"And who is my neighbor?"

                  

Monday musical meditations on God's good news






















An opening prayer:

    Though I may speak with bravest fire, 
    And have the gift to all inspire,
    And have not love, my works are vain
    As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

    Though I may give all I possess, 
    And striving so, my love profess,
    But not be given by love within,
    The profit soon turns strangely thin.

    Come, Spirit, come; our hearts control,
    Our spirits long to be made whole.
    Let inward love guide every deed;
    By this we worship and are freed. Amen.

Luke 10:25–37

  • On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

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

    27 He answered, “ ‘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.’”

    28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

    29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

    36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

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

    Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Good news questions

  • What do you lack, when it comes to the love God requires?
  • How did Jesus fulfill his own parable in your place to save you?
  • What are your favorite results from all God gives you in Jesus?

For others pray

J.S. Bach's beautiful music for today

  • BWV 164 (YouTube, "You Who Get Your Name from Christ")
  • If you get your name, Christian, from Christ, do you show others the compassion of Christ?
  • Do you pour oil and wine on others' wounds?
  • "Only through love and compassion," the cantata says, "do we become like Christ."
  • God, let us not show love to others only out of obligation, but out of true compassion.

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