COMPASSION

 

25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 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." 28And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 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. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 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. 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.' 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Luke 10:25-37

 

Title: Good Samaritan [Click for larger image view]

Good Samaritan

ANDERSEN, Christian Emil

Thorvaldsens Museum

1844

Copenhagen

Denmark

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20220708399972563&code=ACT&RC=56979&Row=10

 

 

 

 

 

We must learn to regard people less in the light

of what they do or omit to do,

and more in the light of what they suffer.

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

 

 

 

Your neighbor's vision is as true for him

as your own vision is true for you.

~ Miguel de Unamuno

 

 

 

 

 

The only fireworks I watched this year were on TV.

Washington, D.C.

 

New York, NY

 

Bible Study Group

ALL OF US IN ONE PHOTO!

Front Row:  Dianne Palmer, Joann Burnham, Sue Phelps

Back Row: Peggy Flowers, Judy Wonning, Laura Mehmert, Carolyn Alexander

(Thank you, Jack!)

 

Marcia Walsh, Cindy Sahli

Marcia celebrated her 92nd birthday this week!

 

Sharron Leonard and I had Brunch on Saturday!

 

 

Abe-san

1954 - 2022

It is raining very hard

at my home tonight.

My heart weeps.

 

~ Carolyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compassion asks us to go where it hurts,

to enter into the places of pain,

to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish.

Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery,

to mourn with those who are lonely,

to weep with those in tears.

Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak,

vulnerable with the vulnerable,

and powerless with the powerless.

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

 

 

 

 

 

July 10, 2022  Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - Year C

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

 

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:1-14

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

 

 

LECTIONARY

 

Amos 7:7–17 

Psalm 82 

Colossians 1:1–14 

Luke 10:25–37

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan:  “ . . . a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.”
Luke 10: 25-37

THE WORD:

A lawyer’s question about who is – and, by implication, who is not – one’s neighbor sets the stage for one of Jesus’ most beloved parables, the story of the Good Samaritan (found only in Luke’s Gospel).  Jesus stuns his hearers by making a Samaritan the hero of the story – especially in light of the inhospitality of the Samaritans to Jesus and his companions on their journey to Jerusalem (the Gospel for the 13th Sunday of Year).  Jesus’ hearers would expect a Samaritan to be the villain of the story, not the hero.  While the two clerics do not help the man for fear of violating the Torah by being defiled by the dead, the compassionate Samaritan – a man presumably with little concern for Jewish belief or morality – is so moved by the plight of the poor man that he thinks nothing of stopping to help regardless of the cost of time or money.  

The Jews of Jesus’ time defined “neighbor” exclusively as another Jew, but Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan expands such a limited concept.  One of the key principles of Christianity is the concept that all men and women are “neighbors”: children of the same heavenly Father, brothers and sisters in Christ.  The Samaritan and the traveler illustrate that Jesus’ concept of “neighbor” is not limited to one’s own clan or community.  Christ-like compassion must be manifested in deeds of kindness; morality, in the light of the Gospel, cannot be guided by laws inscribed in stone but ultimately by the spirit of the heart.

 

 

 

First Reading Amos 7:7-17

7This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; 9the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11For thus Amos has said, 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'" 12And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."

14Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.' 16"Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac." 17Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'"

Psalm 82:1-8

1God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2"How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?

Selah

3Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

4Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

5They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk around in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6I say, "You are gods,

children of the Most High, all of you;

7nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,

and fall like any prince."

8Rise up, O God, judge the earth;

for all the nations belong to you!

Second Reading Colossians 1:1-14

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Gospel Luke 10:25-37

25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 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." 28And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 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. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 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. 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.' 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."