A Call To The Remnant

Luk 10:33  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 

A minister friend of my parents back in Scotland was Pastor of a church in a small Scottish town. One of the “characters,’ of this town was “Dundee Annie.” No one really knew how she got her name, but everyone knew she must be avoided at all costs. She was always drunk and cursed and abused anyone that happened to come into her path.

The townspeople knew to avoid her and keep their heads down as they passed her on the other side of the street. The Pastor friend had learned to cross to the other side of the street well in advance of passing her and to keep his head down, thus avoiding a verbal onslaught.

The Pastor received news that he was to have a young minister in training from Australia come and stay with him for about a year. He was glad to have the company and on his arrival he made him very welcome. The day after his arrival the young minister said he would like to walk into town and perhaps meet some of the townspeople. The Pastor said he would accompany him but the young minister asked if he would mind if he went alone. Several hours passed and there was no sign of the young minister. It was only a couple of miles into town and he should have been back long ago.

So the Pastor, slightly irked for it was raining hard, got his raincoat on and headed into town to find the young minister. He arrived in town, and walking down the main road, saw in the distance two figures sitting on the sidewalk, or the gutter as it is called in Scotland. As he got closer he realized that it was his young minister with his arm around the shoulder of Dundee Annie. When he got there she was weeping. She was weeping, it turns out, because the young man had shared with her that Jesus loved her very much and that He had come to earth to save her. She looked up at the Pastor and then back to the minister and said “nobody has ever told me that before.”

In a famous parable, the Lord tells us of the good Samaritan. We all know that the religious men hurry on by and it is the “Samaritan,” that aids and comforts the unfortunate man that lay bleeding and beaten and robbed beside the highway.

Who is your “Dundee Annie,”? Who do you go out of your way to avoid because they are nasty or unapproachable? It is a spiritual fact that we are surrounded by those who are bleeding, beaten, dying, victims of this world. Seriously wounded men and woman are all around us, in the world and in the church. What spirit do you have?

Is yours the spirit of the religious men? Do you hurry on by, not wanting to get involved? We are here on this earth, to aid and comfort those who need it. In the darkness of a wounded world, we are the light which brings comfort and healing to those who are wounded.

Perhaps you walk on by because you are wounded yourself. To touch the pain of others is to touch your own pain. If you seek to save your life, Jesus says, you will lose it. If you lose your life you will gain eternal life. The word life here in the Greek is not “bios,” meaning our actual life, but rather it is ,”psyche,” which is referring to the soul or our very heart.

If we are to be people of God, we must let go, let die, the image that we have created for the world, and discover ourselves at the very heart of our being. Our own wounds will be exposed in the process, but as we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to Him, then He will change us from the inside out. Next time your tempted to walk on by the guy nobody likes in the office, die to yourself and be bold in your love and just see what unfolds. This will require His wisdom and love. It will carry with it risk, but everything worth fighting for carries danger, go on, take a chance today and in doing so, your own healing will begin to take place.