Loving Your Neighbors
July/August 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine
Loving Your Neighbors
We were driving into New York City in his Cadillac. He had money and liked to use it to help others. He described himself as a rich “old” man who finally listened to Jesus and went on his way happy, instead of sad like the rich young man who didn’t (Lk. 18:1827).
When I asked how he got saved, he said, “God came in when I was so low I had to reach up to touch bottom. The first stanza of ‘Love Lifted Me’ sums up my story.” And he sang it: “I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, but the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help, love lifted me!”
Then he pointed to a roadside diner as we got to the Holland Tunnel and said, “We’re stopping there for a midnight snack on our way back to New Jersey. They have the world’s best hot dogs. And they’re free tonight!”
He was taking me into the city to do some street corner evangelism. When we got to his favorite busy corner I passed out tracts while he talked to passersby, always starting with, “Hi neighbor! Let me tell you about my friend.”
When I asked, “Are these really your neighbors?”, he summarized the Greatest Commandment: “Love God and love your neighbor.” He reminded me that the parable of the good Samaritan was Jesus’ answer to the question a lawyer asked Him: “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk. 10:2736). Then he said, “This corner is our Jericho road, and these beatup people are our neighbors. Our friend, the Good Samaritan, can fix them up for eternity.”
We gave out a bunch of tracts, talked to a lot of “new” neighbors, and even prayed with some. And on our way home we did stop at the Tunnel Diner. He grabbed some song books out of the car, and when we entered he announced, “We love to sing! Whoever sings with us gets a free hot dog and a coke! I’m buying!” Right there in that diner at midnight we had a hymn sing with some new neighbors. Can you guess which hymn we sang first?
By Larry Ondrejack