Monday, 20 March 2017

East Ridge Pres

Luke 10:30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He 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. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Which one proved to be a neighbor to the man? The one who showed him mercy! Christ has proved to be our neighbor and showed us mercy. Christ had compassion on us in our great misery. He felt our misery. he delivered us by his blood. Now we must “go and do likewise.” Imitate Christ. Imitate the Samaritan. You are called to feel the pain of other people. This is called compassion. Many of us can’t feel the pain of others because we don’t see the suffering. We are blind to it and what they are experiencing. We must listen to others. People who are not like us. People whose sufferings we don’t understand. We don’t see it and so we don’t feel it. If you are white you are part of the majority race of the USA (63%), then you have a great deal of listening and learning and reading to do. We don’t understand the experiences and suffering of our black brothers and sisters, our Latino brothers and sisters, our Asian-American brothers and sisters, our indigenous brothers and sisters. We have no idea what it is like to be a racial minority in the USA. We don’t see that misery. If you don’t believe they are at a disadvantage that is because you have not experienced it. I have never experienced it. I had to be patiently instructed. I had to read to understand. And still I have so much more to learn. We have not like the Samaritan seen him in his misery, not felt compassion, and not shown him mercy. Until now we have passed by on the other side. Let us feel compassion for the pain of others. Let us show mercy. Let us love like a neighbor. Let us start by learning about suffering, the hidden suffering we can’t see.