The responsibility of care
August 27, 2015
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Luke 10:34
Luke 10:34
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
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.”
Genesis 4:9
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Lord God,
From the beginning, you have said that it is not good for humans to be alone.
You have given us tasks to do and to share.
But from the beginning, we have used
pride
blame
selfishness
envy
to avoid working together
for you
for each other.
Forgive us
when we don’t look out for
our brother or sister
our friend or colleague
our neighbour through the wall or down the road
our fellow-human
differently-hued or differently-cultured.
We may not be their keeper all the time
nor be kept by them.
But when push comes to shove
when we reach crisis point
when grandma is struggling
or our friend reaches the end of their resources
help us to thank you
for the privilege of being in the right place
at the right time
able to bandage the wounds
or pour oil where needed
to take care of those
who in other circumstances
would – or would not – take care of us.
Break our hearts, Lord God
Melt our stoic independence
Mould our personalities into better shape
Fill us with your loving, compassionate Spirit.
For Jesus’ sake
Amen.
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