The Joy in Christ Ministry is dedicated to bringing the joy and peace of Christ into our daily lives. Every few weeks we will post new inspirational sermons.

Sermon of the month: ONE TOO MANY VALLEYS

I had passed him many times, but met him only once before his death. That is I am assuming he is dead. He slept under a park bench, fearing for his life if he slept on the bench seating area. I passed him daily on my way to the church, seeing only a pathetic human being swallowed in the depths of poverty and degradation. No one to help. No one to care. Only the hurried footsteps of the crowded streets to wake him to another day of begging on street corners, not for food, or clothing, but for another drink, another taste of illusionary nectar, to carry his brain from reality to oblivion

One morning, a cold wintry morning, I saw him roll out from underneath the bench and stretch in the cold, swinging his arms to stir a bit of warmth in his body. A pathetic man, dressed in rags, unshaven, unbathed, shivering in a coat that was too small for him. He made a move to speak to me as I passed, and I let my gaze turn the other way and moved by him without speaking, without even acknowledging that he was there.

When I arrived at my office, my secretary had a steaming cup of coffee ready and in the warmth of the room, I drank my coffee and contemplated Sunday’s sermon. Now I have heard the saying many times that God works in mysterious ways, and this morning, He demonstrated to me that this saying was indeed true. When I sat down at my desk and opened my Bible the pages seem to blow slightly as if some faint breeze had suddenly passed in front of me and when I looked down, the Bible was opened to the book of Luke and my eyes fell on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

A certain lawyer stood in front of Jesus and asked, Who is my neighbour? and Jesus answered, “A certain man went down from  Jerusalem to Jericho…” A familiar story, but now my eyes were opened to another scenario. I immediately thought about the man in the park.

Here was the wounded traveler waiting for a good Samaritan . How many times had God led me past him, and I looking with hardly a glance at this wounded soul. How many times had he cried out for help and no one was there to help him. God forgive us. For didn’t Christ say that even one lost sheep is as important as the flock?

I re-read the parable again and again, and even though I had read this parable hundreds of times before, a new awakening struck my soul. You see this parable is not about a priest, nor a Levite, nor even a Good Samaritan. It’s about you and I, about showing God’s love. A heavenly love. A love of a many splendor thing. Yes, a love that must be shown to even the most despicable  that wander the valleys of life far below us who live on the mountain.

But can these valley travelers be helped? Have they been in too many valleys to even look up to see the mountain tops that surround them?

Can we judge them, turn up our noses and pass them by?

Jesus said, that the Samaritan had compassion on the traveler who had been beaten by life and whose wounds showed obvious to anyone passing by.

“And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.”

But this man I passed daily was not an ordinary traveler, I rationalized, he was from in the valley, and the valley is where we on the mountain dump our trash and garbage, those things we don’t want around us.  But the more I read the parable, the more convicted I became aware that I had not been in the will of God.

Were we not as filthy rags before Christ came? Were we all not the foulest of valley people before Christ’s righteousness? Were we not in bondage of sin, wounded and beaten before Christ came to heal our wounds and give us hope and salvation?

In the silence of the room, I made my vow to God not to pass by this person, or any that needed my help. I felt a new surge through my body, rejuvenating my soul, opening my heart, clearing my eyes. Yes, I would stop by this man in the morning and bring him the love of Christ. I would give him my hand, and help him from the valley and bring him to the mountain top so that he could again see the wonders of life.

That evening, I hardly slept, waiting impatiently for the morning. I hurried through the park, down the walk that led to the church and when I came upon the bench where he always slept, he was not there . I searched the area nearby, looking at other benches, hoping to find him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

 Now, I often sit on that same bench before going home, waiting, hoping, that this ragged pathetic unbathed person would someday appear. I sat at his house with the desire to say to him, come with me, I have a great friend whose father has a house with many mansions, and there on the door of one is your name.  No more degradation. No more rags. No more shivering in the cold. Only the joy of eternal life with God.

Now I often wonder if he is alive or dead. If he is dead, my passing by could mean he is spending eternity in hell. I could have stopped to give him the healing balm of Christ. I, who clasp the hand of Christ.  I, who stand before  others preaching heavenly love could not show love.

It should not be our obligation to stop to help those in the valley, it should be our compassion. The Good Samaritan did not stop because he felt obligated to help his fellow man, Jesus said that he stopped because of compassion. Heavenly love is a compassionate love. A love that sees all as one.

Those that have walked the valley have seen too many valleys.  They have lost hope and pride, and the love of life. We cannot pass them by. We must not pass them by- because we have the answer. We can take their hand and lead them from the valley to the mountain. We can bring them to Christ, our Great Healer.

And the song rings louder in my ears now, and I sing with much gusto.

“Just as I am without one plea Thy blood was shed for even me and thou biddest me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

  View Video