23RD JUNE, 2013 RCMEM DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY CARING FOR OUR NEIGHBOUR Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14 According to the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach, a book written by a Jewish scribe in the early second century B.C. “If you do good, know to whom you do it . . . Give to the devout, but do not help the sinner. Do good to the humble, but do not give to the ungodly; hold back their bread, and do not give it to them . . . for the Most High hates sinners.” We might be astonished to hear such hostile words, but historically in Jewish culture, one usually thought first (or even exclusively) of doing good to fellow Jews. Imagine, then, the surprise of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan where the hero is one of the half-breeds whom the Jews hated—a Samaritan! Notice the passers-by. First came a priest. Perhaps he was reluctant to help, fearing that the man on the side of the road was dead. He would be forbidden to perform his priestly duties if he became unclean by touching a dead man. The same would have been true for the Levite if he were going to the temple. Jesus is directly asking those who consider themselves “religious” to confront their expectations of duty: what does God’s law require? This was indeed the question that prompted Jesus to tell this particular parable when He was approached by a lawyer curious about the requirements for inheriting eternal life. Goodness is often the catch-all word when we think about pleasing God. The question of who is good and what it means to be good has fascinated philosophers and artists as well as people making their way through daily life. We want to know what good we must do to earn God’s favor. But so often, like the priest and Levite, we’re consumed by rules and miss the bigger requirement—which is always to love. APPLY THE WORD Goodness is the way we express love for our neighbor. We’ve learned that we can do good to those who mistreat us. We’ve learned that we should do good to our family members. And today we’ve learned that we can do good even to strangers. All of these examples remind us that goodness isn’t cheap: it will cost us something. PRAYER Help me to do good to my neighbours, even when it may feel inconvenient for me, for in so doing will i be blessed. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 04:22:45 +0000
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