She pounded on the roof of my car above the passenger door, making me start with fear, convinced I had just hit someone in the parking lot of Panera Bread. I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned and saw that she was fine.
But the woman peering at me through the window seemed to be under the influence of something; her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice slurred. Whether it was alcohol or drugs or she was just tired, she was trying to get my attention.
“Hey!” she hollered again, her eyes trying to focus on me through the closed window.
I lowered it and said cautiously, "Hi there..."
“I just got off the bus, from Chicago. I don’t have no money. And I’m hungry!”
I had just finished a nice leisurely dinner inside with a friend; my stomach was pleasantly full of chicken Caesar salad and a warm baguette. My friend, who had left already, was heading to church for our women’s evening bible study, where I too was now headed.
I opened my door and stepped halfway out of the car, turning to speak to the woman over the top of it.
“I’m sorry, but I need to get to….”
And as the words started to leave my mouth, I suddenly realized how ridiculous they were going to sound.
I need to get to bible study, so will you who are hungry please step out of the way? Oh, and God bless you!
In that moment a gentle voice whispered to me: Cheryl. This is bible study.
The woman stared at me over the roof of my car, swaying a little on her feet, waiting. “You gotta few bucks? I’m hungry!” she said again.
“Hang on,” I said, and reached into the car and turned it off. Grabbing my purse and shutting the door, I said, “C’mon. Let me buy you some dinner.”
We walked into the restaurant, her story flowing from her mouth like a river during flood season, words running together so fast I couldn’t quite understand it all. Something about trying to meet up with some people here from Chicago, but she had just gotten off the bus and she didn’t know Kalamazoo, didn’t know where she was supposed to meet them. And she was hungry.
We stood in line as she continued, me nodding my head even if not able to catch every word. I suggested she order extra food so she’d have some for the next day, and once her meal was in her hands we sat down together at a table.
I listened as she continued to talk, but inside I burned with embarrassment. Not of her, but of the selfish annoyance I had felt at her intrusion into my evening plans. I was extremely uncomfortable; I didn’t know this woman and … she had banged on my car!
But what good was studying the bible if I didn’t do what it said? What sort of Christian was I, really?
I was finally able to speak to the woman as she began to eat her sandwich. I don’t think I said anything amazing, we just made small talk. For a split second I caught myself hoping someone was watching this interaction, recognizing that I was doing a good deed right now. Then I asked God for forgiveness. Was I even a Christian?
As she finished eating and wrapped up all the leftovers, her cell phone rang. I listened to her holler into the phone her location and gave her the street names she needed so her people could find her. When she hung up, I confirmed she had a place to stay for the night and watched her make her way back to the bus stop.
I want to say that I prayed with her, or at least told her that Jesus loved her, but if I did, I might just be saying it to make myself look better.
Now 45 minutes late, I drove thoughtfully to the church. As I sat down with my bible in a comfy red chair, with 15 other women who looked, lived, and had full bellies just like me, I pondered what had just happened.
Why was I so uncomfortable? Why had my knee-jerk reaction to this woman been the word “No.”? Was it so hard to buy her some food? Was it so hard to sit and listen to her for a little while? I was convinced this incident was not just for her benefit. This holy interruption had jolted me out of the place where bible study had become just another warm, fuzzy slipper. I heard again the voice that said, “Cheryl, this is bible study.”
I may have entertained an angel that evening.
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:1-2
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. – James 2:14-17
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