I chuckle when I think about the parable of The Good Samaritan. I have never really stopped and thought how many times I have read, listened, watched, performed, and (because I know it so well) slept through this particular passage--until recently. From all the devotions, Sunday School lessons, church services, Bible College lectures, camp skits and presentations from one of my nephews who loves to recite it; I think it is safe to say that The Good Samaritan is one of the most famous parables ever, if not the most famous.

I drove my nephew around town doing errands, and like the good pastor I am (cough, cough), I quizzed him on his Bible knowledge. This is his rendition of the famed parable:

"Once, a man got beat-up, they even took his socks! The bad guys left him in the ditch covered in blood."
(This was beginning to sound like my kind of storytelling!)
"If he didn't get help, he was going to die!"
(I faked a look of horror in the rearview mirror at him.)
"But a man in a suit saw the hurt man and walked to the other side of the road. Another man, who went to church all the time, saw the bloody man in the ditch dying. He looked at his watch and said, 'I don't have time,' and walked away.

But a man riding a bicycle on the other side of the road heard the hurt man crying. He crossed the road to help. The man put the hurt man on his bike and pushed him uphill to the hospital. Because the hurt man got robbed he had no money, so the other man gave up his bike to pay for a bed and told the doctors he would be back to pay for the rest of the medicine. Guess what?"
(What?)
"The man kept his promise and came back and took the hurt man, who is better now, home. Jesus says to be like the last man."
(You are so right kid.)
"Uncle Bear?"
(Yes?)
"Do you cross the road to help people?"
(Of course, we are always supposed to help people.)
"Can I be like the man on the bike and cross the road?"
(You bet! Always look for people to help, and go help.)

I bought 6 hamburgers for people (and one for a dog) that day. However, the look of pure joy on my nephew's face as he handed a hamburger to each man with a "Need Help," sign will be forever engraved in my memory. That evening my mind kept going back to the question my nephew had asked, "Do I cross the road to help?"

I always judge the priest and the Levite, hearing in the back of my head that critical voice, "What jerks!" But, hold on a second, if I am really honest, I see myself in those two. What did they have in mind when they walked by the wounded man? "Love our neighbor," doesn't mean:
* Only when time allows.
* Only when it is convenient.
* Only if it isn't messy.
* Only if it is someone I am comfortable with and can love me back.
* Only people I think are lovable and worthy of my generosity.

Love can be described as:
Enduring. Forgiving. Generous. Sacrificial. Selfless. Unconditional.
The perfect example--Christ on the cross. There are no boundaries, no rules, no qualifiers that limit this command. The one man, who was hated by the Jews...showed love.

Christ is the greater Samaritan. He came into a world that hates Him, picks us up from the ditch, broken and bruised--paid for our treatment. All He asks is that we "Have the same attitude as Christ." Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5 that Jesus calls us to cross the road, because He first crossed it for us.

Pastor Garret 

North Africa Trip Sharing

Pastors Rick, Chris and Kelly will be sharing photos and stories from their spring trip to North Africa and Cyprus, Sunday, June 26 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room. Please bring a dessert to share at the potluck following the presentation. No charge, no child care.