25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " '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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:24-37
The "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States. Here is a portion of the famous speech.
ñI say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.î
At the heart of this famous speech is a call to change. A call to change the way things were being done in America. A call to change the way you think about African Americans. A call to change the way you view equality and fairness. It was a call for those people who stood on the side lines and watched all kinds of atrocities to stand up and say this is not right and fight for change. It was a call for America to change the way we view neighbor.
This bring to mind another call to change. A call that Jesus put in front of a young expert in Jewish law who was seeking to test Jesus. The interesting thing about this test was it is the same Greek word used in this section of Scripture is the word used when Satan put Jesus to the test in the wilderness.
The conversation went like this:
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: "'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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
This interaction lead to a wonderful parable about the Good Samaritan.
The parable was this. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. Then as the account goes, a Priest sees him and leaves him for dead. Then a Levite sees him and is too busy to get involved and leaves him for dead. At this point things are looking rather grim. Then along comes a Samaritan. Now if you are a Jewish person hearing this story. You are thinking to yourself well this guy is toast. There is now way in the world this enemy will stop and help. If anything he might come along and put him out of his misery. Samaritans in the that day were viewed with the same level of hatred as Blacks were during the civil rights movements of Dr. KingÍs day. As a matter of fact my mother told that as we grew up in the south, more than likely a white person there would rather die than have an African American give them CPR if they were dying of a heart attack. So here we have a Jew and a Samaritan and the unthinkable happens.
33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
What is really amazing about all of this is if the man had know who was helping him he probably would have rejected the help. And the Samaritan took a chance walking into town with this injured Jewish man on his donkey. The townÍs people probably assumed he did it. It was like an Indian walking into town with an injured cowboy. But I love what the text said. The Samaritan man looks on him and had pity on Him.
In the next section we get the purpose of this parable.
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
To me this is the challenge for us today. To have mercy on those who are our neighbors. You see the dream is not complete. The work is not done. As long as there are people who are weak and disenfranchised we have work to do. As long as there are groups of people that face hatred and are oppressed the dream is not complete. As long as there are people that we walk by in need and we think we are too busy to stop and give aid the dream is not complete. We are called by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be neighbor to the ones who need mercy. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And who is our neighbor? Anyone we come into contact with. Not just the people who look like us and think like us. Everyone God places in our lives is neighbor.
There is this wonderful illustration about Catherine Booth the "mother" of the Salvation Army. "Wherever Catherine Booth went," said Campbell Morgan, "humanity went to hear her. Princes and peeresses merged with paupers and prostitutes."
One night, Morgan shared in a meeting with Mrs. Booth; and a great crowd of "publicans and sinners" was there. Her message brought many to Christ. After the meeting, Morgan and Mrs. Booth went to be entertained at a fine home; and the lady of the manor said, "My dear Mrs. Booth, that meeting was dreadful"
"What do you mean, dearie?" asked Mrs. Booth.
"Oh, when you were speaking, I was looking at those people opposite to me. Their faces were so terrible, many of them. I don't think I shall sleep tonight!"
"Why, dearie, don't you know them?" Mrs. Booth asked; and the hostess replied, "Certainly not!"
"Well, that is interesting," Mrs. Booth said. "I did not bring them with me from London; they are your neighbors!"
Our neighbor is the person whose skin is different than ours, whose belief system is different than ours, who is fundamentally opposite of us. That is who we are called to love and treat as a brother and sister. In the words of our Savior, when you meet that person do like the Good Samaritan and show them mercy. In doing so you model for them the love of the Savior and the mercy and grace of God. So go and do likewise.
