Grace by the side of the road

I was intrigued and moved by an essay in the New York Times Magazine this week: The Tire Iron and the Tamale because it speaks to the nature of grace. Don’t get me wrong–there’s no mention of religion in this piece, and yet it is nonetheless a modern-day retelling of Jesus’ Story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). In the essay, Justin Horner describes three occasions when he needed roadside assistance:

Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas can told me that they couldn’t lend them out “for safety reasons,” but that I could buy a really crappy one-gallon can, with no cap, for $15. It was enough to make me say stuff like “this country is going to hell in a handbasket,” which I actually said.

But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke any English.

He goes on to describe the lengths to which one of these families went to insure his safety and comfort. And he describes how he tried to pay them, but they refused in the form of a tamale (I’ll let you read the essay to figure out how that worked). They just wanted to help, with no strings attached.

I listened to a sermon a few days ago, in which the preacher said something along the lines of, “If you are looking to earn a wage, the way you are disqualified is by not working. But the only way you are disqualified from receiving a gift is by pride” (Tim Keller). He was talking about the nature of grace, and how although we can never work hard enough to earn God’s favor, we don’t need to. Grace from God–forgiveness, acceptance, love–is a gift. And the only way we don’t qualify to receive it is if we reject it.

Justin Horner tried to compensate the Mexican immigrants for their time and efforts on his behalf. But apparently they wanted to offer it as a gift. He was willing to receive it, and then to pass it along in kind.

I’ve never stopped to help someone by the side of the road. I tell myself it isn’t safe, or they probably have a cell phone and can call for help. Those excuses have some truth to them. And yet the most obvious reason I don’t stop to help is because I don’t want to be bothered. I don’t want to sacrifice my time, to invest my energy in a stranger in need.

Thank God Jesus didn’t have the same attitude as me. Thank God for grace.

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