The Good Samaritan, Applied To Life

"Hey Pastor Brad! Pray for us!"

"Would you like me to pray with you now?"

"No. Later."

"Okay. Have a good day."

That exchange happened recently when I was going for a run. I was passing the park and saw two people whom I have gotten to know a bit over the years. They saw me, waved, and we shared those words. 

I've prayed with them before, in that park, but that was not their preference this time. Prayer? Sure, but not now. Later. 

Why?

Without pressing the point I believe that it was because they had just left the liquor store and wanted to enjoy their purchase with a relatively clear conscience. 

Unknown to them was the fact that I had already prayed for both of them that morning, by name, and in particular that they might come to experience sobriety.  They are both on a list of names of people I know who struggle with alcohol. Some of those people desire to break free, and others have told me frankly that they don't.  That doesn’t matter to me.  I can see how destructive that particular pattern of behavior has been for them and so I pray for them, trusting God to deliver them as that fits with His overall plan.

I believe that God has a plan, and He has only given me a small glimpse of  it.  He has given me insight into some of the problems within this community, and given me personal relationships, albeit at various levels of closeness, with people in the depths of those problems.  And so it makes sense, at least to me, that at the minimum I should pray for these people, and then serve Him among them as He leads me.

That is where it gets dicey.  I could have come over to the two people who had called out to me and got in their face about their drinking. Or maybe done something else that was direct, without being confrontational.  One thing I have learned on the reservation is that I will see these people, again and again.  And one thing they have learned is that I am approachable.  And so in the small, day-to-day interactions I look for the opportunity to say or do something that may spark a  long-term change.  There are quite a few people's names on that list of those who struggle with alcohol and other addictions.  But there are also a half-dozen who I have good reason to believe right now are sober nearly every day.

Tonight in our Bible reading with the boys we read a young children's version of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In explaining it the point I made to the boys was that when we have received God's love in Jesus we can then serve our Lord among people we might really find it much easier to avoid, be they injured travelers left along the roadside, or the people at the park who just left the liquor store.  

The Good Samaritan is an old story, and a good story.  And if Jesus is your Savior and Lord you'll see an opportunity within the week to put its principles into practice. Amen.