Are Staggering Gas Prices Blinding Us?

Recently a man fell victim to a carjacking in Detroit. This gentleman is an 86-year-old World War II veteran. He was on his way home from bible study that morning and stopped at a local gas station. While there, he was struck from behind and knocked to the pavement, breaking his leg in the fall. The thief then drove off with his 2010 Chrysler 200. Unable to stand, this elderly victim had to crawl to get help inside the station. People outside the station completely ignored this poor man, simply walking by and going about the business of filling their tanks. Only after he dragged himself inside the gas station was aid given, by the station attendant and another kind soul. While I am appalled at the perpetrator of the carjacking, I am even more appalled at those who did not come to this veteran’s aid following the crime. Was everyone outside the station simply blinded and numbed by the staggering prices at the pump? Why did no one lend a hand to this neighbor in need?

“And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.” (Luke 10:29-30) So, here is our innocent victim lying beside the road, just like our elderly veteran. Both a Priest and a Levite (righteous, upstanding leaders of their day) saw the beaten man lying there, but rather than help, they each passed by on the other side of the road. Then along came a Samaritan (a foreigner and outcast of society) who saw the wounded man lying there, tended to his wounds and took him to an inn where he paid the innkeeper to take care of the man. The Samaritan was a perfect stranger to this man. “Which one of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

 

What blinds us and prevents us from doing likewise? No, I don’t believe that it is the price at the pump. Certainly there must be those who are afraid of ‘getting involved’.  Folks, fear is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR). Most of our fears are unjustified. We worry about them and they never come to pass. And in the case of helping a neighbor in need, I must believe that God ‘has our backs’. So, as they say in the Nike commercials: “Just do it!” 

What else blinds us to doing likewise? Perhaps it is the rat-race that so many of us run. We live in a very fast paced society. Much of our time is spent scrambling after the almighty dollar so that we can make ends meet. We busy ourselves with work, meetings, and various other activities that rob us of valuable quality time for relationships. Our busied lives become an impediment to helping a neighbor in obvious need of assistance. “No, I don’t have time; I’ll be late. Someone else will help him.” What if no one else does? What then? Schedules can be adjusted. If someone’s life is lying in the balance, our immediate intervention may be the one act that spares that life. There may be one chance, one moment and we may be the only ones to make it happen. And if it makes us late, I have to believe that our tardiness will be forgiven based on our Good Samaritan act.

I pray that apathy is not the blinding issue, for that would be a very sad commentary for our society. Those who are apathetic are overwhelmed by the world, devoid of love and have lost all hope. Without love and hope they cannot care for themselves, let alone a neighbor in need – to survive they become numb, insulating themselves to the world and its cares. These too, like the man who fell into the hands of robbers, are our neighbors in need. Only love and kindness can reverse the numbing condition of apathy. We all know cynical, apathetic people. Their insulation is thick and their hearts are hardened. But we must not turn our backs on them. Love can penetrate the hardened exterior and warm the coldest heart.  “Love is patient, love is kind … It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4a, 7) Let us make no excuses. Let us step out of our comfort zones in love to help our neighbor, even if that neighbor is a perfect stranger. 

Let us remove our ‘blinders’, whatever they may be. Pay attention to those moments God affords us each day and seize the opportunity to help our neighbor. What kind of help? Perhaps it is simply looking a stranger in the eye to say “good morning”, making the invisible, apathetic person feel visible again. Perhaps it’s calling 911 for an accident or crime just observed. Perhaps it’s slowing down to allow someone to merge into traffic. Perhaps it’s stopping to help someone pick up their groceries that just fell from the rain-soaked sack. Perhaps …. Oh, there are so many opportunities to be captured in the moment. We may not be able to roll back gas prices to days gone by. But we can make God’s presence, grace and love very tangible for others in our daily lives. Christ calls each of us to “Go and do likewise.” Let us go.