The Power

 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He asked Jesus, “What must I do to earn God’s favour?”

“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

 

          I do not like the man. He represents everything that I think is wrong with the world. I think he could be the anti-Christ, after all his actions are the antithesis of who we are called to be. Despise might not be too strong of a word. The fact my description is more than ambiguous, and that you might think it is the other guy, or in another country is concerning. They want us to hate. When I do, I am playing their game.

 

The teacher of the Law, replied. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

          There is power in anger. We know it. There is also power in hatred. The powers that be are trafficking in hatred. Our politics are becoming more than not liking the other guy. They want us to hate. It is not enough to hate the man or woman that leads the other political party, we are to hate those people who might support them. Those who take a centrist approach are denounced as supporting the other side as “All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.” But the power in hatred, a force unto itself, is all consuming; it leaves nothing in its path. We have seen this time and time again.

 

But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

         

          The power of the Kingdom of God is love. Specifically, it is to love our neighbour. Actually, the command is to love those who are “nearby.” So as we move through our day, our love is to move with us. In the story of the Samaritan, the use of the Samaritan is central to the story. The Samaritans were so despised that a “proper” person would go out of their way to go around their territory. This is the miracle of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman. He was where no self-respecting person would be, talking with someone that no self-respecting person would. In fact, Jesus had gone out of his way to talk with her specifically. The love we are called to live, crosses human boundaries.

 

Jesus tells the story of a man who was beaten, robbed and left for dead. Two “spiritual” men saw the man laying in a ditch, they crossed to the other side. Whatever was happening they wanted no part in it. A traveller, a man who would not be welcomed in any town stopped to help the man. The traveller, a Samaritan, one who was despised, stopped. In being despised he knew what it was to be in need and for no one to respond. The traveller brought the injured man to safety. He took care of the wounded man, and then made arrangements for the care to continue.

 

          Hatred separates us. Hatred makes me focus on myself, as I view you as being what is wrong. Hatred strips me of my humanity, as I remove yours. Love restores. In the awkward language of the Goat Herder’s Guide we have been exhorted to love. Repeatedly we are told that we are to love each other. It is through love that the will of God is fulfilled. We need to step away from hatred and those who traffic in it. While hatred might coerce, Love compels. We are called to love.

 

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man?” Jesus asked.

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

 

          Be angry, Jesus was. Anger is powerful. But anger on its own doesn’t change anything, it needs the action of love. One of the most remarkable aspects of Martin Luther King Jr. was his insistence that they act in love. The power of the crucifixion is love. Like the Samaritan, Jesus was a despised one. His death was intended to be slow, painful, and most of all shameful. Yet, it was love that brought him out of the grave. It was love that had him pray for those who were killing him, his enemies. This is a powerful love, one to be reckoned with. 

 

Jesus told the expert in the law, “Go and do likewise.”

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan can be found in Luke 10.25 – 37.

 

Anyway, that is my opinion.