St Philip & St James Church

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Trinity

The lawyer who questioned Jesus knew the right answer. You have to love God and love your neighbour as yourself. ‘So what’s your question?’ asked Jesus. 

The lawyer’s question was, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ In other words, ‘Who do I have to worry about and who can I ignore?’ ‘Where do the boundaries of the neighbourhood lie?’

And so Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan: a story about a man, whom the lawyer would not have treated as a neighbour; a man who was a real neighbour to a man who needed help; a man who needed help with whom the lawyer would have identified himself.  It is one of the key transformational stories that Jesus told.

Let me tell you a story.

 

Two of our national newspapers ran a story last week about the RNLI. The articles quoted two MP’s who were critical of the fact that the RNLI was spending 2% of its income overseas while making cuts to staff and services in this country.

One of the MP’s said  'The fact the RNLI are cutting staff in the UK but boosting spending on these international projects begs the question of what the priority of the organisation is? They are risking the reputation of the charity.  I would say 99 per cent of the British public giving money to them have not the faintest idea it's being diverted to projects overseas.' 

People began to cancel their standing orders. These MP’s who presumed that people in this country do not want to help people who live in other countries seemed to have been proved right.

Then a funny thing happened. People started contacting the RNLI asking how they could donate money to them. Teaching girls in East Africa and Bangladesh how to swim so they don’t drown seems to be something that people in this country are prepared to get behind and support.  It now looks as if the income of the RNLI is going to increase because of its work overseas rather than decrease.

There are voices in our country that tell us we should not love our neighbour. They say we should place limits on whom we should show mercy to. 

But those voices will not have it all their own way. The good news of the parable of the good Samaritan is alive and well in this country. We should not lose heart. We should question those who tell us we will want to place a limit on our love for our neighbour. We can go out boldly and ‘do likewise’ as our Saviour commanded us to do.

Page last updated: Wednesday 18th September 2019 8:57 AM
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