Always Do The Right Thing

A man entered my father's diesel-repair shop, said he was a driver from a trucking fleet and suggested, "How about adding a few extra parts to the bill for this truck repair? We'll let the company pay for it, and you and I can split the difference."

Dad refused, but the customer was insistent.

"I come through here a lot," the man continued. "We could make quite a bit of money."
Dad said that wasn't how he operated.

"Everyone does it!" the man yelled. "Are you some kind of fool?"

Burning mad, Dad asked him to leave and take his business elsewhere.

Suddenly the man smiled and extended his hand for a handshake. "I own a trucking company," he said. "I've been looking for a mechanic I can trust, and I'm not taking my business anywhere else!"

Several years ago, a preacher from out of state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.'

Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as 'a gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."

The driver, with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday."

When the minister stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold Jesus for a quarter.’

Sometimes doing the right thing is hard......even for a preacher! Norman Cousins wrote "Anatomy of an Illness" and in the book he tells the story of a sleepless night he spent at the Los Angeles Airport. He needed to make a phone call to his office, so he put a quarter in a pay phone and didn’t get a dial tone. All he got was a recording that said, "Please deposit a quarter to make a call."

Frustrated, he deposited another quarter and dialed the operator. He explained to the operator what had happened and asked her to give him his money back or at least give him a dial tone to call his office. )This was back in the day when the operator had the ability to send a command to the phone to return a quarter.) Instead, the operator replied, "Certainly sir. We will return your money if you send us your name and address."

Cousins thought to himself, "How ridiculous! I’m supposed to take my time and money to send you my name and address to get my 25 cents back? And why add the expense to them to process, pay, and mail my money back to me?"

Cousins continues, "I got frustrated and hit the ’return money’ lever and quarters started pouring out of the telephone and filled the floor of the phone booth!" He said, "I told the operator what was happening and she said, "Please put the money back in the box."

Cousins replied, "I would be happy to send the money back to you in the mail. Just send me an envelope with your name and address!"

Like I said, sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing! Do it anyway. Why? First, because it’s right. Second, because it matters. Third, because it builds character, and finally, because in the end, we’re all going to have to stand before God.

Once when umpire Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes, Ruth argued with him and said, "There's 40,000 people here who know that last one was a ball, tomato head." Pinelli replied with the measured stateliness of John Marshall: "Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts."

Those of you who know me well know that I refuse to use "guilt" to try and get someone to consider God. God doesn’t use it, so why should I? But the truth of the matter is this: One day, whether we like it or not, we’re going to have to answer to God as to why we did.....or didn’t......do the right thing. And at that moment, His opinion is the only one that counts.

A few weeks ago I wrote about heroes. Another hero of mine is a fellow named Paul. Actually, he wrote about ½ of the New Testament, but his name wasn’t always Paul. He was born and named Saul. He studied religion and religious thought, but never had a relationship with God. Then this Jesus fellow came along and changed everything......which Saul didn’t like. So he set out to kill all of the Christians.......until he had his own encounter with God. Not only did that encounter change his name, it changed his life.

At one point Paul found himself sitting in a cold, damp dungeon. Like an athlete who had spent his strength to win the prize, Paul had persevered. During his 30 years of ministry, a thousand voices had urged him to cheat in the race, throw in the towel, compromise the faith. But Paul had decided that he would not listen to the voices of the crowd. He had only one Judge to please. He was ready to meet the Umpire of the universe.

Psalm 97:11 says: Light shines on those who do right; joy belongs to those who are honest.
So let me encourage you today, friends......always do the right thing. Sometimes it will be more difficult than others. Do the right thing anyway. It will set an excellent example and build character now. And if you have trusted in God and received His free gift of forgiveness, it will also serve you well when you stand before Him for His opinion.