The Ladybug 32
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Hello Readers! Today I feel inspired to share a sermon I delivered approximately a year and a half ago at my local NH church. However, this sermon seems particularly relevant to repeat, given that our country is currently struggling with a sinking economy, and many families are having trouble making ends meet. Homelessness can quickly become a reality for anyone, anytime, and I have faced housing insecurity personally. I also wanted to share this message because, while this sermon focuses on the homeless population, I believe that the spirit of it could also be applied to immigrants. The atmosphere in the USA regarding immigrants is at best described as tense, and the way that they are treated by the people in power is downright despicable. Therefore, I encourage you to imagine both the words “homeless” and “immigrant” in your mind’s eye while you read my words below. God calls us to love, and you will find practical advice as to ways of loving marginalized groups among us if you continue reading!
By: Gaelle McLoud
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Based on: New Testament: Matthew 22: 34-40
Old Testament: Leviticus 19: 33-34
Message
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Amen.
I would like to begin by highlighting from the first scripture reading for us this morning, Matthew 22: 34-40, the second commandment that Jesus gives: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” On the surface, this may seem like a simple commandment. One might think, of course I love those around me, my friends, and my family, including my church family. However, let us dig a little deeper. What if your neighbor was smelly and dirty? What if your neighbor was a drug addict? What if your neighbor was living a life opposite to yours, a life you could not even imagine? Would you still be willing to love your neighbor? Today, I am going to focus on our neighbors who are homeless.
You might be wondering why I chose the passage from Leviticus this morning, and be curious as to the relationship to the homeless. “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19: 33-34. The Leviticus passage refers to our neighbors who are, “aliens,” or, “foreigners.” One of the Google definitions of foreigner is, “a person not belonging to a particular place or group; a stranger or outsider.” Certainly, one could think of homeless people as not belonging to a particular place, and many consider them to be strangers and outsiders. And yet, in Leviticus as well as in Matthew, God commands us to love them.
Here is how I began to love my homeless neighbors. In early 2017, I started attending a new church located in Charlton, Massachusetts. I prayed to God to direct me towards His will, and I felt a strong calling on my heart to minister to the homeless. I thought about how I might get involved with mission work, and I remembered that my dad had been connected to a church called the Worcester Fellowship. The Worcester Fellowship is an outdoor church located in Worcester, Massachusetts that meets every Sunday afternoon, no matter what the weather, to provide a Christian worship service, and brown bag lunches and men’s white crew socks to the homeless population. Their mission statement is: Worcester Fellowship is dedicated to ending isolation by nurturing community and providing pastoral care. We welcome everyone, we are an outdoor church, we reach out to homeless and at-risk adults and we believe God loves us now. I attended a Worcester Fellowship Service for the first time in the spring of 2017, and felt transformed and brought alive by the experience. God’s love and light were palpable at the service. I spoke to my home church in Charlton, and we signed up to begin donating brown bag lunches and men’s white crew socks to the Worcester Fellowship on every other month throughout the year. The pictures on the power point are of a Worcester Fellowship gathering on the common in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Christmas Eve 2017.
Many people think of the homeless population as set apart, and have trouble connecting to them. However, anyone, anytime can become homeless. There are many reasons for homelessness, including job loss, PTSD due to military service, or high medical bills that lead to eviction when one cannot pay their rent. This could be you. It was almost me. Let me tell you a true story from my own life. When I was quite young, 20 years old, I had dropped out of college due to health problems, and I had no money and nowhere to live except with my parents back at their home. I faced the reality of becoming homeless, though, because I was not sober, and my parents did not want me to live with them when I was an active alcoholic. I had to decide to try to get sober and attend AA meetings, or else I was on the streets. I will never forget how close I came to homelessness.
In addition to my own experience with housing insecurity, I have learned a lot about homeless persons while volunteering with the Worcester Fellowship. Here is a question for us to ponder: What can we as Christians do to show God’s love and mercy to the homeless population? Here are three answers to that question that we can all employ when we interact with those who are homeless or disadvantaged.
First, show compassion. One of the best ways to show God’s compassion to others is to simply listen to them. Start up a conversation with someone who may be out of your comfort zone and listen to them talk about their life and their experiences. This action will go a long way towards making the person feel loved. Consider carrying Dunkin gift cards to offer to those who are begging when you see them.
Second, treat the homeless as equals. Do not be afraid of those who are different from you. For example, during a Worcester Fellowship service there is a time for the passing of the peace of Christ, as with many church services. It is important to walk right up to your neighbor and wish them God’s peace and shake their hand. When you see a homeless person on the street holding up a sign, make eye contact with them and smile and if they ask you for something, offer the Dunkin gift card you have been carrying with you. God loves all His children equally, and we need to mirror that love.
Third, Christians must challenge societal norms that dictate that we must ostracize and exile those who are different and suffering. Jesus set the example for us with the way he lived his life. Jesus associated with tax collectors and prostitutes, in other words, sinners and those cast out by society. Jesus healed and touched lepers, as well as saved and loved all of us, despite our circumstances. Welcome those who are homeless and disadvantaged to your church, and pray for ways that you can improve their lives for the better. One way that this church loves the homeless is by collecting money to purchase socks for them, and this gift can go a long way towards brightening someone’s day.
Jesus calls us to love each other, let us change the world one act of love at a time. Amen.
Thank you for reading! I have included the links for The Worcester Fellowship, as well as a local NH homeless advocacy group called Hundred Nights. Please pray about how you may support them! Also: The photos are from a Worcester Fellowship gathering in 2017, which is referenced in the sermon.
God Bless and Good Health, G.
The Ladybug 
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