25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant[b] walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins,[c] telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
S(cripture) - “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
O(bservation) - A man asks Jesus how he should live to recieve life in eternity with God. Jesus asks the man his interpretation (not opinion) of the Law and the man answers with the Shema - the great command of Israel - which sums up the whole law - love God and love neighbor. This is not emotional love alone - but deep-seeded obedience, honor and service - love in action. Jesus loves his answer, but the man wants clarification of his neighbor so Jesus shares the great story of the Good Samaritan. A story with amazing twists that would have shocked his readers. Not going to go that deep here - just want to focus on ONE THING - that a man (despised by Jews) saw a great need (a bloodied beaten Jewish victim) and rather than ignore it, met it and did more than expected. I shared yesterday about the Good Samaritan experiment in 1973 at Princeton Seminary. (It's worth skimming just to see what questions were asked and how the researchers created their conditions.) But what is most fascinating is that time or lack there-of was the greatest indicator of showing mercy. Simply - when people (including us), don't have enough time, we don't stop to help.
A(pplication) - We should think and reflect on this long and hard - if our primary mission is to love and to serve and to share - how do our calendars allow for serving and loving - showing mercy. I suspect there are needs all around us - everyday - opportunities to bring the Kingdom to earth. Are we missing them in our busy-ness? What needs to change if we are to be Kingdom people? What are we to seek first? Do you have "margin" in your life? white space? to allow for emergencies - yours and others? I think I know the answer. Mine is probably like yours.
P(rayer) - Jesus, you made it pretty clear what our priority should be, but seeking to live as your followers in 21st century America seems like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. I know what needs to give. Teach me your ways. Show me mercy and let me show mercy to others. Give me wisdom to look hard at my calendar to see what must be cut in order to live the Kingdom life. Amen
an exploration of Kingdom life at the intersection of God's Word and God's World.
4 comments:
I've begun to wonder how busy we really are. We've got hours to watch television in the evenings. We've got time to read books. We've got time leisure.I wonder how much of our busy-ness is just in our own heads because society tells us we should be busy.The more I look at my life the more I realize I'm creating my own problems in my own head. I tell myself that I'm busy but really my work only amounts to a couple of hours each day. Yet I drag it out to give myself something to feel busy about. That is just my personal realization and I don't know that it applies to everyone.
@D - I do believe, like you shared, we are all at different places. Parents with school age children in sports are in a different place than singles than empty-nesters than retirees. . . You're right - it is about how we use our discretionary time - the book, Simple Life, we are exploring looks at both the congestion (wasted time) and things that are good but don't align with our goals for our lives and our family. Everyone has to look at their life situation - your personal realization offers you opportunities to change. Thanks for sharing.
from Stacy Boulan - comment she posted on the Table . . .
"Luke 10:25-37 goes with what Mikey had said in church yesterday. Mikey had watched a show with us "What would you do?". The story was about someone hurt in the street and everyone passed by but for a homeless person that stopped to help. I todays world it seems like the higher up everyone gets they don't want to be bothered to help the lower person in any circumstances. I was raised that you should always help someone in need no matter who they are or what the problem may be. This is how I have chosen to raise all 6 of my kids. Jesus helped everyone, encluding the homeless, hungry, poor, sick, and never turned away a child or anyone. Aren't we to be like him? Never to turn a deaf ear or a blind eye.
When my kids get home from school, I will be discussing todays SOAP with them. We take time to help out the needy, homeless, and hungry. We also help our neighbors when we can.
We share in yard work. A neighbor and I used to take turns fixing weekend dinners for each others family then also serving 2 senior couples in our neighborhood. All it takes to start is a prayer. God will send you where you are needed and make a way for it to happen.
Everyone have a great day. Bless you all."
more of that conversation . . .
Valerie Walker — What did Mickie say?
Stacy Boulan - Mikey had said that it took a homeless person to stand up and do right while everyone else walked by. (verse 30) Mikey caught the parable between the tv show, the Bible and what Stan taught yesterday. Mikey understood that being a good neighbor doesn't mean as the person living next door, but being a good neighbor and helping anyone in need in a community. The Samaritian in the verse acted as the good neighbor towards the man that was robbed.
Mikey's words tonight after we went over today's SOAP....."We ALL should be as the good Samaritan and go out into the community to help others". 20 minutes later "Hey Mom, isn't that what the Vine is trying to do?"
Stan Cardwell— everyone is impressed with your boy.
Stacy Boulan — That makes me feel good :) Thank you. He is a pleasure to have around. Always helping or volunteering to help. I am very proud of him and all my other kids for being like this.
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