The Good Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37 (MP4)

The expert in the Law (of the Jewish Scripture) asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit the eternal life?" Jesus directs him to the Greatest Commandment to love (God and one's neighbor) and says to him, "Go and do likewise" (not just believe but DO). Our faith and our life must have consistency.

The story of the Good Samaritan:
A priest and a Levite (the religious leaders) failed to DO it (what it means to love their neighbor).
The Jews hated the Samaritans for their difference in some belief and culture). Yet, that hated Samaritan showed the love and compassion on his neighbor.
Jesus purposefully chose a man of different background, thought by the Jews as unlikely to love a Jew. 
This love for the neighbor is not just to be our obedience to the command but a response to an amazing love (undeserved kindness) we have received. 

In our desperate helpless, unexpected time, we have received grace, the undeserved compassion. We can't pay it back out of gratitude but receive it and get transformed. We need to get touched by grace and be changed. Christian gospel is not a set of rules but rather a demonstration of undeserved love, compassion, mercy. 

The Samaritan points us to Jesus himself, to his sacrificial love that reaches us in our really helpless situations. So, we show our love for God and respond Christ's love for us by loving others through compassion in our life and community around. 


Come join our English service of this International Congregation in Yangon!