Dear
Fellow Children of God,
Racial tensions in America are a hot topic in the news
and in politics today. But the truth is,
before race was a political issue, God’s children have lived with ‘Love for our
neighbors’ as a faith and an ethical value.
In the Old Testament Law the Lord instructed His people, "Do
not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. I
am the LORD.” (Leviticus
19:18) If the people of this world
understood this lesson, if the people of God followed this instruction of our
Lord, our world would be a much better place!
But, this simple commandment of love for our neighbor is difficult to
follow. It is impossible for selfish and
sinful people to keep this command to love others perfectly.
A scribe, or
religious teacher of the law, questioned Jesus in Luke 10 about God’s commandments. When Jesus re-affirmed the commandments to
love God and to love others, we are told this teacher “wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "’And who is my
neighbor?’" (Luke 10:29)
Self-justification is always fruitless and dangerous. Jesus responded, somewhat gently, to the
religious teacher with the parable we know as “The Good Samaritan.” The lesson of the parable is obvious. Jesus hopefully
got through the hard shell of self-righteousness which clouded this man’s mind.
In case you don’t know this teaching story of Jesus, you
can read it in Luke 10:25-37. Nevertheless,
a short synopsis of the parable relates that a Jewish man, as he traveled on
the mountain road from Jerusalem down to Jericho, was beaten, robbed, and left
for dead. A priest and a temple worker each
passed by the man in need without helping. However, a Samaritan came to the
wounded man. This Samaritan stopped at
the risk that he himself might be attacked.
The Samaritan man helped the wounded Jewish man as much as he could at
the scene, and then paid for housing and continuing care for him.
It is helpful to know that the Jewish people looked down
on Samaritans, they thought for good reason.
In 922 B.C., the northern 10 tribes of Israel split from the 2 southern
tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from Jerusalem, the center of temple worship of
the Lord. The northern tribes then crafted
idols, in disobedience to the law of God, and worshiped these false gods in the
city of Samaria. Later, in 722 B.C., the
nation of Assyria conquered the northern tribes of Israel. They carried some of the Israelites to
Assyria, and sent some Assyrians to inhabit northern Israel. The Israelites and Assyrians
inter-married. The southern tribes also had
their troubles with idolatry, but during Jesus’ time, the Jews hoped that they
had learned their lesson and they worked hard to worship the Lord faithfully,
and to keep His law. Because of the
Jews’ fervor for the law, they detested the seeming apostasy of the Samaritans. There was serious
racial tension.
Yet, in Jesus’ parable, it was the hated Samaritan who
helped the wounded Jewish man, not his fellow Jews. So Jesus asked the teacher of the law? "Which of these three do you think was a
neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" We read in the Bible, “The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had
mercy on him.’" Therefore, “Jesus told him, "’Go and do likewise.’"
(Luke 10:36-37) In other words
the Samaritan treated the Jewish man as his neighbor, in spite of the fact that
Samaritans suffered disdain from the Jews.
In answer to the scribe’s question, Jesus teaches in this parable that everyone is our neighbor, whom we should
‘love as we love ourselves.’
A “Good Samaritan” recently helped me. The Monday after Easter, April 10, I went
fishing in Orange Lake, FL, with my brother, James, who is a fellow pastor, and
a leader in the church. As we were cruising
very slowly out the canal into the main lake to fish, we spoke of the fact that
the lake was low because of lack of rainfall recently. Then, I drove the boat onto a hidden
stump. When backing up did not free the
boat, I tried gently to drive forward over the stump. Gradually the boat progressed over the stump,
only to THUMP stop! The stump was
hollow, and the propeller of the motor lodged in the hollow of the stump. Our propeller would not turn. We tried to push off and failed. But, the fish finder said the gator and snake
infested waters under the boat were 7 feet deep. We attempted chiseling with
hammers and a screwdriver, but had little success.
An elderly black man and his wife steered their boat up close
to us on their way out the canal to the lake, and asked if they could help us. They wanted to tow us off the stump. We did not think that would work, and it
didn’t. But, for some reason the man had
a tree saw with a 12’ handle attached to the side of his boat. We asked to borrow the saw, and he gave it to
us, told us he was going across the lake to fish, and asked us to leave it by
his truck. By this time we had called my
insurance company, and they would send help with no deductible cost. We had called my brother-in-law, Mark, and he
was on his way, towing his boat. While
waiting, we sawed, and tried to lift the motor. Then we sawed some more and continued
to try to lift the motor. We continued for
quite a while. James said we were stuck
for 2 hours. I think it might have been
a little less than that, but not much. Finally,
when Mark had driven for about an hour in our direction, as we raised the motor,
the propeller popped free.
Supposedly we live in a time of racial tension, when
white and black Americans are in conflict.
But, I do not believe this man saw me as anything other than another
human in need. I only saw him as a kind
fellow fisherman. He was my Good
Samaritan. The greatest “Good Samaritan”
is Jesus. We are ravaged and lost
because of our sin, which has led us to rebel against our Lord in
disobedience. So, Jesus traveled the
road from heaven, and put His life on the line in our place to rescue us. I believe that the man who helped me knows
Jesus, and that knowledge moved him to this kindness and love.
I am joyfully thankful to have received the help of this
kind, fellow fisherman. This man was a
help to me in my time of need. I pray
that Jesus has softened my heart, so that I “Love my neighbor as I love
myself,” the way this man loved and helped me.
A Child of God, Thankful to Have Been Blessed by
a Good Samaritan While Fishing,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. We continue the
joy of visiting with friends.
·
Gerry and Ruth Zellar came to visit us, April
19-23, on their way to a doctor’s appointment in Seattle.
o Here
are some pictures from April 19 of half a million bats flying around sunset. https://photos.app.goo.gl/tjKpqhszz81t9qhX6
o We visited Devil’s Millhopper, State Geological Site on April 19. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/bsFEPDWE7nNKrCiD9
o Here are some pictures of a fishing trip Gerry and I took on April 20. https://photos.app.goo.gl/LN8Tu7U22P1BhipG7
o Here
are some pictures from April 22 in St. Augustine and at Crescent Beach. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pk2uUbywiej1645V6
·
Pastor John Glover, and his wife, Julie, and
daughter, Naomi, visited our home on Sunday, April 23.
·
We also had a visit with friends, Rick and
Kristi Armstrong, on Monday and Tuesday, April 24 and 25.
·
Friends are GOOD!
P.P.S. My only
fishing this week was with Gerry on April 20. (See pictures above.)
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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