People of Passion

"We are not alone. We are not alone. Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Having now completed a weekly cycle with Open Door Community, I have observed volunteers, both residential and weekly, who are passionate about serving the homeless and the marginalized. Deep in their hearts the volunteers believe that no one should be alone. Each person should know justice and each one we serve on a given day is worth more than the time spent preparing and serving our friends. The ministry of Open Door Community is more than a bowl of soup, a sandwich, a warm shower, a new pair of shoes or badly needed foot care. The ministry of Open Door Community is about restoring dignity, treating the stranger and the marginalized with respect and honor, mindful that among the homeless today, Jesus Christ will be fed.

Each day, before we invite our guests in from the street, the community engages in Bible Study and prayer and we explore the role of servant, radical hospitality, and the meaning of gratitude, gratitude, not for the things we have or even for our family and friends, but the privilege to serve our Savior -- the one who is homeless, cold, dirty, and humiliated. Each day one of the least of these express their gratitude for the kindness we have shown them in sharing a bowl of soup. Each day we need to remind ourselves that it is not what I have done for you, it is what you have done for me -- you have given me an opportunity to provide hospitality, to serve God's children by providing a warm meal to carry you through the long days and longer nights. Your decision to come to Open Door today is not about what we have provided, but rather what you have provided for us, the joy of serving one of God's children. This is the passion of Open Door Community.

Besides a passion to serve the homeless and the marginal, Open Door Community has been a significant partner in the group, "Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty" (GFADP) Last night, Open Door Community joined GFADP for the 3rd Annual Mary Ruth Weir Memorial Dinner. Mary Ruth Weir died an untimely death to cancer, but until the day she died, Mary Ruth Weir was a passionate advocate to end the death penalty and gave up a fulfilling job, many material blessings to begin a partner community, Jubilee Partners, that believed in a simple life, passionate people open to the Spirit's leading and advocating for equality and justice for all.

As I reflect on Open Door Community and courageous leaders in social justice such as Mary Ruth Weir, I am remembering other courageous people who put their lives on the line time and time again. "One Day, after Moses had grown up he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptians and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12) Although Mary Ruth and the members of Open Door Community would not advocate violence to others, they like Moses, are passionate about justice. They, like Moses, will put their life on the line in order that justice will be done. "Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day."

Moses was passionate about justice. There is another story of passion that comes to us from the gospels. "Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned tables. he told those who were selling the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2:15-16) Once again we witness the passion of another example of faith and once again Jesus reminds each of us who set up our tables to buy and sell that this is not a value of God's Realm. People are not a commodity, animals are not butchered for our indiscretions and burned on the altar to fulfill a pagan ritual of reconciliation. This is not justice and it is not what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The work of justice, equality, dignity and integrity of all of creation requires passionate people. None of us can fulfill all of what needs to be done, but together this community and the communities of our world have made a difference. In the midst of the abuse, the insults, the name-calling, and the hard work of social justice, we are called to remember Jesus command, "Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my passionate disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:33-35

So it is with Mary Ruth Weir and the passionate people of Open Door Community. "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." John 21:18. And so I babble on about justice, I babble on about radical discipleship and my soul sings with gospel choirs throughout the ages, "We shall overcome. We shall over come some day. Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Whether we are doing justice from behind a pot of soup, sharing in the grief and pain of family members visiting loved ones at the Georgia State Prison, or participating in a candle-light vigil on the day of an execution, people of passion must find strength and courage in what we know is right and one day, we shall overcome.