God calls us to help
I was driving back from Lexington, Ky, along a stretch of road known as the Mount Parkway, toward Pikeville. On that road, about 2/3rds of the way back, you reach what is really the last real stop for about an hour. Near the location of the Natural Bridge State Park is a welcome center and rest area, and it routinely became my stop on that trip.
This trip was no different.
After a long day in Lexington by myself doing hospital visits, I was on my way home. I stopped in a rest area to make my final pit stop for the day and as I exited the restroom, a seedy looking man approached me.
"Hey, are you going to Prestonsburg?" he asked.
Prestonsburg as at the end of the Parkway, and it was on my way home to Pikeville. I'm a minister, on my way back from ministry visits, and without my family as an excuse. As much as my sense of fear gnawed at me, I really had nothing else to say.
"Yes," came my begrudging reply.
"Can I catch a ride with you?" he immediately responded. "I'm trying to get to my girlfriend's house in Prestonsburg."
Feeling convicted, I agreed to take the guy where he wanted. We drove the hour or so to Prestonsburg, along some places with no cell phone service and pretty remote places to stash a body. But we made it safe and sound. We talked about a variety of subjects, including salvation and church. He didn't kill me or maim me or rob me or hurt me. He just needed a ride.
Why are we so reluctant to help? It's a good question, yet it's one we, as Christians, struggle to comprehend. We see scripture about visiting the sick and the poor and the prisoners. We hear Jesus's words to love your neighbor. Yet, often we are too busy, too preoccupied or simply too scared to really help.
In Jeremiah 38, Jeremiah is in trouble. He's in a pit. He needs rescued. An Ethiopian eunuch, a man rejected by society and a servant of the king, offers to rescue to prophet from a pit. He helped when no one else, including the governmental authorities, would. In doing so, he gives us a model.
We are to help the less fortunate, the homeless, the sick, the prisoners and yes, even the refugees. I know that's not a popular thing to say, but it is true nonetheless. We, as believers, must reach out to those who are in the most need. If Jesus were here, he would reach out to them and he would admonish us, as churches, for not doing the same.
You see, we have a very poor track record of helping. We like to throw a lot of money at problems, even a Bible verse or two, but we often don't respond personally when help is needed. We must serve because God is calling us to serve. We must help because God is calling us to help. We must do what others are afraid to do.
You see, God never intended us to be safe. Jeremiah wasn't safe in the pit. Daniel wasn't safe in the lion's den. Jesus wasn't safe on the cross. Paul wasn't safe in prison. Yet, we get this idea that safety is what God wants for our lives.
He doesn't. He wants service.
So don't be too scared to pick up the hitchhiker. Don't spout a Bible verse to defend your position. Reach out, help and share Jesus with someone who needs to hear the truth of the Gospel. That is exactly what Christ calls us to do.
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