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Neighborly Compassion

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34 (ESV)

A lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers caught him off-guard and beat him, leaving him for dead. Two ‘respected’ members of society came by where the traveler lay. Each of them had their own schedules to keep. They looked at the man and hurried on about their business.

A Samaritan came upon the scene and took mercy on the befallen man. He cleaned and bandaged up his wounds. He put the injured man on his own animal and took him to an inn that was nearby. This angel of mercy stayed with the man through the night. The next day he paid for the travelers lodging, promising to repay any further debt the injured party would incur.

Jesus then asks. “Who was the neighbor?”

In our modern world, we see people who are neighbors in the sense that they live near to us. We also may have people who live a distance away and may have backgrounds different from ours but who go the extra mile to help those in need.

Sometimes, in the movies I watch, a kind and compassionate person gets fooled by some less than honorable people by staging what looks like an accident alongside the road. We sometimes have to make a decision to act as Jesus would in spite of what can happen. I am not proposing we act foolishly in situations where a person is having car trouble. With cell phones, we can at least contact someone for the stranded person.

We have new neighbors. Something one of them said to my hubby didn’t set very well. Recently, they had a fire pit in their backyard. Hubby went out and offered to let them use our hose if they needed to ensure the fire would be out later. The next morning, both of our cars and our son’s car had ash all over them. Hubby got out the hose and got most of the ash off of all three cars.

Later in the afternoon, I heard knocking on our front door. The man standing outside looked like our new neighbor. It actually was his brother. He apologized for getting ash on our cars and offered to pay for their washing. I went and got Hubby and the man explained again. Hubby talked with him about the issue and finally accepted half of the amount the man offered.

This man is living next door to us temporarily. Although we didn’t expect it, he did the right thing, he was a good neighbor.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

Mercy and not Sacrifice (October 5, 2010)