Hi everyone,
We had a pretty full day yesterday of driving around doing errands and such, and very randomly our daughter in the back seat says, “[Oldest brother] is gifted in being smart, [second brother] is gifted in being strong, Mom is gifted in being a baker, Dad is gifted in being cool, and I’m gifted in being weird.”
Now, I can swear up and down in saying that I didn’t teach her this, but I probably did in some roundabout way. I had to remind her that she isn’t “weird” as much as she is “unique” as we all are. I said instead of labelling herself as weird, maybe she can be the funny one, or the silly one, or the one who just sees the world in the way that she does. Yeah, so maybe weird is the correct term.
But hey, she knows we are still a family with all our differences. We still love each other. And we still share the same last time whether we like it or not.
Here are the readings for next week:
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25:1-10
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
And a video of these texts being read:
This is the very famous Good Samaritan story. We all heard it, we all know it, we might even love it. But what I find interesting is that everyone in Jesus’ parable is labelled somehow.
Of course, that is just how storytelling is, every character should be identified and differentiated from the others for it to be a coherent story. Otherwise it’d just be a mess of confusing plot points and story arcs. So Jesus give them all a name of some sort and a trait that they will be known for.
But the one that he focuses on, is that of neighbour. Who was the neighbour? And how could they tell?
The one who showed mercy. The one who cared for the stranger. The one who loves.
At the same time, the man who fell into the hands of robbers did nothing. While the story revolves around him, he actually doesn’t do anything. Nothing to save himself, nothing to return the favour, nothing to earn what he has received.
So while the one who showed mercy acted like the neighbour, they were all neighbours worthy of that mercy. They are siblings saved by grace. They are all children graciously loved by a benevolent God and welcomed into God’s eternal family and kingdom.
And we are called to go and do likewise.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!