Hiram, King of Tyre, is dead.

He was known as 'Paddy' because he had a thick Irish accent and, for many people, there was an assumption that this was his actual name. But it was a label placed on a homeless man who would drink, berate passers-by, intimidate, sing and commit worse acts in public.But there was sympathy for him too. People would offer him cigarettes, drinks and blankets. We were able to give him a regular meal, a tent and sleeping bags, and we saw him on a regular occasions at the hall including at Sunday worship.

It was during one of our conversations that he told me that his real name wasn't Paddy but that he had the name of a biblical King. After going through the obvious ones of David, Saul, Solomon (he did look like a Solomon) I began to fear that it might be Jehoahaz or similar. It turned out to be that of a gentile king - Hiram, King of Tyre. It was King Hiram who supplied the materials and skilled workers to build Solomon's temple and there was a gentle irony in that our Hiram came to England from Ireland to "dig holes in the road", not quite the construction of a temple but part of the building industry. Everytime I saw him I would say "Hail Hiram - King of Tyre". There were days when he would look at me glumly and days he would laugh his big, toothless laugh. His full name was Hiram Herbert Lendrum. Let's acknowledge his humanity.

Hiram was a big man. Tall, broad, loud with a vice-like handshake. When we would meet he would pull me towards him as a show of strength. He rarely talked about himself, certainly about his past, and we are struggling to contact next of kin. But he has had a profound effect on me. He appreciated much of what we did for him and, despite his demeanour, never gave us an ounce of trouble. He treated us as friends "Captain Ian, Lady Woman, Lady Cooking Woman and Aaaaashhhh" were greeted with respect and courtesy. He was one of very few people in my life who told me "Ian - you are a Good Man. You are my friend." We once talked about faith and he told me that he had been raised a protestant and that he still had a tiny bit of faith left. I told him that was all he needed and he looked at me and said "Yes - you can move mountains with a tiny bit of faith." And then he added "You and me. We are just the same". He was right and we both knew that.

He was as tough as old boots but the years of neglect caught up with him last week and he died quietly in York hospital. We will miss him for reasons which I can't fully understand. God calls us to serve and take care of the poor and we do so because we need to see what they can teach us. I think we learn more about ourselves than we do about them. The motivation of Love is always better than that if blind obedience.

I will leave Hiram to the grayscales of God's grace and not the Black and White of human judgment, glad that he wanted to call me 'friend'. God bless you Hiram, King of Tyre.

Lessons from the Tuesday Kitchen - Lesson 5

You have to have a laugh.

Here is a conversation which took place this week:

Mark : I can't believe it. Our case worker has refused to come round any more. What use is that?
Lindy: Yeah - it's made life really difficult. They should be helping us.
Me: So why has she done that.
Mark: It's only because I've got a gun. Well, it's only a .22 - it'll hurt you but it won't kill.
Nick:Hey Rob. Did I shoot you with a .22?
Rob: (Pauses while he thinks!) Yeah! (Carries on eating)

Nick was in a much better state this week. He came to us last week in the depths of the snow and cold spell, sleeping rough without a sleeping bag or covering having come out of prison with nothing. He was in a bad way. Very cold, very hungry and very down. We kitted him out with some stuff including an Army surplus sleeping bag which did the trick. So it was good to see that he survived the week and is taking a step back towards getting sorted and a bit more of a smile on his face.

Lessons from The Tuesday Kitchen - Lesson 4

I know nothing about life.

We had seen Matt and Lucy before Christmas but they came into our church soup kitchen today in a poor way. Before long Matt was sobbing his heart out and Lucy joined in. He has serious mental health problems and they are both addicts, not only to heroin but also to the medication that is supposed to help them. They are tens of thousands in debt, have a flat which leaks water, a faulty electicity meter which over charges and they have been told that they will be evicted if they cannot find £1000 for a deposit. Every agency they turn to for help looks at them as if they are scum. They told us worse things but those are not for me to share. They have nothing going for them.

As so often with those who come to our soup kitchen we felt as if we could do very little. A hot meal and drink, some food to take away, making time for a chat. They left with small smiles on their faces, we were left with tears on ours. Their parting words - "Thank you. You have been so nice".

What do I know about their world? What can I understand? Who am I to offer anything? What true sacrifice have I ever made?

Throughout the bible, God deliberately calls his people to look after the poor. I am convinced that it not primarly because of the state poverty brings, but it is because we need to learn from them what it is to be human. As long as the church remains aloof from those it should be serving, then it will not be the force for good that God intended it to be.

Lessons from the Tuesday Kitchen - Lesson 3

Re-define 'homeless'.

Most people think of someone who is homeless as a tramp who sleeps in a cardboard box or under a park bench. Think again. In an age when councils have obligations to house people, relationship breakdowns and the general chaos of a fragmented society we look to see what the needs of now are. "Sofa surfers" stay a few days sleeping on the couch of anyone who will let them, often being turfed out at night. Young people may find a place in a hostel but without cooking facilities. Those in temporary B&B have limited use of a kitchen, if at all. Many on the margins have never cooked a proper meal and don't know where to start once their circumstances have changed. The need is more than a bed and a roof and, through the Tuesday Kitchen, we respond as best we can. Here are our guidelines:

• Those that come are not guests, clients or service users nor are they labelled 'poor, needy, homeless. Our first response is not distrust. They are friends.
• We don't pry into their lives, past or present. We are happy to listen when they want to talk. From there we discover about other needs: clothes, alcohol problems, family strife.
• We sit and eat with them. We are not a cafe, we do not dole out food. These are our friends. We sit with them and chat and share a meal. We didn't to begin with but Paula said that Jesus did - his wisdom is now apparent (as is hers!).

Neither are we stupid and gullible. We meet the need when we feel it is genuine and, yes, sometimes we get bitten by it. But I will be happier to hear Jesus say to me "You gave me too much" than "You gave me too little!"

Ricky came to us from the local youth refuge. He was very suspicious wanting to know why we were making notes of names (just so that we know who we have had a chat to), talking very little, peeking out from behind his mop of hair. But I remember the day we served roast chicken, veg and stuffing. He looked up, his face glowing as he said "Stuffing! I can't remember the last time I had stuffing" and he tucked in. For him, this was a little bit of home, perhaps of a happier time. We are glad that we could recreate something of that sense of belonging for him. Ricky has moved on, we wish him well, and we know he will remember his time at The Salvation Army and the people who try to live out a little bit of the Kingdom.

Lessons from The Tuesday Kitchen - Lesson 2

Know your agenda.

There is a common phrase around mission thinking that we should serve as Christ would serve - without an agenda. This is not true, or at least it is not a true representation of Christ-centred mission. The message of being agenda-less is made in response to those who live with an agenda but do not make it explicit.

In the days when IBM was the most important conglomoration in the world a friend of mine, who worked in a company who was an important customer of theirs, saw the diary entries for his visit to an IBM establishment. This was highly confidential information and he should not have seen it but on the computer screen he saw two entries: one was entitled 'Reason for Visit' and the other was entitled 'IBM Reason for visit'. In other words, my friend wanted to discuss something but IBM had their own, hidden agenda, which was usually about selling something.

The church is often guilty of the same thing. We offer a service to people in order to get them into church. That is fine if people know the purpose is made explicit but it cannot be truthful if hidden. An example - running a kids club labelled 'Fun Club', you tell parents and children that there will be songs, games, etc but then you eventually sneak in prayers, Christian messages and invitations to Sunday school. The proper thing would be to advertise it as 'Fun Club run on Christian principles' and be up front with what you are going to do. Or keep it Fun and omit the evangelistic element. Or "yes you can come to our soup kitchen if you come to our meetings"!

I used to be in that camp. Go back over 5 years and I would say that the purpose of a feeding programme would be to get people to have an encounter with Christ. If it did not meet that objective after, say, 5 years it should be closed as unproductive. But I don't think like that any more because I have looked at the life and teaching of Jesus afresh.

Luke 14: 11- 14. Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

What is clear is that Jesus did not look at the 10 and say "If I heal these people maybe some of them will become my followers." He healed them because they were sick. Therefore we feed, or clothe or heal people because they are hungry or naked or sick - not because we want to get them into church. It is not that we have no agenda but that our agenda is to follow Jesus and do what he would do. Actually it becomes a bit more compelling for us...

Matthew 26: 34-36. "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. 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, 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.'

To follow Jesus is to take his agenda into our lives. I am not saying that I don't think that those who we minister to will not come into the knowledge of Christ. During the months that we have been we have not been short of conversations about God with our friends. Some have come to church, others have listened to what we believe about Jesus, others have simply enjoyed a bit of peace and friendship that a Christian community can give.

Salvation is on the agenda. It is not about their salvation but about ours.

Lessons from The Tuesday Kitchen

One of the best things we have started here in Selby is the Tuesday Kitchen, a soup kitchen for the homeless. In the litigious society that we live in I do have to point out that we don't serve soup, that some of our friends have homes but it does happen on a Tuesday!

I know why Jesus made such a fuss of the poor. They teach us so much about life when you strip away the trappings of wealth. We know that our lives would be much the poorer for not having met some of our friends. Tuesday Kitchen is my school and I hope that I can share some lessons I have learned.