Gifts of the Magi

Near my wife’s office, there are a rotating group of homeless men that panhandle near the freeway.  They appear to be harmless enough, and many of them even wave at the drivers as they go by.  Most of them are wearing dirty, shabby, mismatched clothing; and they look as if they haven’t bathed or shaved in years.  But they are out there every day, regardless of the weather, with their little cardboard signs, seeking a small bit of kindness where they can find it.

As the weather has started to turn colder, I asked my wife if there was a shelter nearby where the men would go at night to stay warm.  She said that apparently there used to be one, but it was closed down due to complaints from businesses in the area.  While one part of my brain understands this, the other part was greatly troubled by it.  Regardless of their choices or misfortune in life, nobody should freeze to death on the streets.

I remember a story that my pastor shared one Sunday in church.  He said that a man was watching the news one day, and he was appalled by the horrors he was seeing around the world.  On every channel, it was the same theme…people suffering.  So, he prayed to God, “God, why are you letting this happen?!  You need to do something about it!”  And God replied, “I did.  I created you.”  One of the messages for our church this year was serving the needs of the people around you.  You don’t necessarily need to go to the other side of the world to find someone to serve.  There are people in your own backyard.

So, with this in mind, I asked God what I could do to help.  And just like the man in the story, God answered…clear and precise.  It was so specific that it made me feel like I was getting exact dimensions to build an ark or something.  He said, “I want you to create a care package with a warm coat, hat, and gloves and give it to the next man you meet panhandling by the freeway.”  I asked the Lord, “Just one?  That doesn’t seem like enough.  There are so many men in need, how is one going to make a difference?  Surely, we can do better than that.”  Again, He responded, “Not one…three.”

I tentatively shared this revelation from God with my wife.  I wasn’t sure how she’d take it.  I know she has a rational fear of these homeless men, because she’s witnessed some of their drug-related encounters with law enforcement.  I don’t think it’s the same men, but the images are stuck in her head nonetheless.  Besides which, I was talking about a significant chunk of money; money that we definitely could use for other things.

Nothing could have prepared me for her reaction.  She was just as enthusiastic to participate as I was!  In fact, she suggested that we also add some food to the bag, so they wouldn’t be hungry.  And that’s one of the reasons that I love her so much.  Not just because she can still surprise me, but because she’s supportive of my hairbrained ideas.  She never even hesitated to give me free rein to fulfill my calling or be obedient to God’s instructions.  She just asked what she could do to help.  On top of that, she unconsciously showed the underlying layer of kindness that makes up her fundamental core by adding the food; her contribution to the gift.

So, the next night, we set off to the store and started to purchase the items.  As I was sifting through the winter clothes, I found some warm, fleece pullovers.  I decided to throw them in the basket too.  Then, I grabbed some scarves and socks, because necks and feet get cold too.  I mean God didn’t say I couldn’t add more than he directed.  He didn’t say I couldn’t be more generous.  So, these extras were my contribution to the gift.  We all had put a part of ourselves into it, and we affectionately called the enterprise the Gifts of the Magi.

In the story of Jesus’ birth, the magi were kings or wise men from the East who followed a star to worship the newborn King of the World.  They brought with them gifts to pay homage to the One that God had sent to save us…gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Even though there is no mention of the exact number of magi in the Bible, common belief has always been that there were three of them, because of the mention of three gifts.  The gifts themselves also hold meaning and significance.  Gold was commonly used to represent kingship, showing that Jesus would be King of the World.  Frankincense was commonly used to represent deity, showing that Jesus was God in human flesh.  And myrrh was commonly used to represent death, showing that Jesus would die for our sins and in our place.

So, like the magi of the Bible, we packaged up our gifts and set out to deliver them.  Our recipients might not have been a baby from a virgin mother, but they still deserved a little Christmas kindness.  The giving of the gifts proved to be more difficult than you might think.  Timing the traffic and stoplights with being properly positioned to hand a bag out of the window was not easy.  Not to mention that the first couple of mornings that we drove by the corner, there wasn’t a single homeless man in sight!  But I persevered, and was finally rewarded one evening on my way to pick up my wife from work.

The first man that God brought me to was a thin black man with an oversized FedEx coat that looked like it used to be blue, but now was more of a black or gray; a faded Texas A&M cap; and shoes that were so torn up that you could see his toes through the front of them.  I motioned him to the car, and he limped down to my window.  I handed him the first bag, and his response made me laugh.  He said, “Is this a bomb?”  I told him it was just a gift and wished him a very Merry Christmas.  That was it.  The light changed, and I had to move on.

The second man that God brought me to was a tall, white man with a big, bushy, gray beard.  I had seen this man on another day actually save another homeless man from walking in front of a semi-truck, so I knew that I already liked him.  Unfortunately, I was too far away and wasn’t able to time the stoplight with the position of the car.  So, after dropping my wife off at work, I circled back through as gas station, crossed all three lanes on the feeder road, and found myself directly beside him.  I motioned him to the car, and gladly came to the window.  I handed him the second bag, and he gently took it with both hands.  All he said was, “God bless you.”  To which I replied, “You as well.  And Merry Christmas.”

That same afternoon, God brought me to the third man.  He was dressed slightly better than the other two and didn’t have as much beard growth, so I assumed that he hadn’t been in the life quite as long.  I motioned him to the car, and handed him the third bag.  He responded, “Man…what is this?  All of this is for me?”  I replied that it was, and he said, “You have no idea, but I desperately needed a bag, and look here, the Lord provided one.”  He shook my hand, asked my name, and shared his story with me.  He was trying to save up enough money to get back to Oklahoma to see his family.

I was overwhelmed by the fact that this man acknowledged that the Lord cared about even something so small as a bag.  It made me truly appreciate that God is looking out for all of our needs, no matter how small.  It also felt good to actually do something to help, instead of just expecting someone else to take care of it.