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The Good Samaritan By Ken Allen "Love, love, love / Love is all you need." So goes a line from a popular song. But what kind of love do we need, and how should we show it?
n 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 we read: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (American Standard Version). The apostle Paul here tests our love quotient on three levels:
News-making acts of philanthropy and self-sacrifice are merely that (news-making), if they are done from ulterior motives and not from genuine love. As the saying goes, "You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving." Take a fresh look at the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The parable demonstrates the principle of true godly, unconditional love. It also teaches us that God is more impressed with our living the law of love than merely believing or preaching it. The Gospels record two men coming to Christ on different occasions to inquire of Him the way to eternal life. One was a rich, young man (Matthew 19:16-22) and the other was a legal expert (Luke 10:25-29). What must I do? When we compare both passages, we see some startling similarities and differences. The first thing we notice is that both men had the same question: "What must I do to gain eternal life?" But while the young man genuinely wanted to know the answer, the lawyer was just trying to test or try Jesus.
A third point to note is that while the young man realized there was a need to do more than just keep the commandments, the lawyer sought to justify or acquit himself from personal responsibility to his fellow man. He did this by attempting to engage Christ in semantics on the word "neighbor" (Luke 10:29). Jesus went on to explain in Matthew 19:21 two extras steps required to gain eternal life:
This is the same commitment we are called to make when we decide to follow Christ (Luke 14:26-27,33). At the end of this discussion, we see both men fail the test of true discipleship. The rich, young man failed because he was too materialistic. His priority was misplaced on his wealth. The legal expert failed because he was legalistic. He preached the word but did not practice it. That is hypocrisy. Who is my neighbor?
This story should make us ask ourselves some soul-searching questions. Am I like the priest, (who completely avoided the victim) when I see someone in difficulty? His was an apathetic attitude of noninvolvement. Perhaps he was too busy, concerned with what he viewed to be more important matters. Maybe he just considered himself too good to get his hands dirty with the blood of a wounded stranger.
Fortunately, not everyone is like this. Jesus used a most unlikely character, a Samaritan, as the one who showed what it is to be a good neighbor and to love. People from whom we expect the least oftentimes give the most. Those who have been victimized and later shown compassion are usually more apt to identify with others who are suffering. The Jews despised the Samaritans. Yet it was this despised and rejected Samaritan who came to the rescue of the crime victim. Show love in deed In telling the parable of this humble Samaritan, Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever on how to love your neighbor by practicing compassion toward a stranger in need.
We have all heard stories of good Samaritans. We probably even know people who have risked life and limb to help others in distress. We may have even been good Samaritans ourselves at one time or another. Still, there are three important lessons we can learn from good Samaritan situations:
Next time you have an opportunity to serve someone in need (a motorist in distress on the highway, a person under a cloud of depression, a friend in a financial bind, a single parent being overwhelmed by a rebellious child, a stressed-out coworker...) what will your reaction be? Will you be the religious law-speaking type or the proactive law-living type? The message of the parable is very clear: Being a good neighbor and showing love by doing, are more honorable than merely speaking about love. Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his inaugural address: "In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this nation [the United States of America] to the policy of a good neighbor." Jesus' instruction to us is simple, yet profound: "Go and do likewise!" Copyright 2008 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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Origin of article "The Good Samaritan"
Keywords: love of neighbor good Samaritan doing good
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