Good Deed Doers

TITLE: Good Deed Doers
DATE: December 17, 2018
TEXT: Colossians 3:17 (ESV) - 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

On January 8, 1815, 2,000 of Britain’s finest soldiers were counted as casualties at the Battle of New Orleans. The great problem is, their sacrifice was unnecessary since a peace treaty had been signed on December 24th… more than two weeks earlier. Those were the days when it took considerable time for news to travel any kind of distance.

Today, as we all know, news can be beamed into our living rooms almost instantaneously.

That makes it possible for the evening news, in ½ hour, to show us the tragedies of an auto accident in our own community; a child abuse case from the next county over; the scandal of numerous murders from our state’s biggest city, the pain of a family who has lost a son or daughter to one of the overseas conflicts in which our nation is involved; the mass grave of hundreds who were killed in a bloody civil war which is going on in half-a-dozen countries.

Yes, these videos of sorrows and sadness find their origins in one source: the sins of humankind.
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Which explains why this devotion is so pleased to offer you the results of another kind of video. This video comes out of Milwaukee and is taken from the security camera of a Milwaukee County Transit System bus. More specifically it is the video taken on October 13th from the bus driven by Natalie Barnes.
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If you took the time to watch that video, you would see:

1. Natalie Barnes picking up an older man who rode her entire route.
2. Natalie talking to the man at the end of her route. That is when she found out his house had been condemned and he had been homeless for the last week.
3. That is also the conversation when Natalie offered to buy some supper for the man. He declined her generosity, but accepted her invitation to ride on her bus to stay warm.
4. I know I just said the man refused a meal… but later on the video shows Natalie and her rider with some bags which appear to be food.
5. Later in the video, while she is on break, you can see Natalie calling a friend to make arrangements for the man to be in a temporary shelter.
6. Before they go their separate ways Natalie offers to get the man some necessities, if he wants them. He says, “I don’t know how to thank you.” To which Natalie replies, “I want to help you….let me know what happens….”

To the best of my knowledge, there is no video of the Savior and His life of ministry which began in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. The four Gospels give us some pretty good snapshots of His life and work. One day He feeds a multitude; another day He restores sight to the blind. One day He brings a dead girl back to life and another day He corrects the errors of the overly proud Pharisees.

Then, of course there are those two days… the first day shows Him carrying our sins and dying on the cross. Amazing, even there He manages to provide for His mother, forgive His murderers and provide hope for a man who is dying with Him. The second day shows Him alive, providing proof to any who would see, that He had defeated death and now was offering salvation and eternal life to all who would believe on Him as Savior.

I wish there would have been a video camera there that day. I would love to watch the world’s only Savior do the greatest good deed which has ever been done.
 
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for people like Natalie who do good deeds. May I do the same. Most of all this day I rejoice in the Savior Who did good deeds which touch and change my world. In His Name I give thanks. Amen.
 
Today’s devotion was inspired by various articles, amongst which is the one written by Kate Seamons for Newser on November 21, 2018. Those who wish may check out this link which was, at the time of writing, fully active: http://www.newser.com/story/267548/bus-drivers-relentless-kindness-caught-on-video.html
 
The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago  confirmands. He is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html