If the Shoe Fits...

Meeting people where they are at does not always mean sharing the gospel. Scripture speaks of providing for the basic needs of people as part of sharing the grace and forgiveness of Christ.

On one particular night it was 3:30 in the morning, the middle of a graveyard shift. The weather was freezing cold and it was raining non-stop. The storm was rolling in from the north Pacific and it didn’t help that I had the police car heater running on high with the dashboard lever pushed to where the red bar was the thickest. Not even drinking hot coffee helped. Instead of warming me up, I was wired on caffeine and had to find a bathroom every half hour. My boots were damp and were like ice cubes after every traffic stop or call for service that required me to get out to the car.

I was driving on what was a normally busy Santa Barbara street that parallels the beach. At one particular intersection is Sterns Wharf. This is a popular tourist destination with a trademark, three dolphin fountain at the base of the wharf. Just to the east of the fountain is a public bathroom that is locked at night. Only a partially covered entrance provides any sort of shelter in the middle of a rain storm.

As I drove past the bathroom, I saw a figure standing at the entrance to the bathroom. I could see through the rain that the figure was a homeless man. City buildings were closed from 10:00PM to 6:00AM and that gave me “probable cause” to stop and contact the man. I pulled up in front of the bathroom leaving enough room to ensure a safe distance between my police car and the “suspect”. I used my radio to give my location and watched to be sure he made no quick movements to hide an open bottle of alcohol or run away to avoid arrest for a possible outstanding warrant. I turned on my police car spot light and shined it in his direction.

I made my approach and recognized the guy as someone I had written many citations to for possessing open containers alcohol or small amounts of marijuana. I had also arrested him for being drunk in public a number of times. This would have been a good night to find a reason to arrest him. The county jail facility would at least give him a dry place to stay and something to eat until the weather passed.

He had no warrants for his arrest and he was not drunk so I told him that he could not stand at the bathroom and that he had to move on. It was pouring at that point and he was soaked through. I felt bad that I was going to make him walk off the beach without any way of keeping the rain off.

“I got rolled tonight and they took my shoes.”

I looked at his feet and sure enough he was in socks. I could see his wet sock prints in the dry entryway that he left when he arrived at his current place of refuge. He had nothing. He was shivering and wet. He had no blanket. He had no home. It was 3:35am, freezing, raining and nothing to do but stand in the entry of a men’s bathroom to keep from getting wetter.

“Ok, you can stay here until the rain slows down but then you have to move off.” I told him and walked back to my police car. He said thank you. I cleared my call on the police radio with a warning.

I drove off and felt like I had to do something for the guy. I was really troubled that the guy had his shoes stolen. In a community where the price of a condominium was $500,000, how could a homeless guy get jumped for his shoes? I can’t remember if I prayed but I thought I would take a shot and drive to the Salvation Army shelter five blocks away. The shelter was not open at night but there was a night watchman. Maybe I could get the guy a blanket, a bed or even a pair of shoes. I knocked on front door and woke up a man sleeping on a cot in an office near the front door. I asked the watchman if I could get a pair of shoes. The watchman said, “I don’t have access to anything but let me look around the office.” Two minutes later he came back to the door and said, “I can’t find anything, but someone dropped off a pair of shoes when I came on duty and you can have them if you want.”

I took the shoes and climbed back in my police car and drove back to the bathroom. I was wondering if the guy would still be there when I got back and how I would find him if he was gone. I was not very confident that a pair of shoes dropped off at a Salvation Army would even help the guy.

The guy was still standing in the entryway when I pulled up. I did not call in my location on the radio, I did not park a safe distance away and I did not turn on my spotlight. I got out of the car with the shoes in my hand. Judging by the look on his face, he probably figured at first that a different cop was going to run him off. His expression changed to confusion and surprise when he saw I had returned a second time. He was even more surprised when I handed him a pair of shoes. “Will these fit?” I could see his mind worked to understand why a cop that wrote him tickets and put him in jail would take the time at 3:40AM to bring him shoes.

The shoes fit.

I think we were both a little surprised at this and all he could say was, “Thanks man.” The rain was slowing down and I told him he should leave. He walked off down the beach and I drove away. I said a prayer of thanks as God once again proved He was bigger than me.