inexplicable.wonders

So this past Sunday our sermon was about the Parable of the Good Samaritan and though I've heard this story many times I found myself revisiting this quite a few times these few days.

For those who haven't heard of it its is about a Jewish man who was beaten up and left on the streets half dead along the roads. When he was laying there, a priest and then a levite happened to walk past but they both pretended that they did not see anything and so they kept on going. However, later a samaritan who was greatly despised by the Jews in the society back then, stopped and noticed the Jew and took him in to cared for him.

This parable was said by Jesus so that he could illustrate the idea of loving our neighbors. And this really made me reflect on who my neighbors are. The question that really captivated me was when the speaker asked us:

Who are you? Are you the levite or the priest? Or are you the samaritan?

It was this question that the speaker asked that really sparked my thoughts. Really, without thinking I would say that I am the samaritan because generally i would think or like to think that I help people and be kind to others and hence I am the good samaritan. But then when I thought of it further, I found that this question is rather unsettling because the more i thought of it, the more I feel that I am really not the samaritan that I think I am but perhaps the levite who passes a blind eye to certain things... and then speaking of which the dreams (which i wont go into tons of detail) that i had for the two nights before this sermon seem to make sense because they were about this friend I used to be close with but have been disconnected for so long and with time it had faded and so I have put it behind me... so I went and saw him and we started talking again but he has changed in a way that he has lost his direction and his relationship with God has drifted so far apart... its sad to see this happening to a friend that i used to care about so much but I believe that God in his very way and precise timing is reminding me to care for him just as if hes my neighbor in the parable.

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others." Phillipians 2:3-4

Jan 13, 2010