Letters From Grandpa #411

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA

• 411

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will be a page out of the past. It involves an unusual story dating back to 1974. This, of course, is long before you were even born. At that time I was in Brazil teaching a group of missionaries when Jim Moreland, a veteran missionary to Brazil, told me this story in person. It was so unusual I asked him for documentation. After being in Brazil for a month I returned to the states and received the following article in the mail. It was from POVO, the Brazilian version of PEOPLE MAGAZINE. Since the article was in Portuguese I took it to the Ozark Christian College to seek the help of a couple of missionary kids from Brazil. The following translation was made by Philip Moreland and Joanne Bayless.

PEOPLE (March 5)

Goiania, October 7 – 13, 1974

“FAILURE TO HELP DRIVES DOCTOR INSANE”

A doctor from a private clinic in Pituba, an upper middle class district (Salvador – Bahia) was hospitalized for a few days in the Psychiatric Clinic of Lapinha in the Capital of Bahia. He was in trauma because his son, the victim of an accident in the capital, died from his failure to help him due to bureaucratic problems.

According to the newspaper, “Jornal do Brasil,” the story was kept in secret until last week. However, last Tuesday it was confirmed by the Administrator of the Emergency Hospital. Jair C. Lopes, and by an employee of the Legal Medical Institute, Nina Rodriques, and also by Gregorio Sacramento, who registered the happening. These, obeying the orders of their superiors, refused to give the identification of the child and parents. What happened was this, a boy was run over by a vehicle whose driver fled without helping. The boy was then taken to the hospital Our Lady of Light by a taxi driver. The doctor on call asked for his identification, but the driver said he didn’t have the document and didn’t even know the boy. The doctor insisted on a deposit of 2,000 cruzeiros (only a couple of dollars U.S.) Since the driver didn’t have the money the doctor explained that nothing could be done. So he started driving to the Hospital Getulio Vargas, which is located more than 12 kilometers from the clinic, but on the way the boy died.

With the death of the boy it became necessary to investigate the case. It was determined that the child died because the doctor refused to help him. This turned out to be a coincidence that usually happens only in the movies or on television. There was discovered a tragic circumstance. The doctor had failed to attend, and thus condemned to death, his own son.

Our modern world is saturated with self interest. The doctor didn’t help because he didn’t think it would advance him in any way. Perhaps this selfishness comes from the theory of evolution which teaches the survival of the fittest. Hitler believed this theory and set about to create a super race by eliminating all those whom he deemed to be weak and inferior. Jesus taught just the opposite. Instead of eliminating the weak and inferior He devoted Himself to helping them. As we have said, the doctor in this story was acting in his own best interest. Instead of doing what was best for the victim, he did what was best for himself. If the victim had been rich or famous he would have helped but his motivation would have been selfish. Assuming the victim was a mere peasant he saw no personal advantage in helping.

Jesus, by comparison, devoted Himself to the cause of the weak and disadvantaged. Matthew, for example, as a tax collector was at the bottom of the Jewish social ladder. When Jesus was criticized for eating in Matthew’s home He reminded His critics: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). The fact that this quotation comes from the book of Hosea is quite significant. Hosea was commanded to marry a worthless woman (Hos. 1:2). She was an adulterous who would have illegitimate children by other men. When she ran away, against selfish considerations, Hosea was commanded to buy her back (Hosea 3:2-3). The point is that God did for Israel what He commanded Hosea to do for his wife. She didn’t deserve to be loved but Hosea loved her just the same. Israel didn’t deserve to be loved by God but he loved them just the same. The same principle applies to us for “While we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

The quotation about desiring “mercy” and not “sacrifice” reflects the same priorities. When we make a sacrifice our focus is on ourselves. We do not make “sacrifices” for someone else. When we make a “sacrifice” we do it for our own benefit. The focus of “mercy” is exactly the opposite. Mercy involves denying ourselves to help someone else. In the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite represent the sacrificial system. The priest and the Levite thought more of themselves than they did of the man who had fallen among thieves. Like the Brazilian doctor they refused to help. The “Good Samaritan”, however, forgot himself and showed mercy to the man in need (Lk. 10:25-37). Jesus said “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10:37). God desires “mercy” not “sacrifice”! He wants us to think more about others than we do ourselves.

Please consider the Judgment as described in Matt. 25:31-46. At the Judgment all people will be divided into two groups. The saved will be honored for ministering to the disadvantaged who were hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and prisoners. Jesus explained: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). In some mysterious way, helping those who cannot repay our kindness demonstrates a Christlike Spirit that God has chosen to honor and reward!

May we also reach out and help those who have no way to repay our kindness.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce