Go and Do Likewise

On June 21st, skaters from all over the world hit the streets, parks, and driveways to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day. Everyone has their take on the great celebration. In particular, Minnesotans hit the streets of Minneapolis for the great "Push" all over the city. This year was no exception. This past Saturday, hundreds of skaters gathered together at Elliot Park for this amazing cause. The difference this year was, it was over 100 degrees. In past years, it had been hard to keep hydrated with all the craziness going on, but this year, it was a must.

Knowing this, JSAW took the opportunity to not only keep everyone hydrated, but to serve any and all needs as we saw them. We loaded up our van with several packed coolers full of ice cream and cold water then set out to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus. As we handed out the water, we got several people saying things like, "God bless you," and "You're literally out here saving lives." Towards the end we completely ran out of supplies, but our presence was heavily felt on the massive crew of skaters. Everyone knew, we were there to help.

Now, some look at this and are probably wondering, "How is passing out waters and ice cream being the hands and feet of Jesus?" Jesus dealt with a similar situation from an expert in the law, in Luke 10:25-37. This expert was inquiring what is required to gain eternal life. Jesus matched this challenge by having him recite the summary of the commandments in verse 27. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." But the man wanted to know who his neighbor was.

Jesus, seeing this as a teaching opportunity told a story about a Jewish man who got ambushed on the side of the road. After this, the Jewish man had two highly esteemed men completely ignore his needs. Then, a man from Samaria comes along and meets all of the Jewish man's needs and promises to do more. To the Jews listening, this guy would have been considered an enemy and an outcast. You can see this in how the expert of the law responds to Jesus' final question, asking who in the story was a neighbor to the ambushed man. The man responds saying, "the one who had mercy on him." Jesus in turn responds and says, "Go and do likewise."

The people who participate in this great holiday are far from saved. Some are. Most aren't. I personally got to pray with two individuals out of the 300 or so there. One of whom I was helping to recover from heat stroke. I gave him a Gospel of John and found out he already attended a church. The other, a rider who took a board to the face, refusing all other help given, let me pray over him and ended up finishing the push. So, how could we reach such a mob? By going and doing likewise, following in the footsteps of our Savior to meet rider's needs right where they were at. After the push was over, I had people coming up to me overly grateful for the efforts of our team. Not because we were preaching, but because we were serving. This is what JSAW is all about. We are in the business of saving lives through serving.

If you would like to help us continue to make such great impacts for the Kingdom like these, please consider supporting us through giving toward the JSAW Skate Program.

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