|
|
| |
Virtual Chapel: Leaving
Comfort- 4/21/08
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he said,
what must I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is
written in the law? What do you read there? 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. And he said to him, You have
given the right answer; do this, and you will live.
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, And who is my
neighbor? Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him,
beat him, and went away, 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
while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved
with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured
oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out
two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of
him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you
spend. Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the
man who fell into the hands of the robbers? He said, The one who
showed him mercy. Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.
-Luke 10:25-37
___________________________________________________________________
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a familiar story to many of
us. Jesus instructs a lawyer that the key to inherit eternal
life is the complete love of God and love of neighbor. In
response, the lawyer asks Jesus, Who is my neighbor? Jesus does
not directly answer the mans question, but responds by
instructing him on the kind of person one should to be. Jesus
shares that the one who has mercy and shows compassion for the
untouchables in society is an example of loving ones neighbor.
The moral of this parable is easily known, but the reality in
living it out is another matter. God is clear that loving our
neighbor as yourself is key to inheriting the kingdom of God.
This is mentioned many other times in the scriptures (Mark
12:28-31; Matt. 22:34-40; Rom. 13:8-9; Gal. 5:14). So as people
of faith, why do we find this so hard to do? Perhaps the
greatest obstacle is that many of us today do not even know who
our physical neighbors are, much less think of a stranger from a
different social class and ethnicity as our neighbor. Even the
most open-minded of us has prejudices, even prejudices that we
might not realize.
The power of prejudices is demonstrated in the story through a
priest, Levite, and Samaritan. The original audience of this
story knew of the bitter tension that existed between Jews and
Samaritans (John 4:9) in that day. Furthermore, the priests and
Levites were instructed to not touch anyone unclean in their
society; this would be a defilement of their own purity.
Although we do not adhere to the same Old Testament rules as to
what is clean and unclean, we have replaced these with our own
societal concepts of purity.
In many ways we are all strangers to one another today. We live
private lives. We don't like for others to get in our business;
likewise, we stay out of others. We stay out of situations that
make us uncomfortable, with the excuse that, It is none of my
business. Only when we are directly affected do we get involved.
In today's scripture, passing by the hurt man was uncomfortable
for all those that passed by, but the first two walked passed
because it was not any of their business. Jesus says that the
third man, the most unlikely suspect, made this hurting stranger
his business. He got involved. He got dirty. He invested time
and energy in his neighbor.
Showing mercy, reaching out a helping hand, getting
uncomfortable, and getting involved is what the kingdom of God
is all about. This week, how will you reach out to a hurting
neighbor?
Prayer: God, open my eyes to the people I cross paths with
everyday. Help me to get out of my comfort zone, so that I may
comfort others. Amen.
For more information
|
|
|
