Jesus in the wheelchair

i have been an avid braves fan since 1985. therefore, it was so exciting to make the move from tampa to atlanta 4 years ago, knowing I would be living in the land of "America's team". I get to turner field as often as I can...hitting the game with guys from my small group, my sons, and friends who come in from out of town, needing to feed their baseball fix. i was at the game yesterday when the braves finally pulled one out against the red sox, supported by jones and anderson home runs. we stayed until the last pitch. it was that good of a game. as we left we walked down ralph david abernathy. on the way we met several familiar faces with buckets stretched out. one played the conga, one had an electronic harmonica and several were sitting in wheelchairs. i rarely carry cash anymore. i swipe my debit card for everything. someday that will get me stuck, but that day hasn't occured yet. i did find myself wishing i had money to give yesterday. i know i don't know their story, and once the game is over and people have cleared out they may hop out of their wheelchair and into their Bentley. But I'm not living their life. I'm not sowing on their behalf. Jesus says an interesting thing: "give to whoever asks of you". did he mean just those i've done research on and am fairly sure will only use the funds in healthy life-giving ways? i do believe in responsibility and not enabling those who are making destructive choices. however, i also see time and time again Jesus giving someone the benefit of the doubt when their track record was less than spotless. For all Jesus knew Zaccheus could have used his connection with Jesus to further exploit people as a tax-collector, the woman caught in the act of adultery could have smiled at those in authority the next time they saw her take a man into her bed, having been absolved of the death penalty by a popular rabbi. There may have been some at the wedding in Cana who traveled further down the road of alcoholism when Jesus turned the water into wine. The man whose hand Jesus healed on the sabbath, may have gone home and beat his spouse with his newly restored fist. There was no guarrantee that good was going to be returned for good when Jesus stepped into people's lives. Free will leaves us with risk. However, Jesus believed that lives lived within the harmony of God's intent for the world would eventually be so powerful that our wills would be wooed out of destruction and into life-giving ways. Jesus understood the unstoppable force of grace in the world. Against which the "gates of hell will not prevail". This is how the kingdom will come. One act of risky compassion at a time. One moment of irresponsible kindness bestowed on our broken brother or sister. It is how we are being changed and how the world is being righted. I need to carry more cash in my pocket. But I also need to go further. I need to know their story, because I have stepped into it. I need to invest more energy than the wrist toss it takes to get a $5 bill into their bucket. I think the way of Jesus teaches that we can't know Jesus unless we know the poor, the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the stranger. Though I call myself a follower of Jesus, yesterday, it's sad to say, I didn't even know his name...