Do Likewise

For some people, these are their rules for living – they’re kind of funny and kind of sad:

“I can only please one person each day.  Today is not your day.  Tomorrow is not looking good either.”

“Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.”

“Accept that some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue.”

“I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.” 

“I don't have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem.”

I’d like to tell you a true story about a fella called Chris Bennett. Rev. Chris Bennett actually. I’ve never forgotten this story. One day I was driving to school listening to the radio. Chris came on. He explained that he ran an honesty café in Belfast, and it had been broken into the night before. How would I have felt that day, especially toward the thief? Angry? Insulted? Like I wanted revenge?

Here’s what Chris said:

“… locked up in the stolen safe, was a sketchbook which had been accidentally left by a tourist. It contained irreplaceable pictures and drawings of immense emotional value… Now, heartbreakingly, we have to email him again and tell him that having found it, it has been lost again."

So far a sad story. But Chris kept talking:

"We bear you no ill will," he said. "The money is just money and the stuff, just stuff. It was valuable but can be replaced but that sketch book was precious. We just would love you to find it in your heart to send it back. I'm appealing to your better nature because I still believe that it's there. I refuse to give up trusting in people."

Let’s hit pause here. Chris said he refuses to stop believing in people. He wasn’t angry and he didn’t give up. Guess what? The sketchbook was left back, anonymously, the same day. True story!

Here are a couple of verses that go with this:

Luke 10 tells the story of the Good Samaritan. At the end of it Jesus is having this conversation with a guy who’s clever and confused at the same time:

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour 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.”

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for great people like Chris Bennett. Thank you even more for Jesus. Help us to follow their advice and their example. Help us to offer mercy not anger. Help us to make things better for those we’re in touch with, whoever they might be. Amen.

Challenge

"Do likewise."

Or to put it another way:

Who do you want to be like?

Who do you want to be like?

Who do you want to be like?

Written by Nigel Frith

Diocesan Director of Education