Recently I had a phone call from a distressed woman who is in a psychiatric ward. She was desperate. Very frightened, and very, very alone. She was sobbing her heart out. Her family (her own adult kids) had put her there, because she is too much of a responsibility for them when she is out of care. She does have mental illness issues – none of them of her own making. She has had a hard life, probably a lot harder because she is a very timid, very fragile person anyway, who has been bullied by the world into medicated submission because no one wants to care for her. She has had to fend for herself, often unsuccessfully.
She did not ask for this. But these are the cards life has dealt Vicki*. She sobbed as we spoke on the phone. Great, wracking, heartbreaking sobs such that she could hardly string together a coherent sentence. Her phone had been taken from her by family so that she could not “bother anyone”. And so, she “borrowed” a phone from somewhere and called her pastor who refused her call telling her it was “pastor’s day off today”. The only other number she could remember unprompted was mine. She’d remembered it. Many years ago I had ministered to her as she endured a very painful season in her life. “It was the darkest valley I have ever walked,” she would later say. And so, Vicki called. The fear was palpable.
My heart broke for her as she poured out her heart.
As I listened to the torrent of fear pouring forth I rebuked the demon that was clearly afflicting her, trying to suffocate her, trying to claim her – I refused it. She became much quieter and we talked. Vicki has few valid options for fully independent living, even in the very home she owns but from which she has been effectively evicted for the sake of other family. Vicki has never deliberately wronged anyone in the fourteen years I have known her. She has caused no trouble, committed no crime … but she has struggled with schizophrenia for the best part of twenty years. As we talked she became much calmer, her composure returned and the rest of out conversation was as normal as any other.
I prayed for Vicki and encouraged her to call me any time she needed to talk, any time she needed prayer and the comfort of friendship and fellowship in the Lord. She got word to me the next day that she had slept through the whole night and was at peace.
I experienced many emotions as I spoke with Vicki, and hours later, too, as I reflected on her desperate plight. At one point I was just so angry about how she was being treated. The anger was intense … it was a strange “other” anger. I was certainly angry as I listened to her that day and as I later reflected I realised it was the Lord’s anger that had gripped me, as well. Our heavenly Father misses nothing. I wondered whether it was He who had prompted Vicki to call me.
The Father has deep feelings for His little ones. Very deep feelings born of His love for us and His great mercy and compassion.
Many years ago I read the Morris West fiction novel, “The Clowns of God” – the second book in his “Pope Trilogy”. It is still a fascinating read. In it a character by the name of Jean Marie Barette – who is a fictious Pope Gregory XVII - has a vision of the end times. The end is imminent. This presents an alarming dilemma for his cardinals, as it is not acceptable for a pope to be also a prophet with a hotline to God. Rather than be forced from office, the pope resigns, and is virtually imprisoned in a remote monastery. The novel traces the journey of this former pope and his friends in a world where terrorist acts are common and people whisper about the end of the world. The book derives its title from a scene where Jean Marie, now a humble priest, has gathered a community of broken and unwanted children. No one wants them. Their care is a time-consuming inconvenience for their parents and families and, essentially, they have been abandoned – like Vicki. The little "clowns of God" are children who are mentally or physically handicapped. The French have given them that name, “clowns of God”, not in any derogatory sense, but in the sense that these happy, colourful, but abandoned children are especially close to God's heart. In the book Jesus has suddenly reappeared and He comes to this little group – not world leaders. He pulls one of the children towards Him and tells His followers that He knows that they want a sign that He is really the Messiah, and they want him to miraculously heal that small group of children in the monastery’s care. He tells His followers that they need these children to complete their humanity. I won't spoil the rest of the story by revealing what He said, but it still moves my heart.
“The Clowns of God” is, of course, a work of fiction where West portrays the perennial global power struggles and the Vatican’s own political intrigues behind the scenes. But this scene of the little, broken “clowns of God” and how Jesus loves them, has always stayed with me. West’s aside in the novel with this special scene where the followers of Jesus are told they need the clowns of God to complete their humanity, is insightful theology. If we, the followers of Jesus, cannot care for His precious little clowns - or won’t - our humanity is not only incomplete but bereft. Jesus considers merciful care and compassion to these ones as worship of Him …
Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?' 40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.' 41 "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?' 45 "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
How we care for the “least of these” (which is how the world sees the clowns of God) will be reckoned at the judgement seat of Christ – and being unavailable to do so because it is our day off, or because we are too busy, will not be a satisfactory answer to the Lord. If we can see the clowns of God around us, compassion cannot wait. This is just one reason our charity, Compassion North, exists. Please support it with your tax-deductible donation today.
Compassion can never wait.
Ps Milton
[*Several identifying characteristics, including Vicki’s real name, have been changed here to ensure privacy is maintained. Permission has been obtained to tell her story]