WATCHWORD:
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:30-37
Meditation:
Love with a Dollar Sign
True Story #1 — The harried young mother stood at the grocery store checkout looking at the total, the cash in hand and the Food Stamps. With a sad look, she started to set some items aside, trying to cover the total. The man witnessing this drama, touched her arm, without a word, shook his head and nodded to the checkout person, and the short-fall was covered. A need was met. Jesus in action.
True Story #2 — All the signs pointed toward a family of very marginal means: the car, the clothes; a father, mother and five children, three of them infant triplets. The older children and the mother filed into the store while the triplets remained with the father. The woman, who observed them, felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit, reached into her purse, and without thinking or counting handed the woman a measure of her bounty. Then, without a word, she turned and walked away. Jesus in action.
Throughout scripture, we see the theme of giving, generosity, compassion, praising the Lord by sharing the bounty. Sometimes it’s doing likewise, as we see in the lesson of the parable of the good Samaritan. Sometimes it’s opening your home, preparing a dinner for someone else, sometimes it’s going beyond tithing in order to meet the need of someone. Often it is love with a dollar sign.
Most of us know we are privileged people. We rarely have needs that we cannot meet. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, a sense of security in the life that surrounds us. To be sure, we have the wants, but, let’s be honest, our wants are just that, the cherry on the top of the pile of God’s graces. We have closets and bank accounts that overflow, thank you, Jesus. Supplies, so we can help others, maybe? We are gifted, gifted, gifted. Why, is that? For what purpose?
This little devotional would not mean anything without mentioning our eyesight and our hearing. If we are blind to the needs of others around us, how does that represent Jesus? If we cannot hear and understand the cries of others, silent and otherwise, how does that represent Jesus? The two stories were of real people, they happened right here in this town of ours where we may not be aware of the suffering fringe that struggles, remains hungry, and, too often, where hope is in short supply. Right here!
As Christians, we have our “marching orders” from our Lord. It goes like this: “Love others as I have loved you.” Are we doing that? Really doing that? Then there is that other, little reminder: “Go and do likewise.” Think about our “doing” and “going”. Do we? We can be Jesus in action, it doesn’t take much. Lord, grant us a heart for others. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
I attended a chapel service where the subject of the homily focused on roads Christians travel in our faith journeys. As I listened I could count four roads of significance:
- Damascus Road — Paul’s encounter with Christ led to his conversion.
- Jericho Road — The parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told when a lawyer asked the questions “what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ and “who is my neighbor”?
- The Road to Calvary.
- Our Road to Damascus where we have encountered Christ.
The speaker’s homily got me thinking about the challenges that we encounter as we try to live our lives as Christians. I thought about how these four roads illustrate specific stages in our walk, how they must converge at times, and how we adapt.
Closing Prayer:
Precious Savior, inspire us to know Your meaning of First Fruits. Help us to apply that to the richness of our lives, Lord, to the store-house of grace that You have given to us. Help us to know that we have joyfully received in order to joyfully reach out and do likewise. Help us to see with the eyes that You would have us see and ears to hear what you would have us hear, and in the will, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to act as You would have us act. Help us to know we are children of God. These prayers we ask You ,Lord, in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
