This morning, I went to Monroe County Jail (Rochester, NY), as I do every other Wednesday, to share the gospel with incarcerated men.
After leaving the jail, I walked back to my truck that was parked half-mile away along the Genessee Riverwalk. Before going to my truck, I crossed the street to spend a few minutes walking and praying alongside the river.
It was then that I heard a female ranting loudly with expletive-laced, scatological language. I looked ahead and saw the loud, crude, foul-mouthed woman. She appeared to be homeless by the way she was dressed and by the buggy loaded with trash bags filled with scavenged goods. I don’t think anyone besides me was within a hundred yards of her. Nevertheless, she continued her vulgar tirade. As she did so, spittle ran down her chin.
I felt sorry for her but also felt embarrassed as I walked past her. Here I was with the beautiful river on one side and a deranged woman on the other! I put my head down and just kept walking . . . with my Bible in hand.
I suddenly felt like a hypocrite.
“Should I talk to her?”, I wondered. “Good grief, she sounds like she’s demented or on drugs. I probably couldn’t get through to her anyway.”
It was then that the Holy Spirit pricked my heart. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to my spirit. Though his voice was not audible, it might as well have been, so strong was the conviction. Share my love with her, he seemed to say.
I turned around and walked back toward the lady. I stood a few feet in front of her and said, “Good morning. I was wondering if you were talking to me, or just to people in general.”
She replied, “I’m talking to people in general – everybody!”
“Okay. Well, hi. My name is Matt. What’s your name?”
“My name is Jasmine.”
I proceeded to tell Jasmine that God loves her, and that I had Good News for her. I then shared the gospel with her. I told Jasmine that God is our loving, all-powerful, sovereign Creator who made us in his image that we might worship and enjoy him forever. But we all have sinned and fallen short of his glorious standard. Our sins have separated from God and have brought all of us under his condemnation. Nevertheless, God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He took on himself the punishment we deserved for our sins. Then he rose triumphantly from the grave! If we turn from our sin and trust in Christ alone for salvation, God will forgive us, adopt us as his children, and grant us eternal life.
After sharing the gospel, I asked Jasmine if I could pray with her. She said, “Oh, yes, I need prayer.” She then reached out her hand, expecting me to take it. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t want to. (Where had her hands been? What had she been touching? What would I be exposing myself to?)
Then I heard the Spirit’s voice again: Take her hand. Grasp it! Clasp her hand in yours!
So, I did. In that moment I felt genuine love and compassion for Jasmine. I prayed for her sincerely, from the heart. I prayed that she would truly know the love of God in Christ, and that she would share God’s love and the light of his truth with all around her. I closed my prayer by quoting a plural version of Psalm 19:14: “‘May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.’ In Jesus’ powerful name, I pray. Amen.”
Afterwards, I said goodbye and began walking toward my truck, which was still a few hundred yards away.
What’s amazing is that from the time I left Jasmine until the time I reached my truck, I didn’t hear one word from her. Not a peep. This woman who had poured out a torrent of expletives was now strangely silent. When I reached my truck and looked back, I saw her sitting on the ground. It looked like her head might have been bowed.
Had the Holy Spirit convicted her? Had he comforted her? Had he converted her? One thing is for sure: the Lord had certainly calmed her.
I realized that my encounter with Jasmine was a powerful Gospel moment. I thought of Jesus’ healing of the demoniac who lived in a graveyard and would cut himself with stones. He was a terrible sinner . . . and a terrible sufferer. But after his encounter with Jesus, he sat there fully clothed and perfectly sane (Mark 5:15).
I nearly missed this precious Gospel moment with this homeless woman because of my own awkwardness, fear, and lack of compassion. How thankful I am that the Holy Spirit overcame my inhibitions.
Jesus loves the Jasmines of this world. So must we, if we would be like him.
“O to be like Thee!
Full of compassion,
loving, forgiving, tender, and kind;
helping the helpless,
cheering the fainting,
seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.
O, to be like Thee!
O to be like Thee,
blessed Redeemer,
pure as Thou art!
Come in Thy sweetness,
come in Thy fullness;
stamp Thine own image
deep on my heart. ”