ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET

Over a dozen song artists, including Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, have swooned and crooned this lyric to thousands of appreciative listeners. This lyric speaks of bright, carefree, unencumbered days and moments in our lives, and that’s a good thing. There is a “however” side to this statement.

 

The word of God tells us that Jesus came to give us life and that more abundantly (John10:10), and this includes “the sunny side of the street.” God wants us happy and at peace, but for the Christian, this provision comes with high expectations from Our Heavenly Father.  The biblical reference from John 10:10 sits right beside Galatians 6:2: Carry one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. Christ does not expect that His followers will spend all their lives walking on the sunny side of streets, avoiding the dark and desolate streets on which His lost and unsaved live their lives.  True followers of Christ know that they must sometimes remain on or cross the street and reach out to bring a suffering soul into the light - into a brighter life.

 

Let us take a walk back into biblical time and find there in Jericho three men, all on the same street, on the same day, encountering the same moment of decision. Two of the men respond alike, while the third one takes a totally different approach. In this account, the bible tells us about a man who falls prey to a band of thieves and is beaten and left for dead (Luke 10:30-36). We are told that both a priest and a Levite came that way, and in seeing the half-dead man, “they passed by on the other side of the street.”  I contend that though both the priest and the Levite are church men and leaders in the community, neither has the compassion to remain on the dark and painfilled side of the street long enough to help carry that man’s burden.  On the other hand, it is a Samaritan man, one who belongs to a persecuted race of people, who rises to the occasion, and not only delivers the hurt man to safety, but pays his hospital bill.

 

As people of God, when we grab our coats and get our hats, as the song says, we must realize that our walk, on any given day, just might take us to the cold, dark side of the street. We might find ourselves walking into a hospital room of a complete stranger, into a nursing home, into a homeless shelter, to a lonely neighbor’s house, or to a family entrenched in the tragic loss of a loved one – any of the above, and more, just when we were stepping out, anticipating a day of fun, relaxation, food and fellowship in the sun, with family and friends.

 

Just at that moment, we might very well be called to walk the less sunny side of life for a while, and for sure, find some of Our Father’s lost sheep there. We must always keep our hearts and minds open, for at any given time, Our Father might call us to carry someone over to the SON-ny side of the street.