But They’re Not Worthy!

Recently my friend, author and counselor Sharon Hersh, wrote about visiting a homeless encampment in Denver, where people were living in tents in below-freezing weather. She shared how she was deeply moved by the plight of the people, especially families with small children.

Overwhelmed with their need, Sharon gave all the money she had with her to families with babies. The next day she went to the bank, got more money, and gave it to more families with little children.

She wrote that people she knew responded to what she had done by telling her that those people were here illegally. She was told those people didn’t deserve her help. And anyway, they would probably misuse whatever she gave them.

Sharon observed that she was a sinner and an illegal alien to the Kingdom of God, yet she was welcomed by Jesus. If there was anyone who didn’t deserve the mercy and kindness of God it was her, she wrote, and yet God continued to be merciful, kind, and gracious to her. And though she misused the grace of God and continued in her sin, God kept giving her more grace.

If God treated her this way, with underserved grace that she was unworthy to receive, how could she refuse to help others in their need?

Years ago, when I first started teaching seminary courses in prisons a friend told me, “I just want you to know that I will never donate to your ministry.” I had not asked her for a donation and was surprised she brought it up.

With an uncommon intensity in her voice, she said, “My father is in prison. He put our family through hell. People in prison are getting what they deserve. They are not worthy of a free seminary education.”

In the years since then, other people have told me something similar. Many of them church people.

“Those people in prison, they are criminals, for Pete’s sake. Why are you wasting your time and resources on people like that?”

And of course, they are right. The people in prison are criminals. They are not worthy of our kindness and help. They are not worthy of grace. But then, neither am I.

Yet, God keeps giving me that grace that I am not worthy of. Despite all my failures, he loves me. That’s pretty amazing.

Psalm 136 says that God’s steadfast love endures forever. The Psalmist was so amazed by the enduring steadfast love of God that he repeated the phrase “his steadfast love endures forever” 26 times. Look it up.

The whole point of the Bible, the whole point of Christmas, is that God loves unworthy people so much that he entered our world and became one of us. The only one who was ever worthy became unworthy. He took our sin and our punishment. And he did that while we—you, me, all of us—were unworthy. “God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Sharon wrote that God comes to people in homeless encampments, in broken families, in church basements where alcoholics meet, in prisons where rule-breakers are caged, and in homes just like ours. Isn’t that the real reason for the season?

Christmas is a good time to remember and reflect on Jesus’ words in Matthew 25.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Holiday parties, exceptional meals, beautiful decorations, concerts, special worship services, and giving presents are all good things. But maybe the best way to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world is to share good things with some unworthy people who need what you can do for them.

Much love, Barry