It started with a craving. I really wanted something cold and full of sugar. I also really needed to study, so I took a textbook along. Coupon in hand, I head over to Sonic for a 99¢ Route 44
While I was reading, someone pulled into a space to my right. It was an older car, didn't look to be in the best shape. He stuck around after ordering his food (or drink, wasn't paying attention). Then he tried to start his car. Tried. It made a repetitive sound I've learned to associate with a dead battery. Not something you want at 7:45pm.
As he continued to try starting the car, I began to think I should get out of my car and offer my help. I plan out a simple question like: Do you need fuel or a jump start? Still I kept my silence and continued reading, with an occasional glance up. He rootws around the backseat and his trunk before opening his hood. Just as I finish reading the chapter, he tapped on my passenger window. Well, no avoiding it now!
He mentions a dead battery and could I help jump start his car? Sure! After some searching, and then fighting with the lever to pop the front, hood...the jumper cables wouldn't reach. He thanked me and seemed to be considering other options. I recommended a solution: pull out of the spaces, park along the edge of the parking lot [so we're out of the way] with the cars facing each other. I'm fairly proud of the scheme, honestly, especially since it worked!
With his car started, he thanked me and apologized again for the trouble. I insisted multiple times that it was nothing at all. The whole time, I thought "I need to share the gospel, just say something about Jesus!" Yet I didn't say it. John Mayer had been singing a well-known refrain over Sonic's speakers, "Say what you need to say." I'll let that sink in. Off he drove. I went on my way home as well. The whole [short] ride back, I wondered why I didn't say anything. What sort of person was he? Did he already know Jesus? I could have easily used an analogy, "I have a jump-start for your soul! Let me tell you about Jesus." A few Bible passages popped into my head.
The woman at the well: That cheesy jump start for the soul? It's not unlike Jesus telling the woman at the well that He has living water which will eternally quench thirst and even become a source for that water. Whoa, totally cool! You want to talk about Jesus jukes, Jesus himself had them down. Also: here in the South, it may be an issue for some people to help a minority. Oh yeah, the guy I helped was African-American, big deal [read: sarcasm]. We need to look past those boundaries. Jesus, a Jew, spoke to the Samaritan woman. In those days, Jews really hated Samaritans for being spiritual and maybe even genealogical half-breeds, is it were. Jesus didn't hate her, He helped her! Why can't I help someone who seemed a perfectly respectable person? Even if he wasn't, who am I to deny that help? Maybe it's exactly what he needed for a nudge in the right direction.
Matthew 25:31-41 (especially verse 40): Am I not to help those we consider even least among us? It really is no inconvenience to help someone, especially if it is in my power to do so? See also Proverbs 3:27 paired with James 4:17, talk about conviction.
Finally, 1 Peter 3:5: The truth is I was not prepared to explain why I had so freely agreed to help. I need to be more intentional about the opportunities I'm given, plain and simple--though, perhaps, not easy.
