The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Sheet 47

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

room for him” in the hotel. Returning to the rail-
road station, with the intention of spending the
night there, he was told that he couldn’t stay there.
The taxi driver who had taken him to the hotel and
back again to the station, then took him to the near-
by police-station. There, after answering many
questions, he was given a cot in the same cell where
a drunken man was sleeping off his debauch. The
Hindu soon returned to the office, stating that he
could not endure staying in the same cell with the
drunken sot and asking for the privilege of staying
in the office for the night. Luckily the taxi driver
was still in the office at the time, and he requested
the Hindu to come with him to his room. His bed
was unoccupied for the night; so he kindly offered
the Oriental its use and promised to call for him in
the morning. It was then about three o’clock.

As the driver left his room, where he had made
the homeless Hindu as comfortable as he could, the
recipient of his kindness feelingly exclaimed, “You
have surely been a good Samaritan to me.”

At seven the taxi driver returned to get his
dusky guest for breakfast, and after the meal he
took him to the ferry that would take him to the
conference he was to address. The taxi man was
unwilling to charge anything for the use of his room
and for the breakfast, but the Hindu insisted upon
his taking something in the way of pecuniary
remuneration for all he had done. And, overcome
with gratitude, he once more said to the kind taxi
driver, “You certainly have been a good Samaritan
to me.” And, now, we come to the part of our story
that we wish our readers to read with attention.

The taxi driver turns to the Hindu and says,
“Say, what do you mean by calling me a good
Samaritan? You have done it twice. What does
that mean?” In amazement the Oriental Christian
looked at the driver and cried, “Have you never
heard of the good Samaritan? Don’t you know the
story?” “No, I don’t know the story.” “Well,”
said the Christian Indian,” I still have time to tell
you the story.”

And then, there on the ferry-boat, the man from
the Far East told the native of “Christian” America
the story of the Good Samaritan. After the story
had been told the taxi man, he cried out, “That’s
great!” The Christian from India asked him,
“Would you like to have the story in print?” “You
bet,” said the taxi driver. Upon this the Christian
from India handed the taxi driver a New Testa-
ment, marking for him the story of the Good Sa-
maritan and adding, “Chere may be other things in
this book that you would like to read.”

Now, there are many things in this interesting
story that we could call your attention to, but the
one point that we wish to make at this time is the
fact that here was one grown up to manhood in this
“Christian” country of ours who knew nothing
about the story of the Good Samaritan and who
first heard the story out of the mouth of a man who
had been born in a heathen country and who had
been taught the Gospel by missionaries sent to his
country by us Americans. Here was a man who had
all his life enjoyed many of the material blessings
which the Gospel brings without, possibly, ever hav-
ing heard of the Good Samaritan that saved us who
have fallen among the thieves that rob man of his
eternal salvation; devil, world, and flesh.

In view of this occurrence, we can, for one thing,
certainly not make much of the common claim that
we are “a Christian nation.” It is surely most
humiliating for us to have a man come to our shores
from a heathen country to teach the story of the
Good Samaritan to one of our countrymen living in
one of our large cities. This incident should awaken
us to the fact that there is yet “much land to be
possessed” in our own country, that there are many,
many persons in our so-called enlightened country
who are still steeped in densest spiritual darkness.
We by no means want to cease sending our mission-
aries to foreign countries there to tell the people
that sit in darkness and the shadow of death of
Christ the Light of the world and the Source of all
true life. But while doing this, let us not neglect
our duty to the “heathen” in our own dear land.
We sing of our country as the “sweet land of
liberty,” and such it is, thank God, in more ways
than one; but while so singing, let us do our utmost
that its people may, above all other things, enjoy the
sweet liberty which is in store only. for those who
are free from the bondage of sin, of the fear of
death, and the slavery of Satan. And this sweet
liberty can be brought to them by the Gospel of
Christ only.

Just at this time God is giving us opportunities
to enter new fields of missionary endeavor such as
we have never had before. He is showing us har-
vests ripe for the sickle, and He is putting at our
disposal men who are ready to gather the ripe grain.
In a few months more than two hundred well-
trained young men will be ready to enter Home
Mission harvest-fields in city and country. These
young men are eager to enter the work for which
they have prepared themselves. And besides these
young men there are others—older men, ex-
perienced men — who for some reason or other are ~