When you see a panhandler with a cardboard sign at an intersection, the best advice is to avoid eye contact and never give them any money. Even the good folks who dedicate their lives to helping people on the street will tell you that your money is better spent by contributing to an organization that serves free meals and provides a safe place to spend the night. Those places need money and will use it well. Money given to a panhandler may not be spent wisely, and may even do the person more harm than good. Today I have a story about someone who did not give money to a man on the street, but found another way to help him.
My friend Chris Brekke has a brother who has done some of this ‘intersection panhandling,’ as it is sometimes called. Chris is a retired Lutheran minister, as I am. He also writes an on-line devotional blog, as I do. The name of his website is “Seasoned Hope,” and he posts three times a week at: https://pcbrek2020.wordpress.com . Every once in a while, we will recycle what the other has written, including it in our own devotional reading. Today, I want to reprint a story by Chris about his brother that appeared on his Seasoned Hope website just the other day (9-18-26).
On Wednesday, I went with my brother Peter to his annual physical. His appointment was at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Peter has lived a vagabond life: no career, no family, no money, and ‘no worries.’ He has been a ‘happy stoner’ all his adult life. He’s an easy-going, nice guy, but has no ambition. He has been incarcerated several times and homeless several times. For the last twelve years he has lived in a Salvation Army shelter apartment. He spends his day doing “this ‘n that”; mostly kicking around, and sometimes doing artsy projects .
His connection with his Mayo Clinic doctor began a few years ago, quite randomly (or, by faith we say ‘providentially’). Peter was “flying cardboard” (his term for bumming money at stop signs), when a guy pulled over and talked with him. The guy invited him to lunch at McDonalds, where they got acquainted. He told Peter that he was a physician at Mayo. Peter had no doctor, and the guy invited him to come in some day for a checkup. Huh. Who does that? Doctors don’t even make house calls anymore, much less stop sign calls.
Peter has been going to see Dr. David once a year now for seven years. Peter has gotten excellent care, as he has dealt with seizures, diabetes, and now some dementia. Dr. David relates kindly and genuinely with Peter, giving good advice and directing his meds. Peter once told him about a fellow-hobo friend (Mark) who was living in a tent near a highway. Dr. David asked if he could meet him. They drove out there, and the good doctor got to know Mark, too.
I tell you this as an inspiring example of loving service. Most of us tend to look the other way, and avoid the down and out. Dr. David leaned in, not out. I don’t know how you do at going out of your way to help people, but I need the Lord to nudge me in that direction. Getting to know Dr. David has provided such a nudge. He is a living example of the good man we find in one of Jesus’ stories. ‘There was a certain Samaritan man who stopped to help a beat-up traveler…’
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Luke 10:25-37: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
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Great God of love, we are blessed beyond our knowing, and beyond our deserving. For all the gifts of this life, and for all the caring people that You sprinkle freely into the world, we give you thanks and praise. Teach us to care and to be compassionate. Show us ways we can serve you and extend Your mercies into our corner of the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
–Chris Brekke
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