If you live in or around Hulett, Wyoming, you WILL get stuck. And when your vehicle, or outfit as the locals say, slides off the icy, snowy road and into the ditch, you will probably be out of cell phone service. Not only will your cell phone not work, you will also be too far from civilization to wait for a professional tow truck to show up. Hopefully, you will be in a high traffic area and will only have to wait for 15-30 minutes for another vehicle to come by. Don’t worry, they will stop and ask if you need help. And the chances are good that it will be a 4-wheel drive vehicle of some sort with a tow strap or chain. And if they are able to pull you back onto the road, they will be more than happy to do so. That’s just the way it happens around here.
More than once, somebody has tried to pay for neighborly towing services, but the offer is politely refused and accompanied by a response along the lines of “don’t mention it,” “glad to be of some help,” or “don’t ruin my blessing by trying to pay me back.” This begs the question, how does the neighborly towing service get funded if everybody is being served but nobody is collecting? The answer is somewhat akin to the old Australian economics tool called the boomerang, or in American terms, what goes around comes around. The payback comes when you, the recipient, assist another needy traveler in the future in a similar, neighborly fashion. The payback is the gift that keeps on giving.
As Christians, we have been given the greatest assistance ever, an assistance that far exceeds the value of towing a lifeless vehicle out of the ditch. Not only did Jesus save us from our sin. Jesus saved us with His death and resurrection. Jesus even saved us for eternity! How can we possibly pay Jesus back for all that? Jesus’ answer is much along the lines of the neighborly towing volunteers, “it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
So then, we are unable to pay Jesus back for our salvation, but would it not be right for us to do something in return? Well, there is something we can do for payback. We cannot save others from their sins. Only Jesus can do that. But we can share the good news of Jesus with others who have found themselves disabled, ruined, and helpless in sin. Share Jesus with those stuck in sin. What a wonderful payback!
“Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16