We received a call one night regarding a guy starting a fire in his front yard. We knew the address well. It was one of our regular customers. I could see the fire from a couple blocks away. It wasn't massive, but it was enough to get the neighbors worked up. Another Deputy responded as well. The guy we were dealing with could be violent and didn't much like cops.
"What's up?", we asked him as we walked up. "Just cookin a steak", he replied. Sure enough, he had a steak searing over the flames. The smoke had a strong gasoline smell and a gas can was sitting nearby. "Did you use gas on the fire?", I asked.
"Yep", he replied, "had some trouble getting it started, but she's going good now". The smell of the fuel had to be infused into the meat and I thought it was a waste of a perfectly good steak.
He wasn't breaking any laws so there wasn't much to do about it. He cursed his neighbors for calling us and we made small talk with him for a few minutes and then left. As I got back to my vehicle, I had a strong impression come over me.
I thought that if Jesus was still on the earth, He probably would have been sitting by that fire when we came walking up. I imagined Him sitting there on the ground, probably eating some of that gasoline flavored steak, and teaching this man (who we'd put in Federal prison later that summer) a few things about life. I imagined all the neighbors and people passing by who would criticize the Savior for spending time with an alcoholic, drug addicted criminal. I was reminded of a verse of scripture,
And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? - Mark 2:16Most of the good people in town would never give this guy the time of day, but I think that's exactly the type of people Christ spent most of His time with. Now I'm not saying you should go hang out with drug addicts and criminals, but they are God's children just like we are. God loves them and even though I don't see Him, I feel His presence every night as I deal with them. He's there. Just like He was there with them when He walked the earth so long ago.
And every night as I respond to calls to deal with "publicans and sinners" I find that Christ is always there and it helps me remember that I'm a sinner too. I need Him just as much as they do. He can't look on any sin with allowance and after a night of publicans and sinners, I go home, kneel down and ask God to forgive my sins and thank him for giving me one more day.
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