Deuteronomy 22

"You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself. "You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.

(Deu 22:1-4)

Indifference. How often do people just drive by a person stopped on the side of the road, obviously in need of help? How often do we pass up an opportunity to serve others because it will inconvenience us? As a society, we seem to have adopted the idea that as long as we aren’t actively seeking to harm someone, we have no obligation to help them. It’s a philosophy of “I’m just minding my own business”.

I remember one case in particular where I was on the receiving end of this indifference. I had just gotten my Honda back after it was stolen, and I was on my way to work one Saturday morning. I decided to drive through Herndon so I could hit the Starbucks with a drive-thru. About halfway through the drive-thru it happened… “KLUNK, KLUNK, KI-KI-CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….” My car had just died. Now I’m stuck. I turn the key… “WAHH-wahh-wahh-wahh-wahh”. I do it 4 or 5 times, and I get NOTHING. I’ve got cars behind me honking, and a gap developing in the line in front of me. There are still about 3 more cars that need to go before I can get out. My flashers are on, and I’m getting more frustrated with every honk. I climb out of the car and look at the big Lexus SUV directly behind me. The guy behind the wheel refuses to make eye contact with me, I’m staring at him, and if you could see my face you would know I was saying “can I please just get a little help?” I was so embarrassed and I felt totally helpless. All I could think of to do was use one hand to steer the car, and push against the door with the other. If I needed to stop I would jump in and hit the brakes. This was such hard work! It was literally taking every ounce of strength in my body. No one offered to help, no one ever even said a word. To them I was just a road block in their day threatening to mess up their schedule.

When I think about how I felt that morning, I am reminded how important it is to serve others. I don’t want to be the guy that looks the other way. I don’t want to ignore people’s problems for the sake of convenience. All over the world the normal thing to do is THINK ABOUT YOURSELF. In every situation the question asked is, “what’s in it for me?” Here in Deuteronomy we see that God wanted His people thinking differently, and living differently. Even if no one was around, they were to help a lost animal, to care for a lost possession of another. Even if it meant feeding and caring for that thing with your own resources, they were to put the needs of others first. We can learn an important lesson here. We may not have livestock, but we do see people in need on a regular basis. The Lord would have us meet those needs. Don’t turn the other way, show them the love of Jesus.