Moved by compassion

Moved by compassion

The “Good Samaritan” has become part of daily coinage. Anyone who does a good deed can be so called. But when Jesus first told the story in answer to the question of a Jew versed in the law he shocked his hearers. The lawyer had given the traditional teaching about loving God and loving one’s neighbour and Jesus had said, “fine, now do it.” But the lawyer had been trying to stir an argument with Jesus; he was put out by this simple response and sought to prolong the exchange by saying, “and who is my neighbour.”

You can see Jesus settling down to give him an answer. He tells a simple story, something that probably happened frequently. A traveller is mugged and left by the road side “half dead.” People see him but they don’t want to get involved and they hurry by. But then one man has pity for him and helps him. The force and shock of the story comes from the identity of the fellow travellers. One is a priest and another a Levite. These are people who knew the teaching about loving God and your neighbour but it was just words to them. The third one to pass by may not have known the teaching but he was “moved with compassion.” The original Greek word means he was disturbed in his entrails. In other words, he was deeply upset and felt he had to do something.

So the “religious” people did nothing but the member of a group that was despised acted. No wonder Jesus upset his contemporaries. He had a way of telling stories that went deep. This week I have come across several comments from three different sources which all add up to a similar message: many young people in Europe think religion is old fashioned and irrelevant. One group of young people surveyed in the UK think it is actually harmful. We can go into the reasons why people hold these views and even argue that they have been misinformed or don’t understand. But that is not the point. This is their perception and this is what is going to influence their attitudes and actions.

The bishop of Rome, as Francis likes to call himself, is the most recent and most well-known of those who have come to shock us into realising that we can distort religion. We can use it for our own benefit. We can make it into a comfort zone. We can move far away from the one who said, “the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” The message of Jesus is simple. You don’t have to “go up to heaven or cross the seas to find it.” It is there in your heart and anyone can know it. In the end it will be the witness of our lives that will convince people of the message of the gospel. Francis is giving a dose of hope to those who wish to see the gospel uncoupled from “religion.” 

14 July 2013                Sunday 15 C

Deut 30:10-14             Col 1:15-20                 Luke 10:25-37