13th Sunday after Trinity, 12 Sep 1954"
12 September 1954, St. John’s Chapel
Luke 10:23-37: “And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
The parable of the Samaritan which is today’s Gospel is one of the immortal stories of the Bible. The parable was the answer of our Lord to the lawyer’s question: “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus explains whom we should regard as our neighbours and what our duties are towards them. We will admit that most of us have a long way to go before we really achieve Christ’s conception of a neighbour. In New Testament days there was a real hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, and so such a parable as this had added significance.
There is a great deal of hatred, ill will and suspicion in the world today between nation and nation, one group of people in a community and another, rich and poor. We need to ask ourselves, “Who is my neighbour?” and then perhaps with this parable in mind, and the love of God as our basis, look through any copy of the daily paper. What a change there would be if
only people would try to live out this second commandment of Jesus: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Let us resolve, like the Samaritan, to take personal trouble to help people in need in love, sympathy and understanding – and let us come to Communion in that Spirit.