Downtown Sunday afternoon 6/23/2013

"Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they [the Jewish leaders] saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I [will] restore fourfold."  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a s son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  --Luke 19:1-10

This morning at church a visiting pastor used this text for his message about "acceptance" and "change".  He used his church as an illustration of how most people will not accept anyone different until the other person changes.  Yet, in the above story, we see a clear example of how Jesus reversed the process and 'accepted' Zacchaeus before there was any change at all.  Then, after a relationship was established, Zacchaeus changed on his own accord.  A couple of other examples were cited as well, the woman caught in adultery and the thief on the cross.  Both stories illustrated Jesus accepting the other person just as they were, before any change was evident.  In fact, with the the thief on the cross---before any outward change was even possible.  Then as an extreme example of this process, this pastor had an unusual anecdotal story of the day when three transvestites showed up at his church for a Sunday service!  He said that if one had shown up that would have been shocking, but when three showed up that was simply overwhelming at this church.  He could see the "people" talking amongst themselves (like the Jewish leaders in the story of Zacchaeus).  Well, this pastor walked over and started talking to the three men.  It turned out that they were homeless and had entered a "best dressed transvestite" contest and hadn't had time to change before coming to the service.  Well the four of them continued talking for a while before the service and seemed to have an enjoyable conversation.  All the while, the pastor could sense all eyes of the congregation looking at him with disapproval.  So in his conversation with them he told them that although he was glad to have them attend and didn't care what they wore, he couldn't guarantee that the "other people" would be as accepting.  The three understood and have been back many many times and always in 'regular' clothes.  So with this story in mind from this morning, here's what happened this afternoon....

I had already seen several people when I drove under the freeway at San Pedro Ave.  I saw a woman standing in an alley, almost like she was waiting for someone, but this isn't an area where you "wait" to meet someone.  Anyway, when I drove up and asked if she was hungry, it was a man, dressed as a woman.  How does God orchestrate these things!!!  His name was Cedric and he was 66 years old and 'liked to wear women's clothes'.  We must have talked for 15 or 20 minutes, he was quite talkative.  I ended up praying for him twice, the first time he dropped to one knee when I prayed and the second time was for healing of a stab wound he received about three weeks ago.  He was quite appreciative of me 'just taking the time to talk to him'.  He said it was the first real conversation he had had with anyone that day (it was about 6:30 pm).  What was the take-away?....God loves these people too!!!

On another note, I had hoped that I might be able to do a barbecue with some folks living on 8th St.  I drove down there first today and there was only one couple left there.  Apparently, the police had run everyone off that street a couple of weeks ago.  Maurice and his wife had left too for about a week and then came back a few days ago.  He told me Gabriel had moved over to 5th and Gladys St.  I'll have to look for him there next week.  We'll see what we can come up with for a location to BBQ.

I did see Willie with his friend Charles.  I hadn't seen Charles in two or three months.  Mel was there too and the four of us had a good time talking.  When I prayed with them, Mel continued praying asking for patience and blessings for us all.  It was surprising that he was so serious in prayer because he is usually a non-stop joke machine.  --Until next time.  John