August 17
On the Road with the Wounded
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. ––Luke 10:30-33
I have always struggled with the decision of whether or not to give money to pan-handlers. Some well-meaning older friends taught me this maxim: “Money to known organizations; food for strangers.” In other words, if you are worried that the $5 you give to a homeless person might just go to buying drugs, then buy them a sandwich instead. Lately, however, my position has shifted. I’ve been giving cash to homeless folks because I realized that 1) It’s all God’s money anyway, and 2) the Bible always errs on the side of being compassionate and giving to the poor.
Listen, I respect the fact that you may disagree, fearing that person might just use the money to buy drugs, whereas if you donate to, say, Samaritan’s Purse, you are confident of exactly how the money is going to be used. The key point is again, that none of it is ours in the first place. As men of God, we need to reach a point in our discipleship journey when a new revelation confronts us:
Not only are your money and possessions not your own, but neither is your life.
When we give our lives to Christ, we are entering into a covenant that affirms Paul’s words:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ––Galatians 2:20
Man of God, this is the key to generosity: When we realize that everything in this life is a gift from God and that everything we own belongs to Him, we are truly free. And it’s this freedom—this ability to let go of everything we once wanted to clutch onto—that allows us to be generous.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 is a powerful example of this. As Jesus tells it, a man is mugged and beaten and left on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite cross to the other side of the road and ignore the man. Then a Samaritan—a foreigner—has mercy on the beaten man and takes care of him.
There’s a lot going on here. First, a hard reality: a non-Jew helped a stranger while two fellow Jews did nothing. The Samaritan moved as God compels us to move in the face of suffering: We show mercy. That’s our first reaction—not to check to see if the person in need is the same people group, citizenship, or religion as us.
And second, we offer tangible help to those in need: we pay for the meal; we provide the transportation; we do what it takes to get them the help they need. On a practical level, this might include giving a person money, buying them groceries, ordering an Uber, or helping them secure a bed in a homeless shelter. The Holy Spirit will guide you in the ways and means.
Like the Good Samaritan, we start with mercy and offer the help as God directs. We get involved in crises; we call the friend who is going through a difficult time; we get in the car and go to the home of the relative who is sick. That’s activated faith as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. That is the Kingdom of God in action.
Father, it’s easy for me to turn my back on the less fortunate. Please give me a tender heart full of mercy so I might be used as You see fit to use me.