picking up hitchhikers

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:2)

Jay Nordlinger in his column in National Review Online called Impromptus says this about hitchhikers:

“A final thought? A friend and I were talking about this the other day. Not so long ago, this country was full of hitchhikers. People hitchhiked all over the country. Especially young people — that was how you saw the country, if you didn’t have very much money.
There came a time when you couldn’t: It was just too dangerous. Such a shame.
It is a shame, yes, that you can’t hitchhike. But you know what is the bigger shame? That you can’t pick up hitchhikers. You want to stop and help someone, give him a lift. You may even desire the company. But is it wise?”

I was thinking about that and remembered four times when it was a good idea to pick up a hitchhiker.

The first was as I was driving back to Texas from Seattle in 1987. I was driving a 1971 Plymouth Duster that was overloaded with the big UHaul trailer full of books and a motorcycle and other stuff. I was getting 100 miles to a tank of gas.

I was driving through Wyoming and ran out of gas a couple of miles from some town on the freeway. I started walking and a man picked me up and took me into a little town where the gas station was just about to open for the morning. As we rode, he said that he picked up about eight people a year on that stretch of freeway. I was grateful.

The second was in Texas as a pastor friend and I were headed to a pastors’ meeting in Abilene, TX. We were driving through the area around Waco when we saw a woman in high heels walking away from a car parked on the highway.

We stopped my Chevette and offered her a ride. She had a ways to go before she got anywhere with a phone. She debated in her mind about getting into a car with two men (both of whom were wearing suits and ties). Finally the fact that she was wearing high heels and was stranded won out over her fear.

She got into the car and sat very quietly in the back seat. My friend and I ignored her as we knew she was nervous and went on talking about something (probably some obscure Bible interpretation) until we got to a convenience store. She thanked us and went in the store. We drove off.

The third was a friend of mine who had been in jail on a false charge and was suddenly without any notice released from the jail into a town fifteen miles from home with the money he had on him at the time of arrest ($4) and his clothes. Even though his arrest turned out to be false, he had been in jail for over two years. His hair and beard was long, but for some reason a woman picked him up and took him the fifteen miles to home where we, in great surprise, welcomed him. We have no idea who she was. Since he had accepted Jesus in the jail, we figure he might have had a divine intervention.

The fourth was a man who was walking out in the middle of nowhere dressed nicely and in obvious non-walking shoes. He had been trying to make the next town and ran out of gas.

None of these people were dangerous. But with all the hitchhiker movies and such, including the 24 hour a day cable news programs, we have perceived hitchhiking as dangerous.

When I was in Germany, I knew enough French that I hitchhiked with Arabs. Most of them knew French so it was simpler, since I had not yet learned enough German to get around. In fact, young people hitchhiked all over Europe in those days.

It is a shame that something as innocuous as hitchhiking has gotten such a bad rep, but it is mostly due to our perception, not reality.

In seminary, we were talking about the Good Samaritan parable and how the man involved was beaten, robbed and left for dead. The teach made the comment that the parable told us to help others. But he had to admit, it was more dangerous today. One of us in the class asked, “How is it more dangerous today than then? The man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. Hard to get more dangerous than that.” The teacher had nothing to say.

But Jesus still said to help. Hebrews 13:2 said to do so. The Bible in general encourages us to help others no matter the problems or inconvenience to us. After all, it was terribly inconvenient for Jesus to be killed. Yet he went to the cross willingly.

Just a thought.