brokeninoz
07-06-2005, 06:39 PM
http://www.kansas.com/images/logos/site/kansas/kansas/archives_title.gif (http://www.kansas.com/) http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifPosted on Wed, Jul. 06, 2005http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Who is your neighbor? You may be surprised
BY JEFF SYRIOS
I am again struck by the question: Who is my neighbor?
It's not the first time I've considered it. I remember contemplating the answer over cherry Kool-Aid and Oreos in vacation Bible school. Back then, my "neighbor" was the bully down the street, the one I despised. He was the embodiment of unilateral discretion as to whether I would make it home without mud stains on my back.
Things are different now. I am a bit more sophisticated -- more equipped to find an alternate route home. But while I can now avoid the bully, there are other "neighbors" I cannot escape.
They are the ones who, by their peculiar appearance and equally irregular behavior, threaten my peaceful life. They are the ones whose lives are defined by chaos, whose choices I do not understand and whose actions I do not approve of. These "neighbors" are the Samaritans who don't share my beliefs, don't conform to my theological profile and don't fit into my religious schedule.
The question was first posed 2,000 years ago -- from a lawyer nonetheless. Probably the arrogant sort who always tries to stay one query ahead of the witness. Surely this carpenter's son, who claims divinity, cannot escape from the corner of a crafty interrogation.
But instead of answering directly, Jesus tells a story, as recorded in Luke 10:25-37. It is a snapshot of the lives of four men -- and the point is to explain the meaning of mercy and to whom it should be bestowed.
A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked and robbed of everything but his life. Beaten to the point of death, the man was lying on the side of the road groaning for the speed of death. But then hope happened by in the form of a pastor and an assistant. Benevolence, however, passed by on the other side, caught up, as described by author John Piper, "in the mechanics of religious activity with no eye to see distress, no heart to respond with compassion and no effort to bring the relief of the gospel."
And it occurs to me that it is just like Jesus to use the symbols of man's religiosity to illustrate the opposite of mercy.
And then he comes along -- the outcast, the one who doesn't quite fit in theologically or culturally. He is the half-breed Jew who, when in public, is either overlooked or looked down upon. He is the one whose past is obvious. Isn't it going to be from this man that we learn what mercy is not?
But the Samaritan surprises us. When he sees his beaten antagonist, he has compassion. And instead of diverting his eyes and heading to the safe side, he goes to the point of need. Instead of staying on schedule for the men's prayer breakfast he is already late to, he stops, bandages the wounds and makes arrangements for long-term care.
And it occurs to me that it is just like Christ to use the personification of man's ignorance and petty hatreds to illustrate what mercy is.
From this story, Piper explains, we know that mercy sees distress, responds with a heart of sympathy, reacts with a practical effort to relieve it and happens even when the one in distress is an enemy by race or religion.
And so I am again forced to consider the question: Who is my neighbor?
Jeff Syrios of Andover is a freelance writer and attorney.
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifPosted on Wed, Jul. 06, 2005http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Who is your neighbor? You may be surprised
BY JEFF SYRIOS
I am again struck by the question: Who is my neighbor?
It's not the first time I've considered it. I remember contemplating the answer over cherry Kool-Aid and Oreos in vacation Bible school. Back then, my "neighbor" was the bully down the street, the one I despised. He was the embodiment of unilateral discretion as to whether I would make it home without mud stains on my back.
Things are different now. I am a bit more sophisticated -- more equipped to find an alternate route home. But while I can now avoid the bully, there are other "neighbors" I cannot escape.
They are the ones who, by their peculiar appearance and equally irregular behavior, threaten my peaceful life. They are the ones whose lives are defined by chaos, whose choices I do not understand and whose actions I do not approve of. These "neighbors" are the Samaritans who don't share my beliefs, don't conform to my theological profile and don't fit into my religious schedule.
The question was first posed 2,000 years ago -- from a lawyer nonetheless. Probably the arrogant sort who always tries to stay one query ahead of the witness. Surely this carpenter's son, who claims divinity, cannot escape from the corner of a crafty interrogation.
But instead of answering directly, Jesus tells a story, as recorded in Luke 10:25-37. It is a snapshot of the lives of four men -- and the point is to explain the meaning of mercy and to whom it should be bestowed.
A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked and robbed of everything but his life. Beaten to the point of death, the man was lying on the side of the road groaning for the speed of death. But then hope happened by in the form of a pastor and an assistant. Benevolence, however, passed by on the other side, caught up, as described by author John Piper, "in the mechanics of religious activity with no eye to see distress, no heart to respond with compassion and no effort to bring the relief of the gospel."
And it occurs to me that it is just like Jesus to use the symbols of man's religiosity to illustrate the opposite of mercy.
And then he comes along -- the outcast, the one who doesn't quite fit in theologically or culturally. He is the half-breed Jew who, when in public, is either overlooked or looked down upon. He is the one whose past is obvious. Isn't it going to be from this man that we learn what mercy is not?
But the Samaritan surprises us. When he sees his beaten antagonist, he has compassion. And instead of diverting his eyes and heading to the safe side, he goes to the point of need. Instead of staying on schedule for the men's prayer breakfast he is already late to, he stops, bandages the wounds and makes arrangements for long-term care.
And it occurs to me that it is just like Christ to use the personification of man's ignorance and petty hatreds to illustrate what mercy is.
From this story, Piper explains, we know that mercy sees distress, responds with a heart of sympathy, reacts with a practical effort to relieve it and happens even when the one in distress is an enemy by race or religion.
And so I am again forced to consider the question: Who is my neighbor?
Jeff Syrios of Andover is a freelance writer and attorney.