DONT JUST WALK ACROSS THE STREET

By David Pam McQuel

Justin has a very busy day ahead. How he wished there are 25 hours in a day! It could afford him sometime to do much more. He has to drop the kids of school, then speed off to the dry cleaners.

Along the he realized he didn't take his tie, and hopes to get a new time from Oak St. He also needs to be in the office before 9:00am to go through his points again for the meeting he has with very important clients.

What a busy day!

Let's not talk about lunch and he has to squeeze some time to attend his French classes. He thought to himself:

Pressure!

Pressure!!

Pressure!! Accompanied the scream with a slap on the steering!

Jason whispered to himself, "a young man got to fight hard, keep up with the pace and outdo your competitors!
Justin you can't be left behind!"

Daily pressures, daily routines and daily demands are ever growing influences in our day-to-day. They encroach like termites, like a swarm of locust.

There are Christian pressures too sickness he most be at his place of service.

The pressure comes from how to manage family, job and Church res
Kelvin has set himself to be theg shining star in church. He believes I loyalty. Loyalty to the church. Loyalty to his pastor. He is so proud of his church.

For a Christian, although these same demands have equal exertion on him, he still stands loyal to one who is more important that these earthly concerns.

Jesus shared a spellbinding parable of a man who fell in the hands of robbers.

Luke 10:30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side."

Here came a priest!

You could hold your breathe and say thank God!

The badly crushed man could with relief that finally help has come.

A priest for that matter!
Surely the priest preaches about mercy, he must know mercy!
Surely the priest preaches about kindness, he must know kindness!

Surely the priest preaches about compassion, he must know to be compassionate!

Surely the priest preaches about helping the weak, he must know about helping the wounded!

Surely the priest preaches about care for strangers, he must know care for strangers!

Oops! When saw the broken man, all his sermons about compassionat, mercy, kindness, care and helping the weak blacked-out!

Then a thousand and one excuses flooded his mind.
"I don't know this man."
"I don't know he did to deserve all these."
"Is he believer?"
"I don't know his denomination."
"May be he did something and God is paying him back."
"I need to be church now, I'm preaching today."

Fine excuses.
He walked across the street and buried people.

Moments later, a Levite followed. When he saw the man, thoughts flooded his being. In one minute, he processed five-hundred thoughts.
"I'm a worship leader, I can't go late to church"
"I don't want anything to affect my voice?"
"I play an instrument, if I'm not in there, the music can go wrong."
"Somebody who is less busy will take care of him."
"When I get to church, I'll ask that my group pray for him."
"Its none of my business."
He walked across the street to avoid a feeling guilty.

And here came one was irreligious, knows very little about God. He saw the beaten man, a total stranger, and all he could think about was how much the man hard gone through.

That's compassion.

That's the very thing a priest and a Levite should have thought of first! They are the first agent of mercy. The didn't show mercy.

They didn't.

And today as a Christian, when we meet with people in need, beaten and broken, what do we do. We need to become the safety and recovery haven.

Don't walk across the road to avoid alcoholics who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid that sick woman who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid the naked who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid the atheist who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid that orphan who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid homeless who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid that community that need drinking water!

Don't walk across the road to avoid that child who need education!

Don't walk across the road to avoid that single mom who need help!

Don't walk across the road to avoid those missionaries who need help!

Let's not walk across the road to avoid poor nations who need Jesus!

The Priest and the Levite considered temple service more important. But Jesus disapproved of that priority table. We need to reach people, especially the vulnerable that can never reward us because they are to weak.

Don't leave the beaten and wounded to go for temple service.