Sunday Reflections-The Good Samaritan from a New Perspective

Well, we are about two hours away from Liberty. I'm on my laptop using my broadband card. I've driven up until now, but Becki just started driving.

A bit of reflection on Sunday. On Sunday, we looked at the story of the good Samaritan. What is often missed in this story is the main point. Jesus tells this story in response to a religious leader who wanted to limit the definition of who his neighbor. At the end of the story, Jesus asks, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten up? The man who was beaten up thought that the person who had mercy on him--the Samaritan--was his neighbor. Normally, any Jew would have rejected a Samaritan as his neighbor. But in this desperate condition, bleeding on the side of the road, the man who was robbed would have realized that even a Samariatn was his neighbor. He would not have rejected his help.

This story challenges us not so much to be a good neighbor, but to realize that all people, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, faith, or moral condition are our neighbors whom we should love. This main point is often missed.

We had a man collapse on Wednesday in front of the church. One of our men, Garth, went with him to the hospital and sat with him. This man, Floyd, has a medical condition, financial challenges, and more. Garth took him to worship with us, and Garth was able to tell this man's story. The church responded to this man's need in many ways on Sunday. They have such wonderful hearts. However, in light of the story of the Good Samaritan, the story is not so much about those who helped, but in the one who was hurt. It may be that Floyd, facing challenges in his life, realized that we are his neighbors. Indeed, he said on Sunday that he wanted to make High Pointe his church home. And by letting us serve him, we are being richly blessed.

How is it that we may seek to reject as our neighbor?