"Can You Spare Me a Pound?"

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

I was loitering just outside of Liverpool Street station this afternoon, taking in the concrete skyline of London’s business district and enjoying the sounds of leisurely weekenders out for a little bit of Sunday sun when I caught the glimpse of a kindly looking middle-aged woman standing next to me. She seemed to have a question in her eyes but after a moment’s hesitation she turned away and I moved on.

“Can you spare me a pound?”, she asked from behind me, and I turned to look at her once again, full in the face. Her’s were warm eyes and she had a gentle face and my heart was drawn towards her. It was a simple enough request. No long-winded tales of a difficult journey or no food on the table. Simple and straightforward.

“I don’t think I have any change,” I said, as I rummaged through my jacket pockets. “Oh, here’s one,” as I plopped the brass into her chubby palm. I nodded my goodbye and sauntered off to find a place to sit. I had a lot of time to kill so I made it all the way to the back of the station before I found a convenient park bench to plunk down and soak in the early spring sun - a welcome relief after months of gray skies and cold drafts. I watched the pigeons flutter about after bread crumbs as amorous couples strolled by hand-in-hand, laughing and snuggling, oblivious to the world around them.

Presently I noticed someone walking towards me, smoldering cigarette in hand. It was the same kindly woman whom I had met a short half-hour before. She came over and sat down right next to me, obviously not recognizing me from our brief encounter. I smiled to myself as I looked away, half expecting her to say something. But she kept silent, taking long drafts and shortening the stick with every breath. “What a waste” I thought, as I considered what employ my hard-earned pound had been put to.

Soon enough a disheveled man walked along, jingling a few spare coins in a calloused hand. He stopped and looked at both of us without saying a word. “Would you like some money?” my seat mate ventured. “Yes,” he answered. I froze, half expecting her to point in my direction and say “ask him.” Instead, she replied, “I’m sorry but I have none”, as she turned her face away (not so much with disdain as with nothing further to offer).

There may be few parallels but the story Jesus told of the unmerciful servant (read Matthew 18 for the full account) came straight to mind. In it Jesus tells of a servant, severely indebted to his king for a lifetime of wages and facing imminent incarceration. When he pleads the master cancels the debt and sets him free but no sooner is he out of the king’s court that he accosts his fellow servant, who owes him peanuts by comparison, and locks him up until he should repay. The king hears of this and the wicked servant gets what’s coming to him. The morale of the story as told by Jesus is that we can expect the same treatment we mete out to others from our Heavenly Father. In his words, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive each other from the heart.”

A similar principle is repeated several times in Scripture such as where the Lord enunciates, concerning giving (Luke 6:38) and judging (Matthew 7:1,2) “with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” We too, worldly as we are, have enshrined this same concept in the so-called Golden Rule - “Do unto others as you will have them do unto you.”

So ask yourself, have you received mercy? Show mercy. Have you experienced love? Give love. Have you enjoyed kindness, graciousness, forgiveness, compassion, friendliness? Do not hold back. Give, give, and give again. No-one puts it better than Paul when he encourages the Ephesians, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, NKJV, italics mine).

With love,
Doosuur.