Go and Love

"Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked.
The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy."
Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."

The story of the good Samaritan has been told over and over, and countless sermons have been preached on the merits of helping others and not passing them by. Recently, I read it for myself again and I found myself noticing a few things I hadn't seen before.

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question, "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbour as yourself'."
"Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?"
Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
"By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
"Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.'
"Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked.
The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy."
Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."

Luke 10:25-37 NLT

Firstly, I noticed that the story was told by a Jew, about a Jew, to a group of Jews. Translated - the story is about us, it's for us. It's relevant, applicable and personal.

Second, the Bible specifically says that the priest and the Levite saw the man on the road. There can be no excuses made for their neglect. They saw him and chose not to help.

Third, I spotted a formula, a five-step process, to helping those who have found themselves in terrible situations that they cannot escape from.

1. Meet them where they are

• The Samaritan didn't wait for the man to get up off the road, or move to a better place. Think about it - the man was beaten up by robbers, so obviously that stretch of road was not the safest. Yet the Samaritan stopped his own journey to help this man right where he was. 
• Don't wait for someone to get themselves out of a bad situation. Go to them no matter where they are physically or mentally.

2. Help them where they are

• The Samaritan went over to the man and immediately began to administer First Aid. He didn't move him to a better place or take him to the inn right away. He helped the man right there in the middle of the road, where there was dust, blood, scorching sun and the possibility of another bandit attack.
• Jumping in and immediately trying to pull someone out of their harmful situation will only meet with resistence. They will never make it to the 'hospital'. Help them right then and there, even if it's messy and dirty, hot and vulnerable.

3. Bring them out of where they are

• Once the Samaritan had bandaged the wounds of the Jewish man, he put him on his donkey and took him to an inn. He didn't sit him up by the side of the road, wish him a great recovery and continue on his way. Neither did he wait for someone else to come along so that he could ride his own donkey. He walked the rest of the way while this stranger slumped in the saddle.
• Often times we step in and help someone right where they are, and that's great. What we fail to do is help them get out of the awful situation. If we leave them there, they will fall prey to the same problems that lead to their injury as before. We have to gently help them find a safer place and we may have to make a few sacrifices to do that.

4. Surround them with help

• So the Samaritan man has found this man, bandaged him up, brought him to town and leaves him on the doorstep of the nearest inn, right? Wrong. He brings him to the inn and takes care of him for the rest of that day. The next morning, he leaves specific instructions with the innkeeper to ensure the man's recovery. Then he continues on his own journey.
• Once we've rescued someone, we have to realize that we cannot completely recuperate them on our own. As lovely as it sounds, we can't spend every waking moment with this person or we will eventually become incapable of helping them at all. Get together a team of people; build a support network. When they've accepted this help, you can step back.

5. Follow them in their recovery

• Although the Samaritan continued his journey, leaving the Jewish man in the care of the innkeeper, he did not forget about him. He told the innkeeper he would be back to pay the rest of the bill and, presumably, inquire as to the man's health. 
• Even though you step back, you can't step away entirely. You are the one who originally rescued them. Check in and follow up. Stay in their life until they are fully recovered and then teach them to do the same for others.

I sometimes feel sorry for the priest and the Levite. What kind of lives did they lead if they passed by a dying man on the road? How fulfilled could they have felt? What kind of happiness could they have had? And then I realized that they probably had no idea they were missing out on the opportunity for fulfillment and happiness. They probably went home and prayed that God would help the dying man on the road and thought that they had done enough.

Praying is great - please don't misunderstand me. It's a direct communication line to the throne of God and an essential part of our spiritual lives. But I think we've been falsely taught that just praying for others is enough, when often it is not. We have to do more than pray. James 2:15-16 says, "Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Goodbye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well' - but you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?" The priest went home and prayed for the Jewish man. The Levite went home and prayed for the Jewish man. The Samaritan was the answer to that prayer.

Over and over in the Bible, love is described as an action instead of a feeling. 1 Corinthians 13 - the Love Chapter that everyone knows - gives an almost unattainable portrait of the kind of love we should show to others. I say 'almost' because we can achieve that through the grace of Jesus Christ. True love is shown by what you do for others, not what you say; and the truest love was shown by the death of Christ in our place. Without mincing words, 1 John 3:18 says, "Dear children, let's not merely say we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions."

What struck me the most, however, was the last line of this whole story. The original question was how to attain eternal life. The answer is to love God and love your neighbour. Jesus tells a story explaining that everyone is your neighbour and that love means taking action. Then he simply says to go and live that truth. I've recently been hearing a lot of talk about focusing more on our inner purity, sanctifying ourselves, becoming more righteous and setting ourselves apart from the rest of the world in order to get to heaven. While all that is fine to a point, I can't help but remember that Jesus clearly states in this story that you obtain eternal life by:

1. Loving God

2. Loving your neighbour

Everything else in your life is a result of these two things. As you grow in your love for God and those around you, the sin in your life will be replaced with God's righteousness. Rather than striving to become more holy and pure, we must strive to love, then watch as that love pushes every unholy, impure thing out of our lives.

God merely asks us to love - it's a high calling, but a simple one. It's difficult, but straightforward. Love God, love others. Then remember that no matter how hard you work to love God and love others, your salvation is a gift, freely given. Just accept that.

Then go and love.

Halos

Just when I thought I had mastered my classroom, graduation practices begin. I have a whole new species of headache pounding my mind constantly. There is no end to the shrieks, the flying chairs, the running, the crying... I had to step out and just breathe for a while today because I had just gotten my kindergarten class lined up perfectly and quietly when the other kindergarten class flung themselves at my children and pulled them every which direction. I've very nearly cried more once today. It's one of those days when I will be thankful to go home to a house full of grown-ups I like, warm blankets to soften the chill, huge bowls of salad to consume and not a single cockroach to kill.

And then I stop and realize that my chances of returning to this tiny island are almost none. My mom was here thirty years ago, and although she'd love to come back, she hasn't been able to. This last month, these thirty days, are all I have left here. What am I going to leave with?

Well, confidence, for one thing.

More puke stories than I care to share, for another.

And thousands of moments I don't ever want to forget. Brenda smiling at Mr. Gunnar for the first time. Kuuipo asking me how to pray. The sunset at Laura when we spent the whole day there. Running across the huge white sand beach, stretching out my arms to the sunshine and laughing in pure joy. Regretting that I forgot to put on sunscreen that day.

I'll be fine, but I seriously wish my cherubs would regain their halos.