Sunkist, Popsicles and a Broken Window

Hello Church,

This edition is a bit late, but for good reason.  I got a call this morning that the church building was broken into.  As I arrived at the building, the sheriff deputies were in the process of catching the burglar.  Four hours later I am back home.  And this is what I learned....

His name is Shawn.  He is from out of town and was living in the shed since at least last Thursday.  To our knowledge, he had taken a pack of Sunkist and popsicles from the Youth Room fridge and nothing else.... no electronics or any 'expensive' items.  Even the chocolate Easter eggs that were still unsold remained safe in the kitchen fridge.

While this doesn't seem to make total sense to me, I do wonder about Shawn's life.  Why was he where he was?  How did he come to be at the church building?  Why didn't he take more advantage of all that was in the building?  Though it likely won't happen, I would like to hear his story.

I don't tend to feel sorry for criminals. However, I do get curious as to the circumstances that lead to their bad choices.  The fact that he only wanted pop and popsicles raises my curiosity higher. 

In addition, Mark, the window guy, mentioned the increase in break-ins over the last couple of months.  I imagine more people are more desperate on many levels.  Was Shawn a victim of Covid?  Or would he have been just as homeless otherwise?  Where was his family?  Was addiction a part of his story?  Mental illness? 

As we hear more stories as we 'uncurl' from this pandemic ('uncurl'... a reference to my Sunday Podcast that you can find here), we must be cognizant of God's desire to infuse Himself into people's stories, even and perhaps especially the very broken stories.  Not everyone will recover from the chaos of 2020.  Some may even find themselves living in a church shed.

I hope as you get frustrated with those who become desperate, you will be curious enough to be willing to hear their story.  And when the opportunity strike, let them know that God cares about their story.

God is Good,
Pastor Joe