Helping Out

​TITLE: Helping Out
DATE: December 3, 2019
​
Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.

TEXT: Luke 6:31 – ESV 1 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

The time was 12:30 in the morning on November 2nd.

The place was the Waffle House in Birmingham, Alabama.

The situation was the restaurant was crowded with about 25 customers. That’s good news for the owners of the Waffle House restaurant. It’s terrible news for Ben who was the only employee who showed up to work. Others had been scheduled for the early shift, but they just didn’t come in to work...or call.

And Ben was left to take the orders, prepare the food, deliver the food, bus the tables and collect the cash.  According to Ethan Crispo, one of the customers there that night... it was an Impossible satiation and Ben went into shock, not knowing where to begin or what to do next.

That’s when the magic began to happen.

It started at the bar where a man in a blue shirt spoke to Ben for a few seconds. Right after the conversation he put on an apron and began to wash dishes.

A few minutes later, when Ben was cooking in the kitchen, another customer, a lady in heels and an evening dress got up and started clearing tables, delivering food and figuring out the restaurant’s coffee maker.

She explained to someone who asked  that she had been with some friends, but it really seemed like she was needed at the Waffle House.

Soon another customer got up and began to help and the Waffle House restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama was running like a well-oiled machine.

Now such a surprising evening cannot be kept a secret.

It didn’t take too long before someone informed the Waffle House headquarters. Pat Warner who directs Public Relations for the company explained how, that night, because of a communication problem, two of the associates hadn’t shown up.
Then he commented on how some customers came behind the counter to help the one associate, who cooked and served the food. He noted how customers bussed tables, and one put on an apron and washed the dishes. Finally the PR guy commented: “He did a great job. We’d love for him to fill out an application and possibly join our team.”

Lastly the Waffle House headquarters stated, “We appreciate the customers’ effort, however we prefer to have our associates behind the counter. Our concept works best when we serve the customer, not the other way around.”

Quite frankly, when it comes to our faith, there is nothing that we can do to help out our salvation. From beginning to end, the Heavenly Father is responsible for saving us. His grace, His love, His compassion and His Son’s great sacrifice is what is responsible for saving us. All we can do is show our appreciation and, as we move through the days of our lives, point to the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, when it comes to our eternal salvation, we are helpless to help. What we can do is thank You for all You have done and help others see the Savior’s story. In Jesus’ holy Name I pray it. Amen.

The devotion for today was inspired by various recent news articles. For further reading you may wish to go to this address: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/waffle-house-customers-help-stranded-employee-by-washing-dishes-taking-orders-it-was-incredible-to-witness-181924410.html   and the article written by Elise Sole.

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html