Love Thy Neighbor

It was winter in South Dakota on a highway somewhere between Sioux Falls and Canton. It was cold and blustery. He had on shorts. The young man, walking along the side of the highway. He was miles from either Sioux Falls or Canton. He had on shorts! I do hear the playlist in my head, the one ingrained by society that says, “Don’t pick up hitch hikers!”  “Don’t trust strangers!” But my head, or perhaps it’s my heart, often quickly overrules the “rules” and does it anyway. So, I pulled to the side of the road and asked the young man where he was headed. Canton, was his response. Well! Just so happens that’s where I was headed. So, he climbed in and off we went. 

As it turns out he had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and she had kicked him out of the house, locking the door—with his phone, wallet, keys, coat…everything…inside the locked house. He had friends in Canton, so he had started walking. At least he had shoes! It was at least 20 miles from where he was to Canton. It would have been a long walk, in shorts. Probably some frostbite involved. I didn’t ask him if he knew Jesus—or tell him he would burn in hell if he didn’t. I just gave him a ride. I may have told him “God bless!” as he left the car. I usually do. Maybe they will see a little light in my kindness—to God be the glory!

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She told me she had seen her neighbor passed out on the sidewalk in front of his house, right next door to her house, which was a nice home in a nice neighborhood. I remember asking her, “Did you go help him? See if he was okay?” “Oh, no!” was her quick response. She knew he struggled with alcohol, so she figured he was drunk. Besides, if he was drunk, he might have struck out at her or hurt her in his drunken stupor. And she didn’t want him to get in trouble if she called the authorities. So, she just left him lying there. She did look out every once in a while, she informed me, as though this was altruistic enough. Eventually, he was gone. I couldn’t fathom it . . . what if he had had a stroke or a heart attack? What if his blood alcohol content was so high he died of alcohol poisoning? What if . . .? How could she not have gone to see if he was okay?

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I think of the story of the Good Samaritan. A priest and a Levite (the religious people of the day) passed by the man who had been robbed and beaten and left on the side of the road. It was a Samaritan (hated by Jews at the time) who took mercy on the man and cared for him. The Samaritan was the one who was praised by Jesus for being a good neighbor. When did we become so fearful for our physical bodies that we fail to help others? Isn’t fear from the evil one? Doesn’t the Bible teach us, not to fear that which can kill the body but not the soul, but rather the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell? What voice are we listening to . . .?

I don’t pick up every hitchhiker and I don’t go looking for them but, yes, if the Spirit moves me to help someone, I do. I trust that God will help me to discern when to step in and when not to. That he will keep me safe. And, honestly, I would rather die doing God’s will than “live” disobeying Him. 

““Which of these three do you think

was a neighbor to the man who fell

into the hands of robbers?” The expert

in the law replied, “The one who had

mercy on him.” Jesus told him,

“Go and do likewise.””

Luke 10:36-37 NIV

“Do not be afraid of those who kill

the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather,

be afraid of the One who can destroy

both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28 NIV

“Those who live according to the flesh

have their minds set on what the flesh

desires; but those who live in

accordance with the Spirit have their

minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

Romans 8:5 NIV