The Drunk at My Window

It was nearly midnight and I was brushing my teeth, already half asleep, when I heard him. He was shouting and mumbling at the same time. Probably a drunk calling to his drinking buddy, I decided.

Half an hour later, I could still hear the man shouting, though I couldn’t make out anything he was saying. Enough was enough! I decided to call the police.

As I passed a window, I saw that the man was standing under a streetlight. He was older than I had imagined, bare-chested in the cold, and yelling right in my direction.

A young man stopped to talk with him. A moment later he took off his jacket and put it on the old man. I was astonished. The two hugged, and I could tell that the young man was praying for the drunk. A couple passed and did a double take, but the young man didn’t seem to care what they were thinking. Eventually the modern-day Good Samaritan put his arm around the old man, as if to say “I’ll get you home,” and with that the two were gone.

I stood at the window awhile longer, thinking about my own Christianity. I had to admit that my reaction to the annoying drunk had fallen far short of what Jesus’ would have been. Jesus wouldn’t have called the police. He would have stopped. He would have talked with the man. He would have given him His coat. He would have listened to him, comforted him, and prayed for him. And it might have changed the old man’s life.

When I eventually went back to bed, I thanked God for sending that young man to help both the drunk and me. And I prayed to do better next time God sends a needy person my way.

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Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. … Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

— Jesus, Matthew 25:34–36, 40

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Luke 10:30-37 ESV – Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Luke 10:27 ESV – And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.”