Feed the pigeons, the squirrels, the ducks, the chipmunks, the swans and other birds, the stray cats and dogs and even the animals at the zoo which the signs say not to; just don’t feed the homeless!!!
Today I learned some cities have been banning the feeding of the homeless for years now. There are many varied reasons why this becomes law in some cities, but it really comes down to what is left unsaid. No one wants the homeless seen in certain parts of their cities. So the cities justify their ban by saying it’s safer for the homeless to eat where they are protected by shelters, or where the food’s been checked, or by those approved to feed them.
Perhaps the officials who pass a law such as this are concerned that their children might see a homeless man in a park and then ask them about him: that would make them uncomfortable knowing they’d done nothing about these obviously hurting people, and they might be unable to answer their kid’s questions without looking bad. Like one blogger said, “sweep that homeless problem under the rug - feed that hungry child in the back alley so no one sees.” Let’s cover up the problem, stick a band aid on it: so what if it festers an infection! In Mat. 5:7 Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” NASB Just what does it mean to be merciful? Try looking it up and it’s a bit confusing. I found it more helpful to look up the synonyms: compassionate, sympathetic, loving, tender hearted, full of pity, lenient, kindhearted, patient, and humane. Sympathetic with a desire to alleviate it. We are supposed to be merciful. Jesus was merciful not just to mankind as a whole, but specifically to the people he met in His human life. (Imagine, today in some cities He would be arrested for feeding the hungry!)
I think society as a whole has forgotten what it means to be merciful, and that deficiency has crept into the church as well. Quick judgments based on looks and gossip, complaining about others, hidden slams covered up by spoken prayers and telling faults of others are some of the behaviours I’ve seen in the body. Where do they fit in with being merciful? Is your heart full of love for every person in the body? Out of the heart the mouth speaks* so if your mouth speaks unmercifully…
Remember: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” So, be merciful, be compassionate, be sympathetic, be loving, be tender hearted, be full of pity, be lenient, be kindhearted, be patient, be humane… be like Jesus. If not, you will be considered merciless …
And merciless means… cruel.
*Luke 6:45- A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. NIV