Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV)
Verse 25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Verse 26He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" Verse 27He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Verse 28And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." Verse 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Verse 30Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Verse 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Verse 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Verse 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. Verse 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. Verse 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Verse 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" Verse 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Devotion
While travelling to a conference at ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV a few years ago, just as my son and I were about to take the Como Ave exit off the highway, we blew a tire. I carefully steered the car off the busy road, onto the exit and into a nearby parking lot. I felt rather defeated and frustrated, knowing that our conference was starting within a half hour. But there was no one else around to help, so we opened the trunk and got started on the messy process of changing the tire.
Amid our process of finding the jack and the spare, a middle-aged man in an overly well used car, wearing a tattered coat and hat, pulled up and jumped out of his vehicle. Before we knew it, he was offering to help us out, had the car jacked up, the flat tire off and the spare on, keeping up friendly conversation all the while.
May we all be open to God’s surprising us with the presence of a Good Samaritan!
Prayer
Gracious God, giver of all that we need, we are grateful that you offer us Good Samaritans on our path of life. In this age when division seems to reign, open our eyes to the many ways you unexpectedly come to us through others who are different from us and bring us into true and loving community with you in our midst. Amen.
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