Sometimes We Need Help
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV.
As Jason and Jenna Weigner were traveling near Santa Cruz, Bolivia they came across something they had never encountered before. What they found was a Brahman calf draped over the top of the guardrail and the heifer was stuck unable to go backwards or forward. Jason went over to the heifer and was able to push it off the guardrail backwards. The calf rolled down the hill behind the guardrail but was able to stand and then rejoined the rest of the herd. (Orange News 08.14.14)
Yesterday, we received some help in clearing away some old buildings we have. One of those buildings was an old chicken house that had partially collapsed. Over the past year, we have spent many hours tearing down that building, but still two of the walls were still standing. It was amazing to watch a large track hoe demolish the remainder of that building in only a few minutes of time. Sometimes you just need a little help!
We are all aware of the savage advance of ISIS in Iraq although the name was changed to ISIL and now they are just calling themselves IS, short for Islamic State. There are more than a million refugees from IS savagery and they need help. Some of the refugees are Christians, and some of the thousands still trapped on Mt Sinjar are Yizidis. There are Kurds and Muslims that are also refugees. All of these refugees need a little help! Actually they need a lot of help, but have been receiving very little.
It appears that the primary reason those refugees who desperately needed and still need help have not received or received it very slowly was of a political nature. Here is one of the definitions of the word, politics: “use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control.” Another definition that is often heard is that “poli” means many and “tics” means ticks. So, instead of providing immediately the help refugees needed in Iraq there was a lot of blood sucking going on. I hope that political posturing for whatever reason ends soon.
When we see someone in need of help and know we have the ability to meet that need, how do we respond? In Luke 10, there is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” There was a lawyer who then stood up and “tested” (NKJV) or “tempted” (KJV) Jesus by asking “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus responds to the lawyer testing him in Luke 10 with the Good Samaritan parable. A man from Jerusalem was the victim of robbers “who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” There was a priest that came upon the man, but he moved to the outside of the road to pass by the victim. Another religious leader “a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.” Were both the priest and Levite afraid of being robbed too, or did they just not want to become involved knowing that it would be costly in terms of time, effort and money? Jesus says that it was a Samaritan who actually did stop and help the robbery victim. Jesus asks the lawyer, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” The lawyer replies with the right answer by saying, “He who showed mercy on him.” Jesus then instructs the lawyer and us by saying, “Go and do likewise.”