WINTER
2007
REPORT
A New Look for a New Year
February 2007 marks the start of the 19th year of
service for The King’s Jubilee. I know that is not the usual milestone to mark,
but it was time for a new look. Few understood the name TKJ Schematic anyway, so
here goes.
Larry, Dylan, Ivan, Katie, Alex, Christopher, Amanda, Nicholas
& What’s-his-name, etc.
The last several months two different groups of
college students and grads have been faithfully serving with us on Thursday
nights in Phila. It is thrilling for me to see this, but I have a hard time
remembering all the names. Michael met me through comeandseeicons.com, then
recruited his girlfriend, his brothers, his brother’s girlfriend and some others
to help out. They are from St. Stephen’s OCA Cathedral in Northeast Phila. and
St. Mark’s Orthodox Church, Wrightstown.
Larry came out with some folks from
St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox Church, center city Phila., and then
recruited his roommate and members of the U. Penn. Orthodox Christian Fellowship
to join us.
The first time that the OCF came out, they were wondering if they
were really helpful, since there were not enough specific serving jobs to go
around. They were greatly helpful! I stood with four of them on the other side
of the line and it made for order and calm in a rather large crowd.
Also,
just the fact that they make the effort to come down and show their smiling
faces and share warm greetings to these guys and gals is such a blessing to the
people we serve. It is really encouraging to me that these young people
understand this and keep coming back. God bless you! And God bless your parents
and instructors who set you on the right path!
Surprised by Grace
On the
last two Sundays the gospel readings were two of my favorites. There was Last
Judgment Sunday with the Gospel reading from Matthew 25 about the sheep and the
goats. We should all be familiar with the passage. If you are not, dust off your
Bible and look it up. Then it was Forgiveness Sunday with Matthew 6:14-21 about
laying up treasure in heaven.
What strikes me every time I read or ponder
Matthew 25 is that everyone is surprised. The sheep are surprised, because they
do not remember doing anything for Christ. The goats are surprised because they
don’t remember ignoring Christ.
If I feed the hungry in order to feed the
least of Christ’s brethren and thus assure myself of being a sheep; the only way
I could be surprised at the Last Judgment would be to discover myself to be a
goat. And that is what I would be; for I would have "presumed against the grace
of God" thinking I could cover my sins by my own works and somehow buy
salvation.
Now it is clear that God wants us to serve the poor, the infirm,
the disenfranchised and those in prison. "Pure religion and undefiled before God
and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,
and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27) It is equally clear
that if we do these things in order to receive something in return we are
missing the point.
Luke 17:10: "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all
those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have
done that which was our duty to do."
Why does God want us to care for the
poor?
God could directly distribute to everyone exactly what they needed
each day. He did that with the manna in the wilderness for a nation of about two
million people for 40 years. If anyone gathered more than they needed it
wouldn’t keep. If anyone gathered less than they needed, God multiplied it. But
how did that work out for the growth and maturity of the Israelites? You would
think they would have great faith after seeing a miracle every day for 40
years.
No. They grumbled and complained that it was always the same miracle.
They wanted meat. God sent so much quail their way that they had so much meat
they were sick of it and complained about that. Quail for 2,000,000 for two
weeks in the Sinai Desert. That’s some miracle! The point of my recounting this
is that they apparently did not grow very much from this experience.
God
still provides enough every day for everyone’s needs. He has entrusted us with
the work of distributing it. This is where faith, hope and love come in. We need
to have faith that God has actually provided enough for everyone today. We need
to have hope (which is a confidence of future events) that God will do the same
tomorrow and for all of our tomorrows. Then we need to act in love to share
God’s provision according to the mercy that we have received.
This calls for
growth in godliness. God has arranged things so that we have opportunity to
become more like Him. Caring for the poor and disadvantaged changes us for the
better, if we learn to do it in love.
When I started to serve on the street,
I did so out of a sense of social justice, wanting to help the poor, urban
churches who had been strapped with overwhelming tasks with dwindling resources,
thanks to white flight. That sort of motivation does not sustain a person. I
have witnessed many an angry young man burn out or even become spiritually
shipwrecked.
Thankfully there were older folks and prison inmates praying for
me daily. Gradually, I was surprised by grace.
Sometimes I would just want
to stay home. I would make myself go out of shame for not having a real good
reason to stay home. Every time I would end the night feeling so blessed,
because I had made a new friend or had seen God provide in a special way.
Occasionally I am still tempted not to go on a Thursday night, but I have more
than 18 years of memories of how my life would be so much poorer were it not for
the encounters I had on the nights I almost skipped.
So my motivation has
grown from that of an angry young man feeling guilty about growing up in the
upper middle class; to shame at not continuing something I started; to knowing
my week and my life would be less interesting if I didn’t go; and occasionally I
feel like I may actually love some of these people. I think this is what growth
feels like.
How do we send treasure to heaven? Money doesn’t go to heaven,
but people do. Jesus is telling us to use our treasure to serve people by
praying, fasting, forgiving and giving alms. Again we are called to growth.
Whether our treasure be time or possessions, whatever we spend it on, our hearts
follow it.
Jesus is telling us to stop using people to acquire possessions
and to start using our possessions to serve people.
Anyone is welcome to
join us in serving the poor on the streets of Philadelphia. Perhaps it is a
place for you to grow. We don’t care why you try it. We just hope that along the
way, you will make some new friends and maybe even be surprised by
grace.
Pray for Peace
Last night two of the men we serve got into a
fight. Thankfully this is not a regular occurrence. In the years that I have
been doing this, I believe this is only the fourth violent incident that
required bandages. This time it could have been worse, except a number of guys
restrained them; then several of us stood between them until one of them
left.
I won’t go into more detail other than to tell you that the guy who
hadn’t been injured called the police to report the other guy, then came back.
The police showed up in numbers. The sergeant who took the lead was a real
peacemaker. He stayed there until the two men calmed down and could talk civilly
to each other.
Please pray for peace and safety for all of us on Thursday
nights.
Octagon Research Solutions Delivers the Goods
Once again the
Octagon Research Solutions employees came together as a team to help poor people
in Philadelphia. Everybody brought in something. Together they gathered boxes
and boxes of soup ingredients: canned vegetables and broth, pasta, beans, etc.
This is on top of their once a month sandwich making lunch break on the last
Thursday of each month.
These activities set a good example of team building
that positively impacts the wider community. The guys in Phila. thank you and
wish you God’s best!
Upper Perk Still Involved
We moved out of the Upper
Perkiomen valley in May, but folks there are still involved. Last Thanksgiving,
Peace Mennonite Church of East Greenville gathered a truck load of coats,
blankets and socks to give away.
At Christmas, one of the ladies’ circles at
St. Philip Neri R.C. Church in Pennsburg included the homeless in their cookie
exchange, giving us hundreds of homemade cookies and some new socks to give
away.
This week, the CCD classes at St. Philip Neri made power packs again
and gathered two truckloads of blankets, coats and clothing to give away. This
time they didn’t just send it. Three members went down to center city, helped us
serve the meal, then gave away what they brought.
Back in 1991, it was the
CCD at St. Philip Neri that approached me with the idea of power packs and made
hundreds for us to give away. So it is good to see them getting involved
again.
Barn Update
Thank God for a mild winter. February 3, Fr. Noah
Bushelli & Nicholas Buck helped me finish framing and insulating the ceiling
the right way. So it actually holds a little bit of heat. Damien Kovalenko
helped by starting demolition on the first floor in preparation for replacing
the second floor framing & decking.
There’s lots more fun stuff to do:
demolition, framing, decking, insulation, wiring, drywall, stair construction,
painting. You don’t need to be an expert to help. I have found that it is much
more fun to work on somebody else’s hopelessly overwhelming project than my own.
Don’t wait for a special invitation. We’re flexible.
For those who may not
know, the barn is to be home to "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art, as well
as to The King’s Jubilee. The flexibility of having my own business allows me to
be able to coordinate this ministry and make the "best soup on the
parkway."
One of the men we serve took this picture of me on Dec. 28, then
made a card with the above caption. It is his way of saying thank you.
The Appeal
We can only do what we do, because there are many
others who share the resources God has given them with us. Donations are gladly
and gratefully received.
In addition
to checks and cash, personal size shampoos, soaps & lotions are always
welcome, as well as men’s clothing in season.
Checks can be mailed to:
The King's Jubilee
27 N. Front St.
Souderton, PA 18964-1148
Our phone is:
267-497-0267
email: TKJ@shoutforjoy.net
Thank you. May the Lord bless you as you bless the poor in
Jesus' Name.
Peace,
Cranford Joseph Coulter
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