The Lord’s Table

Posted by Jesus on March 28, 2007

Over in Dallas they’re trying to stop a man from feeding the homeless. According to this article in USA Today, Don Hart, a Dallas businessman and minister, has been feeding homeless people for quite some time at a location which the City of Dallas has not designated as a proper site to help the poor and needy. You read that right, the City of Dallas has nine designated areas where charities or individuals can legally help their neighbor. People who are following Dad’s rules and doing what I would do, or who do not conplete a city-mandated food-safety course are subject to a $2000 fine. Heck, I don’t even get $2000 out of some of these people.

From the article:

Hart’s group [is] suing the city in federal court over an ordinance that limits how charities and individuals feed the homeless.

The law restricts food giveaways to specific locations. The city has designated about nine spots, says Karen Rayzer, director of environmental and health services. Hart’s intersection is not on the list.

The city requires those distributing food to register and attend food-safety training each year. Violators may be fined up to $2,000.

What do you think would have happened if I’d been held to those standards? What if I could only spread Dad’s love in certain areas, turn a little bread and fish into a meal for the masses in preselected spots, or only heal people in a few designated locations? Would I have been able to do all of the wonderful things I did in my short years there with you if I’d been so limited? Of course not. What the City of Dallas has basically done here is made it extremely difficult for people in that city to live their lives according to how I might live mine today, which of course limits Heaven to those who would break the law. It is for this reason that I am issuing an immediate damnation to all of the employees of the City of Dallas who had any part in this program. Unless and until this program is reversed, consider Heaven closed to those who would limit helping the homeless.

More from the article:

Will Edwards, director of Rip Parker’s Ministry, says he has gotten warnings. The ministry feeds homeless people every day, mostly in places other than the designated locations.

On a recent Saturday, he and two volunteers packed the back of a GMC Yukon with 250 chicken, ham, bologna and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a cooler of Italian food from a local restaurant, apples, carrots and pastries. At each of three stops, they handed out food from the back of the car.

Hart and Edwards find fault with the city’s designated spots. Hart, who prefers to serve freshly prepared food by hauling ingredients, cooking equipment and a generator to the intersection, says some of the city’s locations don’t have kitchens. Edwards says the sites restrict his ministry.

Most important, they say, they shouldn’t be corralled into certain spots. “We go wherever we need to go,” Edwards says. “That’s the point.”

Edwards and Hart say the law infringes on their religious freedom. “We’re a Christian-based organization. We follow our direction from Christ and the Bible,” Edwards says. “It specifically tells us to go out amongst the poor, the wretched, the sick, the homeless and minister to them.”

If I had owned a GMC Yukon I’d have filled it up with sandwiches for distribution to the poor every single day. Those that ate them would have found themselves full for days from the blessed meal, and the news of my charity and good spirit would have followed those who ate of my meat. Had I owned a GMC Yukon and distributed 250 sandwiches a day we might not see an America today where the majority of self-proclaiming Christians are in fact the worst group of hypocritical losers the world has yet known. Here finally is a literal example of a group doing exactly what I would do if I owned a GMC Yukon. Well, maybe not exactly…I’d have just started with one sandwich instead of 250 and made whatever I needed along the way. The important part is that I’d be handing out sandwiches everywhere I went.

And both of these guys are completely right about the ministry. It is very clear that my people are expected to go where they are needed, where the Good News has not reached the ears of the people, or where acts of charity such as these might sow the seeds of change and salvation. These guys are doing Dad’s work, and the City of Dallas thinks they can step on that. These political hacks will learn otherwise in a few years, after they and their families learn of a couple of breast cancers and boils, and finally land face-down in the pool of boiling oil. When you get in the way of a good soldier doing good work you’ll find it tough to spend eternity in a good place

Let this be a warning to any city out there considering laws which infringe on the ability of the people to be more like me. When enacting legislation, not only should these folks ask themselves what would Jesus do, but more importantly they should ponder would this stop Jesus from doing what he would do? If the answer to either of those questions is at odds with the potential law or ordinance, consider it a major sin to vote affirmative to the action. It’s just that easy. I might even reverse my decision if the recently damned people in Dallas started following those rules.

Now, what I would actually have done if I were a member of the City in this case is something different. I’d have stood up screaming and tossed each and every voting member who wanted this passed out into the streets, taking back the control of the City for the good people of Dallas. This is America. We were founded on Christian tenets, and our cities should reflect these. Otherwise what point does Dad have for even allowing Dallas to continue to stand? Think salt, for as faaaaar as the eye can see…

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