Imagine a friend, Andy, showed up on your doorstep Sunday night and needed a place to stay. You are married with three kids of your own and live comfortably in a 2,500 sq ft home, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath on 1/4 acre lot. Two of your kids still share a bedroom so you have a spare room to offer Andy.
Monday night another friend, Bob, showed up, but he also brought his wife and baby with them. Andy is already using your spare room, so you open the door and let Bob and his family sleep on your pull-out couch. It’s not comfortable with that metal bar in the middle of their backs, but it’ll do.
Tuesday night Charlie arrives with his wife, their three kids, and his sister and her husband. Andy is in the spare room, Bob and his family are on the couch, so you lay sleeping bags on the floor in the living room for Charlie, his wife, their three kids, Charlie’s sister and brother-in-law. Once you removed the coffee table there was just enough floor space for everyone. Although you have found a place for everyone to sleep, things are difficult with sixteen people and only three toilets; not to mention feeding sixteen people in your small kitchen.
Wednesday night David knocks on your door. Behind him you see his son and his parents. There’s literally no more room in your home, but it starts raining so you offer them the only shelter you have - to sleep on the lawn chairs under your covered back patio. It’s not great, but at least they’re dry, they’ll be fed, and the have a toilet and shower to use.
Thursday night Ernie shows up at your house with his mom, his pregnant sister, her husband, their two kids, and her husband’s ailing dad. You shuffle beds around so that the pregnant and sick people have the best beds, but there are now seven people sleeping in sleeping bags on the ground in the backyard.
Friday night a man named Fred knocks on your door. He said he was friends with Ernie’s brother-in-law and he had heard that you were providing a place to stay and meals to people in need and wanted to know if he could stay too. Just as you are about to open the door, you notice about 10 - 15 people standing behind him in the driveway holding everything they own. You can’t imagine where you are going to put everyone or what you have to feed the 40 people staying at your house but you let them in because, well, what else are you going to do.
Saturday afternoon your brother stops by and sees that you have 40 people living in your home. He notices the ripe odor as there are more people than you can possibly have shower in a single day. Instead of the bbq hamburgers with all the fixings that you often cook for summer lunches he notices that everyone is eating sandwiches.
Sunday morning when you arrive at church you are question about how you treat your guests. People judge you harshly for only providing sandwiches and showers every other day. Nobody offers to house any of the people in their homes. Nobody brings 40 hamburger patties to your home for you to serve to your guests. One person does let you know that they saw a group of about 20 people sitting in your driveway waiting for you to get home and open the doors. That person then reprimands you for not having a plan in place to offer each of these new people, as well as the 40 already in your home, a soft bed, new clothes, their own rooms, hot showers, and 3 hot meals a day.
I hear so many complaints about what these refugees are not receiving at our southern border. My question is: who among us could do better?
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