Scripture Reading: Luke 10.25-37 Today's inspiration: Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul,

all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself

Good Morning.

The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is about seventeen miles. There is a sharp descent near the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea. In the first century, the road curved through rugged, rocky terrain where bandits could easily hide, making it especially dangerous. Symbolic of life at times, isn't it? The story goes that a Jewish man was traveling this rugged road on his way to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers, who beat him, and left him to die on the side of the road. First, a priest (Jewish) passes by him, but instead of helping, avoids him and crosses over to the other side of the road. Nice. Then, another good Jewish boy--a temple assistant--happens along the way; he takes a closer look at the wounded man, and he too, chooses to walk around him, offering no compassion or help. Shocking? Finally, a Samaritan man comes upon the poor fellow. . . 'the significance of the man being Samaritan? For hundreds of years, Jews and Samaritans had hated each other--so, this would be like a Palestinian passing by a wounded Israeli soldier. . . 'you see how unlikely it was for the Samaritan to stop? Yet it was he who was moved to compassion--so much so, that he went into action. His compassion actually cost him something. . . he applied first aid to the man's wounds, put him on his donkey, and took him to an inn and paid for his keep there. (Remember this was a country road on the way from here to there; it is not like he put him in the backseat of his car, hopped on the freeway, and got off at the next exit for a Motel 6. No, it no doubt took him several hours, and a lot of trouble, to transport the seriously-wounded man to an inn.)

This was the story Jesus told to answer the question of "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" posed to Him by a teacher of religious law. Jesus first answered his question with a question: "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it? When you know it, and do it, you will live." 'That's obviously simple,' the teacher replied, "Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself." "By the way, Jesus, who is my neighbor?" In response, Jesus tells him about the third traveler who encountered the wounded man. . . He tells him how the man was moved to compassionate response, and treated the man as his neighbor. Isn't it ironic? The one who culturally had a free pass to walk on by did not. . .

These are not unfamiliar words, quoted from Deuteronomy and Leviticus--Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself. With familiarity comes rote reading or recital--we do not even stop to think what is meant by the importance of these words. First, it is a call to action~"love" is a verb--an action word. And this series of actions in how we should love is comprehensive; it seems that the first passerby--the Jewish priest--would have had the 'love the Lord thy God with all your mind' down pat; after all, he studied the Law all day long; it was his bread. Similarly, the nice Jewish boy who worked in the temple probably had the 'with all your strength' part down, since he toiled in God's house all day. What these men were missing was the 'love the Lord your God with all your heart' part, and they also misconstrued who their 'neighbor' was. To love God with all our heart means that our hearts will be moved by things that move the heart of God. When our hearts are moved, it naturally follows, the mind and strength will be galvanized to action. And, by the way, WHO is our neighbor, anyway? I looked it up in God's dictionary--neighbor~anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need. The one who loved his neighbor well was willing to love with bodily strength, creative solution, and from his own financial means. To the 'good Samaritan' (which was an oxymoron for the Jew), it meant going into action for someone he would have been culturally justified in ignoring; after all, who could love a lowly Samaritan? Hey, 'got any Samaritans in your life that you ought to look at another time--you know, someone you could ignore, but really shouldn't--someone who is in need of a little empathy, a little love, a little compassion? Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself.

Once again, I am reminded of the high premium God places on mercy~~I am reminded that mercy calls us to love with compassion and sacrifice, and doing so because it is a natural outflow of our loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength--and because we have learned to love our neighbor as ourself. I'm reminded of research and reading I did this summer that conveyed that the world has had its fill of Christians who are more judgmental and hypocritical than merciful and authentic. So, join me in tipping the scale back toward mercy, won't you?

So others will know. . . that you love Him,

Christine