Why Pass By?
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For July 10, 2022:
Why Pass By?
by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 10:25-37
“And who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asked.
No doubt, he wanted an answer like this:
"A neighbor (hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than three statute miles from one's own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter to be referred to as the party of the second part) living closer to the party of the first part than one is oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever." (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking.)
What he got was a story about a helpful person. A Samaritan of all people. Go figure.
In the Scripture
Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic.
That’s how Fred Craddock, in his Interpretation Commentary (John Knox, 1990) describes the Samaritan as the Jews who are hearing this story for the first time see him.
Samaritans were descendants of a mixed population occupying the land following the conquest by Assyria in 711 BCE. They opposed rebuilding the temple and Jerusalem and constructed their own place of worship on Mount Gerizim. They were the very opposite of not only the lawyer whose question prompts this story but, the priest, and the Levite within the story, as well.
Yet, it is this man, this Samaritan, who stops to help the victim by the side of the road. The story was not just shocking to the original audience, it was scandalous, as well it must be, because the lawyer’s question was not asked in search of truth. It was part of a verbal game, the opening gambit in a rhetorical battle of wits.
First, he asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answers the question with a question: “You’re a lawyer. What does the law say?”
The lawyer gives the right answer, the answer any observant Jewish school child could recite. A truncated version of the Shema: Hear O Israel, YHWH, your God is one. And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind. And your neighbor as yourself.” (Deut. 6:4-5)
Jesus responds. “Bingo! You win the Kewpie Doll…and eternal life.”
But the lawyer isn’t really interested in eternal life. What he wants to win is a battle of wits with this Nazarene hick who has become a popular religious teacher. He wants to show these people standing around who the really clever one is. So, he asks another clever question: “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answers with another question, but after he tells a story.
A man is traveling, alone, on a notoriously dark and dangerous road where he is set upon by robbers, beaten, robbed, stripped, and left for dead. A priest, a member of the clergy, and a Levite, a lay leader in the church, both see him but pass by on the other side of the road. We can speculate about their reasons but none are given and any effort we offer to explain their rationale makes them look either evil or justified.
Jesus doesn’t speak to the matter of their motivation. For him, the important thing is not why but what. What did you do or not do? The rationale doesn’t seem to matter to Jesus.
So, next, a Samaritan comes by. Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic. And it is he who helps the victim. He gives him first aid by cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Then he puts him on his own mount and takes him to an inn where he stays with him, caring for him overnight.
The next morning, he gives the innkeeper two days’ wages and tells him to take care of the man, then adds, “I’ll be back.” Pause. Serious expression. “And if you have to spend more, keep your receipts and I’ll pay you for your expenses.”
Now, finally, Jesus asks his question: “Which of these three, do you think, was the neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?
The lawyer answers: “The one who helped him.”
And Jesus says, “BINGO! Right answer. Give that man another Kewpie Doll!”
Just kidding.
What he says is, “Go and do likewise.”
You want the key to eternal life? There it is in a nutshell. “Go and do likewise.”
In the News
A short, private, personal prayer of thanks, on the 50-yard line, after the game. That’s how assistant coach Joseph Kennedy portrayed his activities to the courts, the image that was rejected by every court that heard it but, nevertheless, made it all the way to the Supreme Court in the case of Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District.
A short, private, personal prayer. That’s all.
But, points out Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, in a June 29 column, the only part of the phrase that was true was the word “prayer.”
It was not private, it wasn’t short, and it wasn’t personal. Witnesses testified and video taken by people in the stands shows that, time after time, Kennedy was on the field with students, standing in a circle, which grew progressively bigger as his defiant fame grew. One witness, a former player at Bremerton High School, described a homecoming game in a brief to the court: “All I remember is the aftermath of that game” in which there were “over 500 people storm[ing] the football field … from both sides, hopping the fences and rushing to the field to be close to Kennedy before he started his prayer.”
This account is in keeping with video that Justice Sotomayor actually showed to the court.
Kennedy, himself, described the events, not as private or personal at all. Rather, he told a news conference that it was “a postgame ritual at midfield after each game for a motivational talk and prayer.” And that, by doing so, Kennedy said he was “helping these kids be better people.”
Kennedy also contends that he was fired for praying. In fact, according to the school board, he was asked to stop leading religious activities on school grounds and, when he refused, he was placed on administrative leave and chose to sue the school instead of reapplying for his position the following year.
You’d think that, if the coach’s motives were pure, he and his lawyers wouldn’t have to lie about what he did. Be that as it may, however, he managed to get six Supreme Court Justices to ignore the evidence and vote in his favor.
Some Christian pastors and leaders have cheered this decision that was built, as it were, on a mountain of lies.
Progressive pastors, it would seem, have chosen to pass by on the other side of this atrocity as though it does not exist. Or at least, their absence in the media would lead the viewing public to conclude as much. Have they nothing to say on the matter, nothing to say in defense of non-Christian students who will now be forced by evangelical and fundamentalist Christian teachers and coaches, to participate in Christian rituals?
Who among progressive clergy and church members will stop and speak for them?
The death of Roe vs. Wade brings me to one further observation applicable to this parable.
In the early years of my ministry, a colleague from a church in the blue-collar community adjacent to the one where I served, came to my office. With her was a young woman who had, obviously, been severely beaten. Her thin, summer dress was threadbare, her hair was unwashed, her shoes were rubber flip-flops, her legs were unshaven, and she smelled of cigarette smoke. Though her black eyes were starting to fade to yellow and the bruises on her arms were starting to shrink, they were still evident. Her nose had been broken, when I do not know, but having seen recently broken noses when I played high school sports, I suspected hers was recent.
My colleague introduced me to her and told me the woman’s story as she cried, quietly in the chair across from my desk.
She, let’s call her Doris, had been beaten and raped by her ex-husband a few weeks earlier. He threatened that if she told anyone, he would return and do it again and kill her and her three children, and himself. She was terrified, broken, desperate, and trapped and she didn’t know where to turn.
She was clearly on the verge of a complete mental and emotional breakdown. And, said my colleague, she was pregnant.
The pastor explained that she had raised all but $100 to help Doris get an abortion she desperately needed and asked if I could help. I looked at Doris who looked at me over the tissue she had been crying into. Hers were the saddest and most pitiful eyes I’d ever seen.
The Supreme Court and millions of Roman Catholic, evangelical, and fundamentalist Christians would say that my moral responsibility in this case was to pass by on the other side. If her story was true, they say, let her go to the police and take her chances that they find her ex before he finds her. I have even been accused of making this story up as a way of justifying and defending abortion. So, they say, I should simply have said “No,” and let Doris dangle at the end of the rope her ex-husband was using to bind her.
I could not. I gave them the money. Some from the pastor’s discretionary fund and some from my own pocket.
My colleague later reported to me that Doris got the abortion and she and her children were moved, via a series of cutouts, to a shelter at the other end of the state where she was admitted under an assumed name.
Now, every time I read or hear about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to kill Roe v. Wade and leave a woman’s right to determine how she will care for her own body to the whims and vicissitudes of state governments, I am haunted by those eyes, pleading with me over that tissue.
(While the events in this account happened over 30 years ago, I have altered some of the details to protect the persons involved. D.F)
In the Sermon
Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic
It is not uncommon that Christians take the wrong point away from the story of the helpful Samaritan. We often assume that the neighbor of note is the one needing help and the point of the story is that we should help him because he is our neighbor and isn’t the Samaritan a great guy for recognizing that truth.
Note carefully, however, that the neighbor is not defined by Jesus as the one needing help. Rather, Jesus says that the neighbor is the one who does the helping.
Being a neighbor has nothing to do with class, rank, race or privilege. It is not about proximity of age, geography, religion, gender or politics.
Being a neighbor is about our decision to be one, our decision to help another person in need. As Jesus’ last words in the story show us, being a neighbor is not about believing or feeling or relating or thinking. It’s about doing. “Go and do,” he says to the lawyer. Sorry, friend, no loopholes, here.
Anyone is capable of doing as the man in the parable does. Even he, a Samaritan, ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic can decide to be a neighbor.
Who, the preacher might ask, are the ceremonially unclean persons in our communities or in our experiences? Those who are dirty or smell bad? Those who use too much cologne? Those who can’t kneel at the communion rail, or stand through all of the praise songs?
Who are the social outcasts? Would they include our LGBTQ+ neighbors? Would they be people who wear long robes and cover their faces in public? Or would they be those who choose not to join the coach for his motivational speech and his prayer circle revival meeting on the 50-yard line after the game?
Who are the religious heretics? Are those the ones who interpret scripture differently than we do? Who refuse to take every word of the Bible literally? Who describe themselves as “liberal?” Are they the ones who accept gay or female pastors into their churches? Or maybe they’re just the ones who sing two hymns instead of three, or like contemporary music instead of traditional hymns. Maybe they’re the ones who refer to certain parts of the Bible as legends and myths.
Well, it doesn’t really matter, says the author of the gospel.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke reminds us that our candidacy for eternal life and our relationship with Jesus have not so much to do with what we know or think or believe and a great deal to do with what we do, especially when that doing brings us into contact with our hurting brothers and sisters.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Pointing Toward the Cross
by Tom Willadsen
Amos 7:7-17, Psalm 82, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37
In the Scriptures
Psalm 82 is an extraordinary work of poetry. It shows that the Canaanite council of gods has been replaced by the God of Israel. The lesser gods have not protected the people from injustice, thus they have violated the very nature of God’s creation and they have been destroyed by the God of Israel. The seriousness of their failure to effect justice is shown in v. 5, where the very foundations of the earth have been shaken. Do we feel the shaking of the foundations when we observe injustice?
Amos, scholars believe, was the first prophet, the first one to confront Israel and Israel’s kings with the impending reality of God’s judgment. In this case, the judgment was a coming exile, something never before mentioned in scripture. King Jeroboam does not like Amos’s message. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, does not like Amos’s message and tells him to go be a prophet somewhere else. Amos is no prophet; he’s a shepherd and an arborist, burdened with speaking God’s word of judgment. Amos bats .500 with his prophecies: Jeroboam does not die by the sword, but Israel does go into exile.
The well-known parable of the Good Samaritan is prefaced by a discussion between a lawyer, that is an expert in scripture, and Jesus. The lawyer tests/tempts Jesus, perhaps to see whether Jesus’ knowledge of the law matches his own. Jesus turns the conversation around, saying in effect, “You’re a lawyer; what’s your opinion?” The lawyer’s answer, based solidly in scripture, meets with Jesus’ approval. But note, the approval is “Do this and you will live.” The law is something one does, not merely something one knows. Here Jesus’ answer echoes the most well-known portion of Micah, “do justice, love kindness, walk humbly….”
The conversation between Jesus and the lawyer could have ended here; the lawyer passed Jesus’ pop quiz. The lawyer pushes further, “wanting to justify himself,” that is, show that he is innocent, blameless, and asks, “Who is my neighbor.” And Jesus replies, “Lemme tell you a story….” Following standard storytelling structure, two people — the priest and the Levite — set a pattern that is broken by the Samaritan. One might expect an ordinary Jew, not one with religious credentials, to come to the aid of the beaten man, thus making it a story about the hypocrisy of religious leaders. Jesus utterly surprises everyone by making the hero/neighbor a Samaritan. In the gospel passage two weeks ago Jesus was not welcomed by a Samaritan village and James and John offer to call fire down from heaven to consume it.
Jesus has resolutely pointed himself to Jerusalem and the Cross in that passage. He has no patience for people who want to say good-bye to their families or bury their fathers to keep from following him in this portion of Luke’s gospel. Yet, he takes time out to tell a lengthy story en route to the Cross. Perhaps this bit of context shows the gravity of Jesus’ message of neighborliness.
Note that we do not know a thing about the one who’s been beaten and left half dead.
The road between Jericho and Jerusalem was dangerous. There were many places where highwaymen could hide. The Samaritan appears to be a man of means. He’s got an animal and enough cash to give the innkeeper two days’ wages to care for the man who had been beaten. Jericho was a place where Galileans heading to Jerusalem would gather to avoid passing through Samaria. The Samaritan on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem would have been in “double danger.” He travelled a dangerous road alone and he was a distrusted, despised foreigner.
Today’s epistle lesson is part of an extended thanksgiving that Paul writes describing his relationship with the believers in Colossae. Paul has never visited Colossae, but feels affection for the believers there based on what he has heard. In the third verse there’s an interesting parallel, the same Greek word for “in” εν is used for being in Christ and in Colossae, giving unity with Christ a physical dimension and Colossae a spiritual dimension.
In the News
Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection was stunning and powerful. She presented the outgoing President as livid at not being driven to the Capitol following the rally at which he told his followers to “fight like Hell” lest they lose their country. Hutchinson testified that Mr. Trump attempted to choke the driver of his vehicle when he refused to go to the Capitol. It appears that there will not be any more hearings before July 10, so this testimony will linger in the memory of your parishioners.
Representative Don Bacon, R-NE is among the first Republicans to distance himself from the former president in light of what the January 6 Committee hearings have revealed. There may be others who will emerge in the coming weeks. Perhaps this will be breaking news next week.
The fallout from the Supreme Court’s recent decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade and New York State’s century old restriction on carrying fire arms has grabbed attention, leading to demonstrations on both sides of both decisions.
Still, it’s summer, so global warming is something of a chronic news story. Covid has been moved to the back burner as vaccines are being made available to children.
Again, it’s summer, so I need to point this out: the best baseball team in each major league is in New York City. Perhaps autumn will bring the first “Subway Series” since 2000, when the Yankees defeated the Mets in five games.
In the Sermon
Psalm 82 presents an interesting image — because justice is foundational to God’s intended shalom, injustice shakes the foundation of everything that is.
Amos was a revolutionary. There had never been a prophet before. He spoke truth to power, even without credentials or precedent. Imagine Jeroboam and Amaziah’s surprise when he was not intimidated. Dressing sycamores was his fallback; there was no future in being a prophet anyway.
The Parable of the Lawyer Who Received Instruction in Neighborliness (I know, I know, it isn’t as pithy as “The Good Samaritan,” but the Samaritan is never called “good” anyway. And the phrase “The Good Samaritan” is so familiar that we never hear of any other kind of Samaritan. A Good Samaritan to the disciples would be like a good Al-Qaeda sleeper cell operative to us.) The lawyer had his foundations shaken. His knowledge of the law did not win him points in a battle of wits with Jesus. If anything, it showed that knowing the law, being a neighbor, was all about doing, not knowing. All that expensive education and he was still expected, nay required, to care for someone he had been conditioned not to see at all. Do you think a priest and a Levite were in the audience when Jesus told that parable? Do you think maybe their foundations were shaken?
At the risk of being accused of being political (preachers are only accused of being political when what they say is perceived to be in opposition to the hearers’ politics, not in agreement.) There may be some cracks forming in the foundation of the Republican Party. Perhaps the trickle of Republicans who are disgusted by the former president’s refusal to accept defeat and his criminal and potentially treasonous actions to remain in office, will grow into a torrent. And democracy will flow down “like waters and righteousness a mighty stream,” to misappropriate the most famous line from today’s prophet.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Colossians 1:1-14
Bearing Fruit and Growing
The Letter to the Colossians portrays the power of God unfolding and growing in the world, never static, always moving toward beating fruit. The letter notes, about the power of the gospel, “Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it.”
Writer adrienne maree brown (who chooses to use all lower case letters in her name) notes that all growth takes this long timeline. “What time is it on the clock of the world?” Grace Lee Boggs often asked, and brown adds, “My mentor Grace Lee Boggs used to ask this question all the time, to anyone who came to visit and learn with her, in any meeting she attended, or speech she gave. She wanted us — her students, comrades, and community — to keep a wide, long lens about our work. To remember, all of the time, that this moment is not the only moment.” She adds, echoing the letter to the Colossians, “We must become accountable to our time, our earth, our species, our people, and our loved ones, from the inside out.”
Adding specifics to Paul’s prayer in Colossians, “that you may be made strong…and may you be prepared to endure,” brown tells us, “If you’ve been developed as a traumatized, numb, selfish, or harmful person, healing is evidenced when, under pressure, you are able to stay connected, stay present, stay interdependent, and be accountable for harm…I know I am in healing dynamics with others when I can fully be myself, without feeling pressure to wound myself with contortion, dishonesty, or overextension. How do you know when you feel healing in yourself, and in your relationships?”
The letter recalls the early church and us to the truth that God “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption.” May we live that out in the world.
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Luke 10:25-37
An Unexpected Neighbor
After the death of his wife, Edward Grinnan decided that he and his dog, Gracie, would benefit from a trip to New York City to see friends and stay in their old apartment there. Grinnan says that he wondered how Gracie would react to Manhattan after nearly four years away. She had moved out of the area with Julee, Grinnan’s wife, four years earlier, and only Grinnan had traveled back and forth to the city.
Gracie recognized the parking garage and apartment building. “On our walk in the morning Gracie headed straight to the Dunkin’ Donuts shop around the corner and waited for me to open the door. But Dunkin’ Donuts had transmogrified into a wine shop. “No more Munchkins,” I said to Gracie, giving her a sympathetic pat on the neck. We used to stop in almost every morning...But Gracie wasn’t having it today. She wanted to go through that door. So, I took her in so she could see for herself.”
“We’re not actually open yet,” the proprietor said.
“I know.” I explained the situation. We both agreed we’d never seen such a downhearted dog.
“The rest of the walk was uneventful…Later that day when I took Gracie out again, we passed the new wine shop, Gracie giving it a longing look. Suddenly I heard the owner calling and waving to us from the door. “Come in! Come in!” Immediately Gracie marched into the store and up to the counter. “I got some dog treats for her. Now she can stop in again like she used to.”
Grinnan says, “I’m not sure what happened to me when I stepped out onto the bustling sidewalk, but I started to cry. Frankly I hadn’t cried much at all these past two weeks. But now I did, and I almost thought I wouldn’t stop. There is so much kindness in this world that is so full of contradictions and loss. And grace when grace is needed most.” A true neighbor can show up anywhere.
* * *
Luke 10:25-37
The Power of Neighbors
One of our Covid lessons is how much we need our connections with each other, even the ones that don’t seem important. Even "small talk" makes a big difference in our well-being. “An illustrated article in Yes! magazine showcases the powerful ways in which knowing our neighbors builds positive, connected communities. In fact, the most casual social connections between neighbors can have the biggest impact. “‘Small talk’ used to have a bad rap,” writes Susan Lazarovic, “but the latest science tells us that talking about the weather with the crossing guard does make us happier.” She points out that an average drill is used for just 13 minutes in its lifetime. When you borrow a neighbor’s drill, you’re not substantially increasing its use (though you are saving yourself the time and expense of a trip to the hardware store). More meaningfully, you’re taking an opportunity to connect with your neighbor, even if it’s just to exchange quick pleasantries as you borrow and return the tool. Good things come from these simple exchanges, from a social cushion to lean on if you ever need to have a difficult conversation with a neighbor, to bona fide friendships.”
We may not have the opportunity for great acts of kindness, like the Samaritan traveling the road, and yet our small acts add up to more than we imagine.
* * *
Luke 10:25-37
Creating a Neighbor
The Samaritan in Jesus’ parable would typically pass by a Jew, someone he had bene trained to hate. What about the people we don’t like? Writer and blogger Gretchen Rubin believes that we can turn someone into a neighbor, someone we like, with a small amount of effort. She suggests, “Seek contact. You may feel like avoiding that person, but because of the psychological phenomenon known as the “mere exposure effect,” we tend to like people better the more we see them.” Also “Act friendly. We think we act because of the way we feel, but often we feel because of the way we act. So act the way you want to feel. This is uncannily effective—just try it.” In addition, “Resist criticizing that person. When you voice your complaints, they assume a solidity in your mind that’s hard to eliminate. When your thoughts remain unspoken, they can more easily be changed.”
Did the Samaritan traveler have to talk himself into helping the man by the side of the road? We don’t know. We do know that we can do better about creating neighborly feelings, especially in this fractured time.
* * *
Luke 10:25-37
A New Neighbor Changes the Neighborhood
Even a silent neighbor can make a difference in a neighborhood, as Oakland resident Dan Stevenson discovered when piles of trash began appearing outside his home. “When the city installed a permanent traffic diverter at the intersection next door, no amount of signage kept litterers from dumping unwanted furniture, clothing, bags of trash, and all kinds of waste on this new patch of concrete and dirt. Litter attracts litter and dumping begat more dumping while calls to the city had little effect.” Dan and his wife Lu discussed their options, and decided on something different. They installed a statue of the Buddha, a neutral spiritual figure who wouldn’t inspire any contention.
“For a time, the Buddha simply sat there, unmoving and unchanging, but months later, Dan noticed it had been painted white. Offerings of fruit and coins soon followed. The Buddha continued to evolve over time; the statue was set on a pedestal, painted gold, and eventually enshrined in architecture. Members of the Oakland Vietnamese Buddhist community began appearing in the early morning to light incense and pray at the statue. Tourists, too, came to visit the Buddha, sometimes arriving on buses that could barely fit down this small residential street. When city authorities considered removing the statue, the community pushed back. Crime has also gone down in the neighborhood, though how much of this shift can be attributed to the statue is debatable."
“It’s become this icon for the whole neighborhood,” says Dan Stevenson. He has observed that there are a lot of “people that are not Buddhist that really come and just talk in front of him . . . It’s just cool.” Buddha, a silent neighbor, has become a positive force in the area.
(From The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars, Kurt Kohlstedt.)
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From team member Chris Keating:
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Celebrating abundance
Deuteronomy 30:9-14 is a light of brightness and hope that emerges from texts of judgment and curses levied against the people of God. Obeying the word of God aligns one’s life with the blessings of abundance God yearns to provide. This is not an exchange for doing good things, but rather a result of a life centered in the wisdom and justice of God.
Abundance is realized as we honor God’s instructions to act with justice. Recently, the MacArthur Foundation and The Grand Victoria Foundation among other foundations announced a new initiative designed to address racial inequities in the distribution of philanthropy dollars. “For the past two years, I have advocated for philanthropy to ensure that racial equity and racial justice are more than catchphrases by collectively developing strategies for sustained action,” says Grand Victoria Foundation President Sharon Bush. “It starts with amplifying the voices of leaders of color in philanthropy and challenging us all to explicitly practice racial equity, share power and privilege in support of Black-led and Black-centered organizations. It’s a tall order; Abundance gives us the framework to organize and act together with clear intention.”
Separately, officers of the Asset Funders Network described their efforts to provide “better funders” through investing in opportunities that dismantle systemic advantages given to one race at the expense of others. The Network announcement added that:
The economic promise of America is one that has the capacity for continuing to expand the economic pie by including everyone’s contributions and committing to racial justice. It is a theory of abundance. When everyone has the equitable opportunity to maximize their economic potential and fully engage in the economy, we all benefit.
“For the Lord delights in prospering you,” is more than a call to worship the prosperity gospel; it is instead a reminder of the hope of abundance God offers for those whose lives are aligned with all God instructs.
It is the hope of abundance that propelled community organizer April Doner to help a Philadelphia neighborhood create networks of creativity, connection, and positive change. From 2018-2021, Doner worked with the staff of the Free Library of Philadelphia to discover the strengths and assets in a neighborhood of southwest Philadelphia. Drawing on the principles of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), the project brought together neighborhood ambassadors who would look for ways of moving from a narrative of “lack and need for outside help” to an awareness of the abundance present within the community.
* * *
Psalm 82:2
The persistence of injustice
When members of the Rochester, New York, Ladies Anti-Slavery Society invited Frederick Douglass to give a speech on July 4, 1852, Douglass asked to defer the speech until July 5. The speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” pointed to the hypocrisy of a nation built on the foundations of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” tolerating the enslavement of human beings. He took aim at the persistence of injustice, and America’s lack of attentiveness to delivering the poor and needy from the hands of oppressors.
“What have I, or those I represent,” Douglass said, “to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?… I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary!
In 2020, NPR gathered some of Douglass’ descendants to film a video of them reading excerpts from the speech.
* * *
Luke 10:25-37
Revisiting the Good Samaritan
The parable’s familiarity can blunt us to this astonishing message of loving our neighbors. Jesus’ words to the lawyer are reminders that compassion without action is meaningless — almost akin to the frequent calls for “thoughts and prayers” following a mass shooting.
What happens, though, if we “interrogate” the Samaritan a bit, and tease out the reasons why he allows compassion to override lines of intense cultural hatred and suspicion? Perhaps the Samaritan no longer believed the narrative he had learned about mistrusting and fearing Jewish people. Perhaps he had grown tired of always being “the other,” and finally decided that today was the day he would push the boundaries a bit.
Writer and activist Gareth Higgins, editor of the Porch magazine, may provide some insights based on the violence he experienced in his early life. Higgins, who grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, writes that when he was growing up “we didn’t know who to trust.” Higgins notes that he was raised believing in the story of “we” versus “they.”
This was the story we told: that we were living in hell, and nobody knew how to fix it. This was the story we told: that "we" were right and "they" were wrong. This was the story we told: that if only we could defeat our enemies, we could enjoy the spectacular natural beauty of our landscape, the exquisite imaginations of our poets and artists, the warm hospitality for which we were reputed by tourist guides. We didn't know it, but amid the horror of the violence used on behalf (though not always with the consent) of all sides of our divided community, there was another story underway.
One wonders if Jesus introduces the character of the Samaritan in order to ask a very similar question: is there another story we should be listening for?
Quiet, immense strength was manifesting among people willing to forgo divisive ideology in favor of the common good. People willing to let go of the old certainties about "winning" and instead embody communities led by beautiful, life-giving ambiguity and not the superficial gratification of "being right.” People who allowed their imagination to be funded by heart, mind, and experimentation, and not dogma. For the first half of my life, we continued to harm each other in Northern Ireland. For the second half, and continuing now, we've been learning to talk instead, although we sometimes still face the violence and sorrow that some people feel will advance their cause. Many of us look back on our history of violent conflict with a mix of grief, regret, and shame. We may still want to be right, but we're learning that being imaginative is better. My personal pain is less than many, greater than some, but there are few consolations to competitive suffering. What unites some survivors of violence, no matter what the shape of our wounds may be, is the desire to prevent what happened to us from happening to others.
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From team member Katy Stenta:
Luke 10:25-37
“But who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asked. And Jesus said, “Anyone close enough to annoy you, because truly, if they are close enough to annoy you, then you are close enough to them to love and help them.” And everyone nodded, but also thought, a lot of people are close enough to annoy me, and pondered these words in their hearts.
* * *
Luke 10:25-37
When it comes to gun violence, not a lot has been studied, thanks to crippling legislation laid down by the NRA. However, the solution may be to get to know and love your neighbors. Those who live in unsafe situations are more likely to use a gun. This is something that seems so logical perhaps we do not need a behavioral science study to prove it. Making neighborhoods fundamentally safer (and guns less accessible, always) helps to make the instinctive response less violent.
* * *
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
It is not about who is going to heaven. I often think that to judge is very human, to forgive is divine. We want to make faith an obstacle course, and goal, a way to get to heaven, when it’s really supposed to be a support system to help us when we are on earth. It is a community to build together. It is supposed to make things easier, not harder. That is not to say that everything God wants is easy, just that God has designed things — companionship, faith, hope, hymns, community — to make it better. But we humans seem to put stumbling blocks in each other’s ways. We are God breathed, the “word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” Take heart.
* * *
Psalm 25:1-10
Trusting in God over enemy forces is hard. Particularly when it seems that hate and fascism seems to win the hearts of those you know and in your country. Perhaps this is why the psalmist remembers the times and days that they, too, have been led astray by false promises of power. Following the path of God, when others who scream hate claim to follow the same God is a tricky path, one that must be full of humility. Therefore, humbleness may be the key to this text. Being humble in listening to the oppressed, being humble in the awareness that we do not know what to do next, being humble in that the God we follow does not look the best in this moment. We follow God, because our God is not the God of might and violence and power anyway, so we will return, to the path a simplicity and humbleness.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: God sits in the divine council to hold judgment, saying:
All: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
One: Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
All: maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
One: Rescue the weak and the needy;
All: deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
OR
One: To you, O God, we lift up our soul.
All: O our God, in you we trust; do not let us be put to shame.
One: Lead us in your truth, and teach us, God of our salvation.
All: Be mindful of your mercy, O God, and of your steadfast love.
One: God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble.
All: All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.
OR
One: God comes to be with us this day as we worship.
All: We bow in worship and reverence to our God.
One: God comes to be with us in our times of need.
All: We rely on God’s comfort in time of trouble.
One: God desires to be with others through us.
All: We will be God’s help and comfort to others.
Hymns and Songs
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
UMH: 139
H82: 390
AAHH: 117
NNBH: 2
NCH: 22
CH: 25
ELW: 858/859
AMEC: 3
STLT: 278
Renew: 57
O Christ, the Healer
UMH: 265
NCH: 175
CH: 503
LBW: 360
ELW: 610
W&P: 638
Renew: 191
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
The Gift of Love
UMH: 408
AAHH: 522
CH: 526
W&P: 397
Renew: 155
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
All Who Love and Service Your City
UMH: 433
H82: 570/571
PH: 413
CH: 670
LBW: 436
ELW: 724
W&P: 625
What Does the Lord Require
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
W&P: 686
O Young and Fearless Prophet
UMH: 444
CH: 669
STLT: 276
Send Me, Lord
UMH: 497
CH: 447
ELW: 809
Live in Charity
CCB: 71
Refiner’s Fire
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is always present with your creation:
Grant us the courage to be present to one another
especially when we find others in need;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are always present with your creation. You never leave us or forsake us. Help us to be present to each other and to help whenever we can. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our willingness to ignore the needs before us.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us out of love and for love and yet we are so often selfish and uncaring about others. We see the misery around us and we hurry to take care of our own wants. We see poverty and hunger; violence and hatred; abuse and control and we turn a blind eye. In spite of this we say we are followers of Jesus who took care of the sick even when he had planned a quiet retreat with his disciples. We complain about those who beg of us yet Jesus praised the woman who boldly took power from the hem of his garment. We say we are his followers but too often we do not look like we are. Call us back to your image and the example of your Son that we may truly be your children and neighbor to all. Amen.
One: God does not pass us by even when ignore the needy around us. God’s grace is always abundant and offered to all in hope that they will offer it to others. Let us receive and give from that wondrous supply.
Prayers of the People
Great God of Love, we praise your name and adore you. You loving-kindness is built into your creation. The earth is full of things the feed us, sustain us, and heal us.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us out of love and for love and yet we are so often selfish and uncaring about others. We see the misery around us and we hurry to take care of our own wants. We see poverty and hunger; violence and hatred; abuse and control and we turn a blind eye. In spite of this we say we are followers of Jesus who took care of the sick even when he had planned a quiet retreat with his disciples. We complain about those who beg of us yet Jesus praised the woman who boldly took power from the hem of his garment. We say we are his followers but too often we do not look like we are. Call us back to your image and the example of your Son that we may truly be your children and neighbor to all.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you make presence known to us. We thank you for being our ‘neighbor’ always ready to be with us in our need. We thank you for those who reflect your love by being a caring presence to those in need. We thank you for those times when we have received their care and we thank you for those opportunities you have given us to share your love with others during their time of need.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are aware of many needs around us. People are sick and dying; grieving and lonely. People are caught in violence and hatred. People are used and abused. All of these are your children and our neighbors, if we would but choose to reach out to them. As we lift them into your love in prayer help us to reach out to them in our words and deeds these week.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Learning About Compassion
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
Luke 10:25-37
Themes:
Props and suggestions:
After reading the story to the children in a way they could understand ask them to tell you what they heard. This is a great way to see what stands out.
Our friend Jesus is reminding us that he has called us to be helpers in this world. Jesus is also trying to teach us that compassion and care for others come first even if that person is different from us.
Sometimes we forgot that we are called to be helpers in this world. Maybe we get scared, we might think we are too small or weak to be helpful. But let me tell you a little secret…it is okay to ask for help when the task is too hard for one person.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is the story of a person that is an outsider that chooses to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. The Samaritan turns to the innkeeper to help aid in the healing of the wounded man. The Samaritan is trusting that we would seek the best for this stranger simply because they need it. Compassion and mercy are big emotions but we can each start out with small steps. Maybe it looks like helping a friend or inviting the new kid over to play.
It is okay to be scared, but like the good Samaritan, we cannot let our fear stop us from caring for others. With each small action and offering we care for other people. We start to become better kinder people. Truly, Jesus would like us to be like “the one who showed him mercy.”
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to see when people need our help.
Grace us with the ability to not fear when we are called to do good.
We thank you for everything that you have blessed us with.
We pray this in your Son’s name Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 10, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Why Pass By? by Dean Feldmeyer — He wanted a nice neat law, one with a tiny little loophole he could squeeze through, but what he got was a parable.
- Second Thoughts: Pointing Toward the Cross by Tom Willadsen.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Chris Keating, Katy Stenta.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Learning About Compassion by Quantisha Mason-Doll.
Why Pass By?by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 10:25-37
“And who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asked.
No doubt, he wanted an answer like this:
"A neighbor (hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than three statute miles from one's own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter to be referred to as the party of the second part) living closer to the party of the first part than one is oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever." (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking.)
What he got was a story about a helpful person. A Samaritan of all people. Go figure.
In the Scripture
Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic.
That’s how Fred Craddock, in his Interpretation Commentary (John Knox, 1990) describes the Samaritan as the Jews who are hearing this story for the first time see him.
Samaritans were descendants of a mixed population occupying the land following the conquest by Assyria in 711 BCE. They opposed rebuilding the temple and Jerusalem and constructed their own place of worship on Mount Gerizim. They were the very opposite of not only the lawyer whose question prompts this story but, the priest, and the Levite within the story, as well.
Yet, it is this man, this Samaritan, who stops to help the victim by the side of the road. The story was not just shocking to the original audience, it was scandalous, as well it must be, because the lawyer’s question was not asked in search of truth. It was part of a verbal game, the opening gambit in a rhetorical battle of wits.
First, he asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answers the question with a question: “You’re a lawyer. What does the law say?”
The lawyer gives the right answer, the answer any observant Jewish school child could recite. A truncated version of the Shema: Hear O Israel, YHWH, your God is one. And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind. And your neighbor as yourself.” (Deut. 6:4-5)
Jesus responds. “Bingo! You win the Kewpie Doll…and eternal life.”
But the lawyer isn’t really interested in eternal life. What he wants to win is a battle of wits with this Nazarene hick who has become a popular religious teacher. He wants to show these people standing around who the really clever one is. So, he asks another clever question: “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answers with another question, but after he tells a story.
A man is traveling, alone, on a notoriously dark and dangerous road where he is set upon by robbers, beaten, robbed, stripped, and left for dead. A priest, a member of the clergy, and a Levite, a lay leader in the church, both see him but pass by on the other side of the road. We can speculate about their reasons but none are given and any effort we offer to explain their rationale makes them look either evil or justified.
Jesus doesn’t speak to the matter of their motivation. For him, the important thing is not why but what. What did you do or not do? The rationale doesn’t seem to matter to Jesus.
So, next, a Samaritan comes by. Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic. And it is he who helps the victim. He gives him first aid by cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Then he puts him on his own mount and takes him to an inn where he stays with him, caring for him overnight.
The next morning, he gives the innkeeper two days’ wages and tells him to take care of the man, then adds, “I’ll be back.” Pause. Serious expression. “And if you have to spend more, keep your receipts and I’ll pay you for your expenses.”
Now, finally, Jesus asks his question: “Which of these three, do you think, was the neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?
The lawyer answers: “The one who helped him.”
And Jesus says, “BINGO! Right answer. Give that man another Kewpie Doll!”
Just kidding.
What he says is, “Go and do likewise.”
You want the key to eternal life? There it is in a nutshell. “Go and do likewise.”
In the News
A short, private, personal prayer of thanks, on the 50-yard line, after the game. That’s how assistant coach Joseph Kennedy portrayed his activities to the courts, the image that was rejected by every court that heard it but, nevertheless, made it all the way to the Supreme Court in the case of Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District.
A short, private, personal prayer. That’s all.
But, points out Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, in a June 29 column, the only part of the phrase that was true was the word “prayer.”
It was not private, it wasn’t short, and it wasn’t personal. Witnesses testified and video taken by people in the stands shows that, time after time, Kennedy was on the field with students, standing in a circle, which grew progressively bigger as his defiant fame grew. One witness, a former player at Bremerton High School, described a homecoming game in a brief to the court: “All I remember is the aftermath of that game” in which there were “over 500 people storm[ing] the football field … from both sides, hopping the fences and rushing to the field to be close to Kennedy before he started his prayer.”
This account is in keeping with video that Justice Sotomayor actually showed to the court.
Kennedy, himself, described the events, not as private or personal at all. Rather, he told a news conference that it was “a postgame ritual at midfield after each game for a motivational talk and prayer.” And that, by doing so, Kennedy said he was “helping these kids be better people.”
Kennedy also contends that he was fired for praying. In fact, according to the school board, he was asked to stop leading religious activities on school grounds and, when he refused, he was placed on administrative leave and chose to sue the school instead of reapplying for his position the following year.
You’d think that, if the coach’s motives were pure, he and his lawyers wouldn’t have to lie about what he did. Be that as it may, however, he managed to get six Supreme Court Justices to ignore the evidence and vote in his favor.
Some Christian pastors and leaders have cheered this decision that was built, as it were, on a mountain of lies.
Progressive pastors, it would seem, have chosen to pass by on the other side of this atrocity as though it does not exist. Or at least, their absence in the media would lead the viewing public to conclude as much. Have they nothing to say on the matter, nothing to say in defense of non-Christian students who will now be forced by evangelical and fundamentalist Christian teachers and coaches, to participate in Christian rituals?
Who among progressive clergy and church members will stop and speak for them?
The death of Roe vs. Wade brings me to one further observation applicable to this parable.
In the early years of my ministry, a colleague from a church in the blue-collar community adjacent to the one where I served, came to my office. With her was a young woman who had, obviously, been severely beaten. Her thin, summer dress was threadbare, her hair was unwashed, her shoes were rubber flip-flops, her legs were unshaven, and she smelled of cigarette smoke. Though her black eyes were starting to fade to yellow and the bruises on her arms were starting to shrink, they were still evident. Her nose had been broken, when I do not know, but having seen recently broken noses when I played high school sports, I suspected hers was recent.
My colleague introduced me to her and told me the woman’s story as she cried, quietly in the chair across from my desk.
She, let’s call her Doris, had been beaten and raped by her ex-husband a few weeks earlier. He threatened that if she told anyone, he would return and do it again and kill her and her three children, and himself. She was terrified, broken, desperate, and trapped and she didn’t know where to turn.
She was clearly on the verge of a complete mental and emotional breakdown. And, said my colleague, she was pregnant.
The pastor explained that she had raised all but $100 to help Doris get an abortion she desperately needed and asked if I could help. I looked at Doris who looked at me over the tissue she had been crying into. Hers were the saddest and most pitiful eyes I’d ever seen.
The Supreme Court and millions of Roman Catholic, evangelical, and fundamentalist Christians would say that my moral responsibility in this case was to pass by on the other side. If her story was true, they say, let her go to the police and take her chances that they find her ex before he finds her. I have even been accused of making this story up as a way of justifying and defending abortion. So, they say, I should simply have said “No,” and let Doris dangle at the end of the rope her ex-husband was using to bind her.
I could not. I gave them the money. Some from the pastor’s discretionary fund and some from my own pocket.
My colleague later reported to me that Doris got the abortion and she and her children were moved, via a series of cutouts, to a shelter at the other end of the state where she was admitted under an assumed name.
Now, every time I read or hear about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to kill Roe v. Wade and leave a woman’s right to determine how she will care for her own body to the whims and vicissitudes of state governments, I am haunted by those eyes, pleading with me over that tissue.
(While the events in this account happened over 30 years ago, I have altered some of the details to protect the persons involved. D.F)
In the Sermon
Ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic
It is not uncommon that Christians take the wrong point away from the story of the helpful Samaritan. We often assume that the neighbor of note is the one needing help and the point of the story is that we should help him because he is our neighbor and isn’t the Samaritan a great guy for recognizing that truth.
Note carefully, however, that the neighbor is not defined by Jesus as the one needing help. Rather, Jesus says that the neighbor is the one who does the helping.
Being a neighbor has nothing to do with class, rank, race or privilege. It is not about proximity of age, geography, religion, gender or politics.
Being a neighbor is about our decision to be one, our decision to help another person in need. As Jesus’ last words in the story show us, being a neighbor is not about believing or feeling or relating or thinking. It’s about doing. “Go and do,” he says to the lawyer. Sorry, friend, no loopholes, here.
Anyone is capable of doing as the man in the parable does. Even he, a Samaritan, ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and religiously a heretic can decide to be a neighbor.
Who, the preacher might ask, are the ceremonially unclean persons in our communities or in our experiences? Those who are dirty or smell bad? Those who use too much cologne? Those who can’t kneel at the communion rail, or stand through all of the praise songs?
Who are the social outcasts? Would they include our LGBTQ+ neighbors? Would they be people who wear long robes and cover their faces in public? Or would they be those who choose not to join the coach for his motivational speech and his prayer circle revival meeting on the 50-yard line after the game?
Who are the religious heretics? Are those the ones who interpret scripture differently than we do? Who refuse to take every word of the Bible literally? Who describe themselves as “liberal?” Are they the ones who accept gay or female pastors into their churches? Or maybe they’re just the ones who sing two hymns instead of three, or like contemporary music instead of traditional hymns. Maybe they’re the ones who refer to certain parts of the Bible as legends and myths.
Well, it doesn’t really matter, says the author of the gospel.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke reminds us that our candidacy for eternal life and our relationship with Jesus have not so much to do with what we know or think or believe and a great deal to do with what we do, especially when that doing brings us into contact with our hurting brothers and sisters.
SECOND THOUGHTSPointing Toward the Cross
by Tom Willadsen
Amos 7:7-17, Psalm 82, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37
In the Scriptures
Psalm 82 is an extraordinary work of poetry. It shows that the Canaanite council of gods has been replaced by the God of Israel. The lesser gods have not protected the people from injustice, thus they have violated the very nature of God’s creation and they have been destroyed by the God of Israel. The seriousness of their failure to effect justice is shown in v. 5, where the very foundations of the earth have been shaken. Do we feel the shaking of the foundations when we observe injustice?
Amos, scholars believe, was the first prophet, the first one to confront Israel and Israel’s kings with the impending reality of God’s judgment. In this case, the judgment was a coming exile, something never before mentioned in scripture. King Jeroboam does not like Amos’s message. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, does not like Amos’s message and tells him to go be a prophet somewhere else. Amos is no prophet; he’s a shepherd and an arborist, burdened with speaking God’s word of judgment. Amos bats .500 with his prophecies: Jeroboam does not die by the sword, but Israel does go into exile.
The well-known parable of the Good Samaritan is prefaced by a discussion between a lawyer, that is an expert in scripture, and Jesus. The lawyer tests/tempts Jesus, perhaps to see whether Jesus’ knowledge of the law matches his own. Jesus turns the conversation around, saying in effect, “You’re a lawyer; what’s your opinion?” The lawyer’s answer, based solidly in scripture, meets with Jesus’ approval. But note, the approval is “Do this and you will live.” The law is something one does, not merely something one knows. Here Jesus’ answer echoes the most well-known portion of Micah, “do justice, love kindness, walk humbly….”
The conversation between Jesus and the lawyer could have ended here; the lawyer passed Jesus’ pop quiz. The lawyer pushes further, “wanting to justify himself,” that is, show that he is innocent, blameless, and asks, “Who is my neighbor.” And Jesus replies, “Lemme tell you a story….” Following standard storytelling structure, two people — the priest and the Levite — set a pattern that is broken by the Samaritan. One might expect an ordinary Jew, not one with religious credentials, to come to the aid of the beaten man, thus making it a story about the hypocrisy of religious leaders. Jesus utterly surprises everyone by making the hero/neighbor a Samaritan. In the gospel passage two weeks ago Jesus was not welcomed by a Samaritan village and James and John offer to call fire down from heaven to consume it.
Jesus has resolutely pointed himself to Jerusalem and the Cross in that passage. He has no patience for people who want to say good-bye to their families or bury their fathers to keep from following him in this portion of Luke’s gospel. Yet, he takes time out to tell a lengthy story en route to the Cross. Perhaps this bit of context shows the gravity of Jesus’ message of neighborliness.
Note that we do not know a thing about the one who’s been beaten and left half dead.
The road between Jericho and Jerusalem was dangerous. There were many places where highwaymen could hide. The Samaritan appears to be a man of means. He’s got an animal and enough cash to give the innkeeper two days’ wages to care for the man who had been beaten. Jericho was a place where Galileans heading to Jerusalem would gather to avoid passing through Samaria. The Samaritan on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem would have been in “double danger.” He travelled a dangerous road alone and he was a distrusted, despised foreigner.
Today’s epistle lesson is part of an extended thanksgiving that Paul writes describing his relationship with the believers in Colossae. Paul has never visited Colossae, but feels affection for the believers there based on what he has heard. In the third verse there’s an interesting parallel, the same Greek word for “in” εν is used for being in Christ and in Colossae, giving unity with Christ a physical dimension and Colossae a spiritual dimension.
In the News
Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection was stunning and powerful. She presented the outgoing President as livid at not being driven to the Capitol following the rally at which he told his followers to “fight like Hell” lest they lose their country. Hutchinson testified that Mr. Trump attempted to choke the driver of his vehicle when he refused to go to the Capitol. It appears that there will not be any more hearings before July 10, so this testimony will linger in the memory of your parishioners.
Representative Don Bacon, R-NE is among the first Republicans to distance himself from the former president in light of what the January 6 Committee hearings have revealed. There may be others who will emerge in the coming weeks. Perhaps this will be breaking news next week.
The fallout from the Supreme Court’s recent decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade and New York State’s century old restriction on carrying fire arms has grabbed attention, leading to demonstrations on both sides of both decisions.
Still, it’s summer, so global warming is something of a chronic news story. Covid has been moved to the back burner as vaccines are being made available to children.
Again, it’s summer, so I need to point this out: the best baseball team in each major league is in New York City. Perhaps autumn will bring the first “Subway Series” since 2000, when the Yankees defeated the Mets in five games.
In the Sermon
Psalm 82 presents an interesting image — because justice is foundational to God’s intended shalom, injustice shakes the foundation of everything that is.
Amos was a revolutionary. There had never been a prophet before. He spoke truth to power, even without credentials or precedent. Imagine Jeroboam and Amaziah’s surprise when he was not intimidated. Dressing sycamores was his fallback; there was no future in being a prophet anyway.
The Parable of the Lawyer Who Received Instruction in Neighborliness (I know, I know, it isn’t as pithy as “The Good Samaritan,” but the Samaritan is never called “good” anyway. And the phrase “The Good Samaritan” is so familiar that we never hear of any other kind of Samaritan. A Good Samaritan to the disciples would be like a good Al-Qaeda sleeper cell operative to us.) The lawyer had his foundations shaken. His knowledge of the law did not win him points in a battle of wits with Jesus. If anything, it showed that knowing the law, being a neighbor, was all about doing, not knowing. All that expensive education and he was still expected, nay required, to care for someone he had been conditioned not to see at all. Do you think a priest and a Levite were in the audience when Jesus told that parable? Do you think maybe their foundations were shaken?
At the risk of being accused of being political (preachers are only accused of being political when what they say is perceived to be in opposition to the hearers’ politics, not in agreement.) There may be some cracks forming in the foundation of the Republican Party. Perhaps the trickle of Republicans who are disgusted by the former president’s refusal to accept defeat and his criminal and potentially treasonous actions to remain in office, will grow into a torrent. And democracy will flow down “like waters and righteousness a mighty stream,” to misappropriate the most famous line from today’s prophet.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Colossians 1:1-14
Bearing Fruit and Growing
The Letter to the Colossians portrays the power of God unfolding and growing in the world, never static, always moving toward beating fruit. The letter notes, about the power of the gospel, “Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it.”
Writer adrienne maree brown (who chooses to use all lower case letters in her name) notes that all growth takes this long timeline. “What time is it on the clock of the world?” Grace Lee Boggs often asked, and brown adds, “My mentor Grace Lee Boggs used to ask this question all the time, to anyone who came to visit and learn with her, in any meeting she attended, or speech she gave. She wanted us — her students, comrades, and community — to keep a wide, long lens about our work. To remember, all of the time, that this moment is not the only moment.” She adds, echoing the letter to the Colossians, “We must become accountable to our time, our earth, our species, our people, and our loved ones, from the inside out.”
Adding specifics to Paul’s prayer in Colossians, “that you may be made strong…and may you be prepared to endure,” brown tells us, “If you’ve been developed as a traumatized, numb, selfish, or harmful person, healing is evidenced when, under pressure, you are able to stay connected, stay present, stay interdependent, and be accountable for harm…I know I am in healing dynamics with others when I can fully be myself, without feeling pressure to wound myself with contortion, dishonesty, or overextension. How do you know when you feel healing in yourself, and in your relationships?”
The letter recalls the early church and us to the truth that God “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption.” May we live that out in the world.
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Luke 10:25-37
An Unexpected Neighbor
After the death of his wife, Edward Grinnan decided that he and his dog, Gracie, would benefit from a trip to New York City to see friends and stay in their old apartment there. Grinnan says that he wondered how Gracie would react to Manhattan after nearly four years away. She had moved out of the area with Julee, Grinnan’s wife, four years earlier, and only Grinnan had traveled back and forth to the city.
Gracie recognized the parking garage and apartment building. “On our walk in the morning Gracie headed straight to the Dunkin’ Donuts shop around the corner and waited for me to open the door. But Dunkin’ Donuts had transmogrified into a wine shop. “No more Munchkins,” I said to Gracie, giving her a sympathetic pat on the neck. We used to stop in almost every morning...But Gracie wasn’t having it today. She wanted to go through that door. So, I took her in so she could see for herself.”
“We’re not actually open yet,” the proprietor said.
“I know.” I explained the situation. We both agreed we’d never seen such a downhearted dog.
“The rest of the walk was uneventful…Later that day when I took Gracie out again, we passed the new wine shop, Gracie giving it a longing look. Suddenly I heard the owner calling and waving to us from the door. “Come in! Come in!” Immediately Gracie marched into the store and up to the counter. “I got some dog treats for her. Now she can stop in again like she used to.”
Grinnan says, “I’m not sure what happened to me when I stepped out onto the bustling sidewalk, but I started to cry. Frankly I hadn’t cried much at all these past two weeks. But now I did, and I almost thought I wouldn’t stop. There is so much kindness in this world that is so full of contradictions and loss. And grace when grace is needed most.” A true neighbor can show up anywhere.
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Luke 10:25-37
The Power of Neighbors
One of our Covid lessons is how much we need our connections with each other, even the ones that don’t seem important. Even "small talk" makes a big difference in our well-being. “An illustrated article in Yes! magazine showcases the powerful ways in which knowing our neighbors builds positive, connected communities. In fact, the most casual social connections between neighbors can have the biggest impact. “‘Small talk’ used to have a bad rap,” writes Susan Lazarovic, “but the latest science tells us that talking about the weather with the crossing guard does make us happier.” She points out that an average drill is used for just 13 minutes in its lifetime. When you borrow a neighbor’s drill, you’re not substantially increasing its use (though you are saving yourself the time and expense of a trip to the hardware store). More meaningfully, you’re taking an opportunity to connect with your neighbor, even if it’s just to exchange quick pleasantries as you borrow and return the tool. Good things come from these simple exchanges, from a social cushion to lean on if you ever need to have a difficult conversation with a neighbor, to bona fide friendships.”
We may not have the opportunity for great acts of kindness, like the Samaritan traveling the road, and yet our small acts add up to more than we imagine.
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Luke 10:25-37
Creating a Neighbor
The Samaritan in Jesus’ parable would typically pass by a Jew, someone he had bene trained to hate. What about the people we don’t like? Writer and blogger Gretchen Rubin believes that we can turn someone into a neighbor, someone we like, with a small amount of effort. She suggests, “Seek contact. You may feel like avoiding that person, but because of the psychological phenomenon known as the “mere exposure effect,” we tend to like people better the more we see them.” Also “Act friendly. We think we act because of the way we feel, but often we feel because of the way we act. So act the way you want to feel. This is uncannily effective—just try it.” In addition, “Resist criticizing that person. When you voice your complaints, they assume a solidity in your mind that’s hard to eliminate. When your thoughts remain unspoken, they can more easily be changed.”
Did the Samaritan traveler have to talk himself into helping the man by the side of the road? We don’t know. We do know that we can do better about creating neighborly feelings, especially in this fractured time.
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Luke 10:25-37
A New Neighbor Changes the Neighborhood
Even a silent neighbor can make a difference in a neighborhood, as Oakland resident Dan Stevenson discovered when piles of trash began appearing outside his home. “When the city installed a permanent traffic diverter at the intersection next door, no amount of signage kept litterers from dumping unwanted furniture, clothing, bags of trash, and all kinds of waste on this new patch of concrete and dirt. Litter attracts litter and dumping begat more dumping while calls to the city had little effect.” Dan and his wife Lu discussed their options, and decided on something different. They installed a statue of the Buddha, a neutral spiritual figure who wouldn’t inspire any contention.
“For a time, the Buddha simply sat there, unmoving and unchanging, but months later, Dan noticed it had been painted white. Offerings of fruit and coins soon followed. The Buddha continued to evolve over time; the statue was set on a pedestal, painted gold, and eventually enshrined in architecture. Members of the Oakland Vietnamese Buddhist community began appearing in the early morning to light incense and pray at the statue. Tourists, too, came to visit the Buddha, sometimes arriving on buses that could barely fit down this small residential street. When city authorities considered removing the statue, the community pushed back. Crime has also gone down in the neighborhood, though how much of this shift can be attributed to the statue is debatable."
“It’s become this icon for the whole neighborhood,” says Dan Stevenson. He has observed that there are a lot of “people that are not Buddhist that really come and just talk in front of him . . . It’s just cool.” Buddha, a silent neighbor, has become a positive force in the area.
(From The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars, Kurt Kohlstedt.)
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From team member Chris Keating:Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Celebrating abundance
Deuteronomy 30:9-14 is a light of brightness and hope that emerges from texts of judgment and curses levied against the people of God. Obeying the word of God aligns one’s life with the blessings of abundance God yearns to provide. This is not an exchange for doing good things, but rather a result of a life centered in the wisdom and justice of God.
Abundance is realized as we honor God’s instructions to act with justice. Recently, the MacArthur Foundation and The Grand Victoria Foundation among other foundations announced a new initiative designed to address racial inequities in the distribution of philanthropy dollars. “For the past two years, I have advocated for philanthropy to ensure that racial equity and racial justice are more than catchphrases by collectively developing strategies for sustained action,” says Grand Victoria Foundation President Sharon Bush. “It starts with amplifying the voices of leaders of color in philanthropy and challenging us all to explicitly practice racial equity, share power and privilege in support of Black-led and Black-centered organizations. It’s a tall order; Abundance gives us the framework to organize and act together with clear intention.”
Separately, officers of the Asset Funders Network described their efforts to provide “better funders” through investing in opportunities that dismantle systemic advantages given to one race at the expense of others. The Network announcement added that:
The economic promise of America is one that has the capacity for continuing to expand the economic pie by including everyone’s contributions and committing to racial justice. It is a theory of abundance. When everyone has the equitable opportunity to maximize their economic potential and fully engage in the economy, we all benefit.
“For the Lord delights in prospering you,” is more than a call to worship the prosperity gospel; it is instead a reminder of the hope of abundance God offers for those whose lives are aligned with all God instructs.
It is the hope of abundance that propelled community organizer April Doner to help a Philadelphia neighborhood create networks of creativity, connection, and positive change. From 2018-2021, Doner worked with the staff of the Free Library of Philadelphia to discover the strengths and assets in a neighborhood of southwest Philadelphia. Drawing on the principles of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), the project brought together neighborhood ambassadors who would look for ways of moving from a narrative of “lack and need for outside help” to an awareness of the abundance present within the community.
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Psalm 82:2
The persistence of injustice
When members of the Rochester, New York, Ladies Anti-Slavery Society invited Frederick Douglass to give a speech on July 4, 1852, Douglass asked to defer the speech until July 5. The speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” pointed to the hypocrisy of a nation built on the foundations of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” tolerating the enslavement of human beings. He took aim at the persistence of injustice, and America’s lack of attentiveness to delivering the poor and needy from the hands of oppressors.
“What have I, or those I represent,” Douglass said, “to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?… I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary!
In 2020, NPR gathered some of Douglass’ descendants to film a video of them reading excerpts from the speech.
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Luke 10:25-37
Revisiting the Good Samaritan
The parable’s familiarity can blunt us to this astonishing message of loving our neighbors. Jesus’ words to the lawyer are reminders that compassion without action is meaningless — almost akin to the frequent calls for “thoughts and prayers” following a mass shooting.
What happens, though, if we “interrogate” the Samaritan a bit, and tease out the reasons why he allows compassion to override lines of intense cultural hatred and suspicion? Perhaps the Samaritan no longer believed the narrative he had learned about mistrusting and fearing Jewish people. Perhaps he had grown tired of always being “the other,” and finally decided that today was the day he would push the boundaries a bit.
Writer and activist Gareth Higgins, editor of the Porch magazine, may provide some insights based on the violence he experienced in his early life. Higgins, who grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, writes that when he was growing up “we didn’t know who to trust.” Higgins notes that he was raised believing in the story of “we” versus “they.”
This was the story we told: that we were living in hell, and nobody knew how to fix it. This was the story we told: that "we" were right and "they" were wrong. This was the story we told: that if only we could defeat our enemies, we could enjoy the spectacular natural beauty of our landscape, the exquisite imaginations of our poets and artists, the warm hospitality for which we were reputed by tourist guides. We didn't know it, but amid the horror of the violence used on behalf (though not always with the consent) of all sides of our divided community, there was another story underway.
One wonders if Jesus introduces the character of the Samaritan in order to ask a very similar question: is there another story we should be listening for?
Quiet, immense strength was manifesting among people willing to forgo divisive ideology in favor of the common good. People willing to let go of the old certainties about "winning" and instead embody communities led by beautiful, life-giving ambiguity and not the superficial gratification of "being right.” People who allowed their imagination to be funded by heart, mind, and experimentation, and not dogma. For the first half of my life, we continued to harm each other in Northern Ireland. For the second half, and continuing now, we've been learning to talk instead, although we sometimes still face the violence and sorrow that some people feel will advance their cause. Many of us look back on our history of violent conflict with a mix of grief, regret, and shame. We may still want to be right, but we're learning that being imaginative is better. My personal pain is less than many, greater than some, but there are few consolations to competitive suffering. What unites some survivors of violence, no matter what the shape of our wounds may be, is the desire to prevent what happened to us from happening to others.
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From team member Katy Stenta:Luke 10:25-37
“But who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asked. And Jesus said, “Anyone close enough to annoy you, because truly, if they are close enough to annoy you, then you are close enough to them to love and help them.” And everyone nodded, but also thought, a lot of people are close enough to annoy me, and pondered these words in their hearts.
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Luke 10:25-37
When it comes to gun violence, not a lot has been studied, thanks to crippling legislation laid down by the NRA. However, the solution may be to get to know and love your neighbors. Those who live in unsafe situations are more likely to use a gun. This is something that seems so logical perhaps we do not need a behavioral science study to prove it. Making neighborhoods fundamentally safer (and guns less accessible, always) helps to make the instinctive response less violent.
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Deuteronomy 30:9-14
It is not about who is going to heaven. I often think that to judge is very human, to forgive is divine. We want to make faith an obstacle course, and goal, a way to get to heaven, when it’s really supposed to be a support system to help us when we are on earth. It is a community to build together. It is supposed to make things easier, not harder. That is not to say that everything God wants is easy, just that God has designed things — companionship, faith, hope, hymns, community — to make it better. But we humans seem to put stumbling blocks in each other’s ways. We are God breathed, the “word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” Take heart.
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Psalm 25:1-10
Trusting in God over enemy forces is hard. Particularly when it seems that hate and fascism seems to win the hearts of those you know and in your country. Perhaps this is why the psalmist remembers the times and days that they, too, have been led astray by false promises of power. Following the path of God, when others who scream hate claim to follow the same God is a tricky path, one that must be full of humility. Therefore, humbleness may be the key to this text. Being humble in listening to the oppressed, being humble in the awareness that we do not know what to do next, being humble in that the God we follow does not look the best in this moment. We follow God, because our God is not the God of might and violence and power anyway, so we will return, to the path a simplicity and humbleness.
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: God sits in the divine council to hold judgment, saying:
All: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
One: Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
All: maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
One: Rescue the weak and the needy;
All: deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
OR
One: To you, O God, we lift up our soul.
All: O our God, in you we trust; do not let us be put to shame.
One: Lead us in your truth, and teach us, God of our salvation.
All: Be mindful of your mercy, O God, and of your steadfast love.
One: God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble.
All: All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.
OR
One: God comes to be with us this day as we worship.
All: We bow in worship and reverence to our God.
One: God comes to be with us in our times of need.
All: We rely on God’s comfort in time of trouble.
One: God desires to be with others through us.
All: We will be God’s help and comfort to others.
Hymns and Songs
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
UMH: 139
H82: 390
AAHH: 117
NNBH: 2
NCH: 22
CH: 25
ELW: 858/859
AMEC: 3
STLT: 278
Renew: 57
O Christ, the Healer
UMH: 265
NCH: 175
CH: 503
LBW: 360
ELW: 610
W&P: 638
Renew: 191
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
The Gift of Love
UMH: 408
AAHH: 522
CH: 526
W&P: 397
Renew: 155
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELW: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
All Who Love and Service Your City
UMH: 433
H82: 570/571
PH: 413
CH: 670
LBW: 436
ELW: 724
W&P: 625
What Does the Lord Require
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
W&P: 686
O Young and Fearless Prophet
UMH: 444
CH: 669
STLT: 276
Send Me, Lord
UMH: 497
CH: 447
ELW: 809
Live in Charity
CCB: 71
Refiner’s Fire
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is always present with your creation:
Grant us the courage to be present to one another
especially when we find others in need;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are always present with your creation. You never leave us or forsake us. Help us to be present to each other and to help whenever we can. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our willingness to ignore the needs before us.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us out of love and for love and yet we are so often selfish and uncaring about others. We see the misery around us and we hurry to take care of our own wants. We see poverty and hunger; violence and hatred; abuse and control and we turn a blind eye. In spite of this we say we are followers of Jesus who took care of the sick even when he had planned a quiet retreat with his disciples. We complain about those who beg of us yet Jesus praised the woman who boldly took power from the hem of his garment. We say we are his followers but too often we do not look like we are. Call us back to your image and the example of your Son that we may truly be your children and neighbor to all. Amen.
One: God does not pass us by even when ignore the needy around us. God’s grace is always abundant and offered to all in hope that they will offer it to others. Let us receive and give from that wondrous supply.
Prayers of the People
Great God of Love, we praise your name and adore you. You loving-kindness is built into your creation. The earth is full of things the feed us, sustain us, and heal us.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have created us out of love and for love and yet we are so often selfish and uncaring about others. We see the misery around us and we hurry to take care of our own wants. We see poverty and hunger; violence and hatred; abuse and control and we turn a blind eye. In spite of this we say we are followers of Jesus who took care of the sick even when he had planned a quiet retreat with his disciples. We complain about those who beg of us yet Jesus praised the woman who boldly took power from the hem of his garment. We say we are his followers but too often we do not look like we are. Call us back to your image and the example of your Son that we may truly be your children and neighbor to all.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you make presence known to us. We thank you for being our ‘neighbor’ always ready to be with us in our need. We thank you for those who reflect your love by being a caring presence to those in need. We thank you for those times when we have received their care and we thank you for those opportunities you have given us to share your love with others during their time of need.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We are aware of many needs around us. People are sick and dying; grieving and lonely. People are caught in violence and hatred. People are used and abused. All of these are your children and our neighbors, if we would but choose to reach out to them. As we lift them into your love in prayer help us to reach out to them in our words and deeds these week.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONLearning About Compassion
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
Luke 10:25-37
Themes:
- Learning about compassion.
- Being kind to people that are in need.
- It is okay to ask for help.
Props and suggestions:
- Tips for being a good neighbor.
- This video can be used as an opening: Mister Rogers - Human beings learn best and most from other human beings
After reading the story to the children in a way they could understand ask them to tell you what they heard. This is a great way to see what stands out.
Our friend Jesus is reminding us that he has called us to be helpers in this world. Jesus is also trying to teach us that compassion and care for others come first even if that person is different from us.
Sometimes we forgot that we are called to be helpers in this world. Maybe we get scared, we might think we are too small or weak to be helpful. But let me tell you a little secret…it is okay to ask for help when the task is too hard for one person.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is the story of a person that is an outsider that chooses to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. The Samaritan turns to the innkeeper to help aid in the healing of the wounded man. The Samaritan is trusting that we would seek the best for this stranger simply because they need it. Compassion and mercy are big emotions but we can each start out with small steps. Maybe it looks like helping a friend or inviting the new kid over to play.
It is okay to be scared, but like the good Samaritan, we cannot let our fear stop us from caring for others. With each small action and offering we care for other people. We start to become better kinder people. Truly, Jesus would like us to be like “the one who showed him mercy.”
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to see when people need our help.
Grace us with the ability to not fear when we are called to do good.
We thank you for everything that you have blessed us with.
We pray this in your Son’s name Amen.
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The Immediate Word, July 10, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
