“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “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 10:29-37 NIV)
Have you ever heard the words, “Practice what you preach?” I’m sure you have. Well, a couple of days ago, I wrote a meditation entitled, “What He Says Was…” While I had an ulterior motive of having readers look at some of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, I also wanted to motivate readers like yourself to not only listen to Jesus words, but to extend it further. The formula recommended was “Listen, Learn, Live.” This formulary should have us doing our best to do as Jesus teaches us. That was my “preaching,” but how did I do on the “practicing?”
Here’s my account of practicing. I read the passage above in it’s context as I was going through The Gospel According to Luke. Actually better stated, it was the inspired word of God, written by Luke. What Jesus said was, at the end of the parable of The Good Samaritan, were these words, “Go and do likewise.” It was easy to say “Amen,” but what about the action…the actual practicing?. How could I do what I had implored readers to do when they heard what Jesus says in any of the Gospels? Maybe this true account will answer the question.
It was a Wednesday morning. I went to the nearby store to do some grocery shopping. After going through the checkout line, I rolled my cart to the parking lot. A brother on a motorized scooter approaches me as I was getting near my car. He greets me with these words, “How you doing OG?” As a side note, if “OG” is applicable to me, it does not mean “Old Gansta,” but it just has to mean “Only God!” Let me continue. The brother ask me if he can help me and that he was just trying to make a few dollars. Initially I said, “I got it. Thanks for asking.” The man turns his scooter to go to another lane. He shouts out, “If you need me OG, call me.”
I load my groceries, and all of the sudden two things came to mind. First, my conscious, well no, it was not my conscious. The Holy Spirit brought to remembrance “What Jesus says was,” “Go and do likewise.” Second, I thought of how my oldest son and his wife had just shared with me about a number of occasions where they saw someone lying on the street and they stopped and helped. Their situations were far more serious, life and death situations. I just had a brother who was homeless and was in need of some help. So, I call the brother to come back, not to help me, for I had already loaded up my groceries. I usually do not carry cash, but I had $35 left from a recent Father’s Day monetary gift. I played it forward and gave the man $10 plus one of our “Be our Guest” invitation cards. I talked about our church, told him where the location was, and made sure he knew he was welcome. I told him that I was the Pastor. He said, “Oh, you a Pastor?” I said, “Yes.” He then asked, “Will you pray for me, and extended his hands.” I was not going to treat Him like a leper, fearful of touching him. Jesus would not have done that, right? I held His hands and prayed for Him on my favorite parking lot row, “Row E.” I went on to express that I hope to see Him soon. I didn’t care if he would not add to our Sunday collections, but I was sure that if he came to church with a sincere heart, the Lord would take care of him, add to his outlook on life, someway and somehow. The point was that I practiced what I preached. I played it forward and I prayed upward with the downcast man. I presented him with a way to have all his needs supplied. I applied the formula that I taught: “Listen, Learn, Live.” Question: How have you been doing these last couple of days living out the word of God that you have heard? Love you! Be blessed!
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:40 ESV)
Mark L. King