Into the woods

There is an ever-shifting maze of tents and campsites in the woods a couple blocks from our church, and not far from the tent city that became national news on Oprah a year or two ago. I know some people who live there, moving every week or two when they get notices from the park rangers. They don’t move far- just to another site in the woods. The only difference that I can see between this situation and the tent city is that this one is hidden in the woods, whereas the tent city was more visible in an open field. Out of sight, out of the news…

There are many different and fascinating people who live in this way, and although several of them seem very happy and self-sufficient, choosing to live in the woods, the vast majority of people here seem to live lives of difficulty and resignation. I have sensed a pervasive feeling of desperate sadness and despair; as well as a longing for healing and a remarkable attitude of sharing and caring among neighbors here.

There is addiction, theft, violence, trust, prayer, and neighborly love here in perhaps equal measures. It can seem a strange mix, until you think about how all those things may also exist in equal measures in other neighborhoods but just be hidden better, behind closed doors…

I often bring friends with me when I go to the woods, and my kids are learning their way around the place too. My buddy Roy came on one of my recent trips to the woods to bring groceries and visit with some friends. There were a few more dogs than usual, including some pit-bulls and one that looked remarkably like a wolf. “What’s his name?” I asked with some apprehension. “Wolf.” What kind of dog is he? “Wolf.” Gulp. Well, he was gentle enough, but not at all prone to tail wagging or used to any petting.

A woman that I had met a month or so earlier at our worship service came up to me and drew me aside. She whispered, “I don’t want anyone here to know my business.” She proceeded to tell me about her childhood as a Lutheran, her master’s degree in Philosophy, and her agnosticism as an adult. “If there is a loving God” she said, “He won’t condemn me just because I don’t believe in Jesus.” Then she said to me, “I want to tell you something- when I came to your church and you said you were going to preach on that one part of Psalm 29- the one about ‘The LORD is my shepherd’, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be boring.’ But you broke it down and made it interesting, like I had never heard before. I liked it. But what really blew my mind was that you showed up here in the woods later that week. I couldn’t believe it. I blinked- I swore that I saw a rod and a staff in your hand, and you were going after your sheep, just like you said on Sunday. You were actually doing what you talked about, going after your sheep! I really appreciate what you are doing here to care for the people here in the woods, and if I ever go to a church, it will be yours.”

I know that intentionally inviting “homeless addicts” to attend one’s small church plant is not recognized as a brilliant growth strategy. Yes, many of these folks can be off-putting to others, to say the least, especially when they are high, or bringing dangerous dogs around. (The dogs are not allowed in our worship space- we had to make an explicit policy)

But if we really believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must live the truth of His grace among all of our neighbors, and not just talk about it. So we go into the woods. The woods are right down the street and in another world. We all have woods in our neighborhoods. Where are yours? The neighbors you dare not try to get to know? The students in your school who are in a very separate group from yours? The co-workers who seem hostile to matters of faith? The ones on the street you have learned to look right through? Jesus is crystal clear in his call to all who would follow him: “Go into the woods.” Let’s go and pray that God’s grace will help us when we can’t see the forest for the trees.