the bad ones make you, the good ones, seem even sweeter."
We met a little 7-year-old girl who was homeless, and we asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up. She paused pensively and then replied, "I want to own a grocery store." We asked her why, and she said, "So I can give out food to all the hungry people."
Mother Teresa used to say, "In the poor we meet Jesus in his most distressing disguises." Now I knew what she meant.
I asked my spiritual coach how to stay radical in America, amidst the pressures of marriage, family, and work. He said, "Spend time with the poor." Don't neglect the promise of Matthew 25, friends - that when we do something to the "least of these" we have the unique and beautiful opportunity of experiencing the King of Glory in the most unlikely place.