Hope For The Destitute

By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford

Scripture: Luke 10:30‑35

A DESTITUTE MAN WHO FOUND HOPE

While in Sydney, Australia last July, I visited the Wesley Centre in the central city. It has what is reported to be the most extensive ministries of compassion and hope in the world. I believe it. While there I learned, for instance, about a man named Phil. Phil was originally from Great Britain. He had become a Christian at age 21 and was active in his home church. As a realtor, he moved to Australia for business purposes. Soon after the move, however, he suffered extreme depression and anxiety, and began drinking heavily. Although his wife was expecting their third child, he abandoned all sense of financial responsibility and allowed himself to become a compulsive gambler. During an eighteen month period he lost a whole year's wages from gambling. Although, with the supportive help of his church, he stopped for awhile, he relapsed and for another eighteen months was on a gambling binge during which he lost all of his investments.

After an additional period of rehabilitation, he got a job as a bank teller. But that lasted for only ten months after which he walked out of the bank one Friday afternoon with $8,000 stolen. On the following Monday he gave it back and the case was dismissed in court on the basis that he had not known what he was doing.

All of this turmoil was, of course, taking its toll on his marriage. Finally, his wife told him that she could no longer handle all of the uncertainties and all of his coming and going at all hours of the day and night. She told him that he had to leave the house.

Phil, who had so much going for him, was now a destitute man on the streets with no place to live. Was there a ray of hope anywhere? Yes, there was. It was one of the ministries of Wesley Center which reached out to destitute people like Phil. Not only did they provide him a temporary place to sleep; they went beyond the immediate need and communicated to him that he is a person of worth. This is the way Phil put it: "The thing that really impressed me ... was that from the moment I stepped through the door, I was treated like a human being." In the course of time he was given more than a temporary place to sleep. They provided him with a suite in a small hotel which the church had bought for just such persons as Phil. It provides small but beautifully appointed suites for ten single persons. Phil's words are: "Living in an environment like this gives me far more respect for myself‑‑and that's just what I need at the moment."l

Notice two pieces of Phil's story: 1) as a destitute man, he was made to feel like a human being, and 2) the environment for his new life gave him more respect for himself.

Wesley Mission did it right, didn't they? They did it the Jesus way. The Jesus way is to make the destitute feel like human beings. The Jesus way is to provide the kind of environment in which the destitute can gain more respect for themselves.

JESUS, THE ETERNALLY GOOD SAMARITAN

In Luke 10:30‑35 Jesus says: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead." Verse 33: "A Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend. "2

Before the good Samaritan came along, two other passers‑by had ignored the man as though he were nothing more than a heap of rubbish, or at best an obnoxious animal to be shunned.

Have you ever wondered what went through the mind of the half dead man if, in fact, he was aware of the passers‑by? Did he wonder whether the footsteps were those of yet another man of violence? Did he notice that the footsteps perhaps paused and then crossed to the other side? It may be that the one passing by sped up. In fact, I wonder whether he broke into a run. Did the half dead man then hear the footsteps fading away in the distance, as hope ebbed away in the silence of the desolate country?

And then he heard another set of footsteps. They too came closer and closer only to repeat the same pattern as the last. Probably the third would do the same. But no, this time the sounds which came closer and closer, did not cross to the other side. Instead, they stopped. Why did this person stop? Was it for further molestation? Was it out of sick curiosity? No, this was a person who cared enough to minister to the destitute man. He treated him like a human being. He bandaged his wounds, poured oil and wine on them, put him on his animal, took him to an inn for further care, and provided for his keep during his absence. In the view of this third person to come along the damaged man was more than a heap of animal mess. He was a human being created in the image of God. Though destitute and unlovely, he was nevertheless the child of God's love.

In this story, the good Samaritan is representative of Jesus who gives hope by treating us like human beings, not like injured pesky animals on the side of the road. Furthermore, Jesus provides us with a new environment of dignity and respect.

That, my friend, is what God in Christ does for all of us regardless of the nature of our destitution, whether it be that of homelessness, as was the case with Phil mentioned earlier, or the destitution which we experience in relation to an illness or some other problem in our lives. It is good to know that God does not kick us down further when we are already down. He does not pass by on the other side. God does not treat us like an injured pesky animal messing up the road. He does not play around with our destitution. Instead, God treats us like beloved children, and provides us with the envirom‑nent where we can regain a sense of human dignity.

My friend, it does not matter what kind of destitution you are experiencing in your Iffe right now, I am here to tell you that in God's sight you are important. You may be suffering from mistreatment. You may have been taken advantage of. It may be that you feel hopeless about the circumstances of your life. The gospel is that Jesus, the good Samaritan, will not pass you by on the other side. He is stopping by wherever you are right now to bind up your wounds, to soothe, heal, and bless you with the oil of his mercy and with the wine of his comfort.


THE CHURCH, THE INN CHOSEN BY THE GOOD SAMARITAN 


Jesus, the eternally good Samaritan, will pick you up from where you are and take you to the place where you can recuperate from your desolation. The price paid is more than a day's wage as was the case in the parable. The price paid was his blood which was shed on Calvary. And the chosen place where you can be nurtured in hope is the church of Jesus.

His church is not just any church which calls itself that. What we are talking about here is not merely the name of the church but the reality of church. Jesus' true church is that fellowship where the wounded are made whole, where the destitute find hope, and where the weary find rest. Jesus' true church is that fellowship which provides people with the environment for getting well both spiritually and in every other way. It is where we can be restored to the spiritual health and well being which God wants all of us to enjoy. Jesus' true church is that fellowship of people who say by everything they say and do: "You are somebody important. You are a human being created in the image of God. You are valuable." Jesus' true church shows people that God has important work for them to do regardless of the circumstances of life, regardless of age, regardless of sins, regardless of the kind destitution one is experiencing. God has all the resources we need for doing whatever it is he calls us to do.

In reference to destitute man named Phil, spoken of earlier, what he said about the atmosphere he found when he was homeless is the atmosphere which should characterize every church. When the destitute come into our churches can they say: "From the moment I stepped through the door [of that church] I was treated like a human being"? Can they say: "Living in ... [the] environment [of this church] ... gives me far more respect for myself"?

It is that kind of church which Jesus, the good Samaritan, takes you to. He takes you to an inn‑like church which helps the destitute to recuperate. He takes you to an inn‑like church which gives hope for restoration. He takes you to an inn‑like church where you can get a new perspective on life and long‑term nourishment for the journey of life. He takes you to an inn‑like church where those who have been rescued from the enemy are nurtured in a new environment of love and grace.


INVITATION 

My friend, Jesus, the good Samaritan, stoops to save you even now. He is there to bind up your wounds. He is there to bring healing to you and to carry you into his church. Will you yield to the ministry of the eternally good Samaritan? Will you take advantage of the restoration which can be found in inn‑like churches? Will you be made whole?


PRAYER

Let us pray together:

Gracious Lord, we thank you for coming to us along the road of life and for taking the time to stoop to our need, whatever it is. Heal our wounds, bring healing to our sin‑sick souls, and bear us to the place where we can be nurtured in the truly good things of life. This we pray in the name of Jesus, the eternally good Samaritan. Amen.


1. Mission On (published by Wesley Central Mission, Sydney, Australia), p. 33.
2. New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.

Script 2561 (GWS)
January 28, 1996
SERIES: "THERE'S HOPE"
4. "Hope for the Destitute"
Scripture: Luke 10:30‑35