What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus is the first to bring together Deuteronomy &
Leviticus – love God & love neighbor.
Now – who is my neighbor?
Robbers have beaten a man, taken his clothes and left
him half dead. Who is he?
You can’t tell by his clothes & you can’t tell by
his accent – he cannot speak. This is a real problem for the bystanders.
The Priest sees him – now, if he is not a Jew or he is
even dead – if the Priest touches him, he would become defiled – and he must go
back to Jerusalem to get purified – there is no time for this – not his
problem.
Levite sees him – the priest is doing nothing, why
should he? – he follows his bad example.
Samaritan – the outsiders, the ones who intermarried
with Assyrians, who only follow the first 5 books of the Bible, who did not
worship in Jerusalem. He also has a
problem – what if the injured man wakes up and seems me – my touch will make
him unclean – maybe even his family will come after me.
This does not stop him!
Act of Mercy – no matter what, this is a human being –
just like the two black men who lost their lives, just like the 5 police
officers who lost their lives – they are human beings – made in God’s image
& likeness. This is what we teach our teens when we go on a Midnight Run –
we look past the color of skin – we look past mental illness – we look past
alcoholism & drug addiction – to show mercy to a human being! To see the
Face of God in them! Act of
Justice – it means there are times that boundaries must be crossed – to do what
is right.
I read about a Religious Sister who was serving in a
clinic in Syria. This clinic served everyone in need, including wounded Muslim
soldiers. How could she do such a thing??? After all they are doing to Christians?
She said - We don’t do this because of who they are.
We do this because of who WE ARE.
In the midst of all that is happening in our country –
Who are we?
Who is our neighbor?
If we want to inherit eternal life, there is only one
answer.
