Tin Can Man

A couple of Saturday’s ago, Patty and I were headed to the church to take care of a few things before Sunday services.  As we were coming down Ruffner Road, we saw a very disheveled-looking, upper-middle-aged man pushing an old bike that looked like it was made in the 50s and which had a number of small garbage bags hanging from it in various places.  Admittedly, Patty and I both looked at him as we passed by, looked at each other, and said “pedophile”.   I know, I know.  Don’t judge by the exteriors.  However, we all do it from time to time – and you know you do too.

We went on to the church and took care of business and then locked up the church to head back home.  As we came outside, what did we see but that same man, sitting out on the edge of the brick flowerbed under the church sign.  Feeling somewhat ashamed of my previous snap judgment, I mentioned to Patty that I needed to go talk to him – to which she replied that she was thinking the same thing.  So with Patty waiting in the car, I strolled out to the street to talk to the stranger.

As I approached the guy, his bike fell over.  I immediately ran over and, to the man’s surprise, picked up his bike for him. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said as he sat back down on the edge of the flowerbed.  Good ice breaker.  I introduced myself and sat down beside him.

Wayne – that was his name – was a tin can collector (or more accurately in 2012 – aluminum can collector).  He was a former truck driver who, due to a back injury, could no longer maintain a commercial license to drive a truck.  He was a felon (I didn’t ask why), so he could not get a job anywhere.  He wasn’t homeless – thanks to a bit of financial help from family members – but his only income came from selling cans that he picked up on the side of the road.  He lived a good distance away and had a series of routes that he took every day, picking up cans that other people had thoughtlessly tossed out on the side of the road.   Based on his route rotation, he apparently came down Ruffner Road about twice a month.

Wayne and I talked a bit about a number of things, ranging from the economy to faith.  I shared the gospel with him and he claimed to be a Christian – even as he smoked his home made cigarettes.  At first I thought it was a doobie, but he assured me it was just a good ole’ fashion home-made cigarette. It turns out that with pipe tobacco and rolling paper you can make enough cigarettes to last about a month for only about $10.  Who knew?  Only God knows whether his faith was real, but he seemed genuine enough and he was extremely grateful that I was allowing him to rest in the church parking lot.

From the look of him, I don’t know how he managed physically to ride bikes and collect cans all day, every day.  He wasn’t exactly the picture of health.  He said that finding a good place to rest was more difficult than you might think.  Most churches and businesses, he said, refused to let him rest in their parking lots.  In fact, he said that a lot of people get upset with him just for picking up cans out of their yard.  They come outside, yell at him, and tell him to leave; some even throw things at him.  So let me get this straight… he picks the trash up out of your yard and you throw things at him for it?!?   I don’t get the audacity of some people… then again, my own first impression of Wayne was “pedophile” so who am I to judge their reactions.

As I was talking to Wayne, I was convicted about my own partiality towards him and had to remember that James specifically taught against such partiality.  In fact, in my book, Faith Beyond Belief – Understanding True Faith from the Book of James (www.tinyurl.com/faithbeyondbelief), I spend an entire chapter talking about “Faith that is Impartial” (Chapter 4) – but clearly I still need much improvement in this area myself.  James teaches us how hypocritical and foolish it is to show partiality.  We show favoritism to the rich and powerful thinking they will help us while we ignore the poor and needy.  In reality, it is the rich and powerful who do us the most harm.  God alone is the judger of hearts. Instead we are to live by the Royal Law found in scripture – that is, to love our neighbor as ourselves.  I thought about how I would feel if I my only source of income was collecting tin cans.  I recall how as a kid I used to walk the neighborhood streets looking for returnable glass bottles so that I could turn them in for candy money.  Basically that is how Wayne was earning money for food.  Can you imagine living on candy money?  I thought about how I would feel if I was cursed at daily and had random objects thrown at me because I was picking up trash out of their front yards so that I could eat.  What a horrible life. 

As I was finishing up my conversation with Wayne, I pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to him.  “I didn’t ask for this” he said, looking longingly at the money. “I know,” I replied, “which is exactly why I want to give it to you.”   He took the money and commented how that $5 would feed him for two or three days – and to think $5 doesn’t even buy me lunch most days.  Different worlds, people, different worlds.

I have no idea what kind of person Wayne really is.  He might very well be a pedophile.  He did not mention why he was a felon and I didn’t ask.  However, every indication is that whatever he may have been in the past, he was now a hard-working man doing whatever it takes to get by in a world that is set against him in every way possible.  Admittedly his conditions may be partially due to his own mistakes – but who among us can say we have lived a mistake free life?  How can we say we love our neighbors if we turn our backs on them, judge them, ignore them, or even curse them?  Caution?  Sure, prudence dictates that regardless of who Wayne may really be, we have to be cautious around people we don’t know… but not partiality.  Partiality is a sin, making us judgers with evil motives (according to James).

Maybe you are a better person than I am.  Maybe you would not have come to a snap judgment if you saw him pushing his bike down your road.  Maybe you would welcome him with open arms into your church.  I certainly hope that is the case, and at the end of the day I did invite Wayne to church and assure him that he would be welcome.  However, I am thinking that Wayne is the kind of guy that would cause you to cross over to the other side of the street when he approached.  I am thinking that Wayne is the kind of guy that would cause you to look at the ground when you passed so that you didn’t have to look him in the eye.  I am thinking most of us would be guilty of partiality.  I was.

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” James 2:1 (ESV)

Comments are welcome.
Blog copyright (c) 2012 Joel J. Dison