Whisper How You Feel

by Hal Brady
 
Sometime back while driving to a meeting, I passed a florist truck. I couldn’t help but notice the advertisement on the side of the truck. The advertisement read: “Flowers whisper how you feel.” 
 
Undoubtedly, that’s true! Flowers do whisper how we feel. But perhaps even more, compassion whispers how we feel.  Jesus asked, “Which of these three do you think proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy upon him.” And then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10: 36, 37). Thus, we come face to face with one of the most gripping stories that Jesus ever told. In fact, it has won its way into the heart of humanity as none other with the exception of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

But this story of the Good Samaritan brings us face to face with flesh and blood people like ourselves and Jesus’ whole point of what it means to be a neighbor in the kingdom of God. 

So, the real point of this parable is not who is my neighbor, which is anybody in need, but how I should embody being a neighbor, living under the reign of God.

First, a true neighbor knows no boundaries! In this parable before us, Jesus makes it very clear that neighborliness has no boundaries. As you know, Jesus never identifies the man by the side of the road. He is only a “man” which means anyone at all (male, female, friend, foe, anyone). Underline it! The man by the side of the road represents anyone in need. The Samaritan simply enters into the wounded man’s situation. He had compassion on him. And, of course, the word compassion means to “suffer with.” Billy Graham said he would never forget when a man named Redd Harper came to Christ out in Hollywood. Harper said that to him the most amazing and thrilling thing after he came to Christ was this fact: “I found that I loved everybody, no matter what race or color, or creed they might be. I just wanted to go hug the whole world.”

Second, a true neighbor moves beyond generalities! Unlike the priest and the Levite in this story who passed by on the other side of the road, the Samaritan offered his help. He bound up the victim’s wounds with his own hands. In recent days, I had appendicitis, was operated on, and then spent 11 days in the hospital. Upon being dismissed I was informed that I would have a pic line inserted into my vein to allow the daily antibody to fight the infection. This would go on for 14 days. How was it going to happen? My daughter and her special friends learned the procedure and accomplished the task “hands on.” Generalities simply would have come up short, as they always do.

Third, a true neighbor gives and gives and keeps on giving! A true neighbor always gives and (let it be emphasized) a true neighbor always has something to give. 

The Samaritan took the wounded man to the inn. He paid the innkeeper to look after him. Note that the Samaritan was willing to look after the man as long as it took to get him well and back on his feet. James Stewart, in his book “King For Ever,” tells a of a lighthouse keeper whose days were spent on an isolated reef in the sea. Someone asked him one day, “Do you not feel like a prisoner way out here?” Swift as a flash came the answer, “Not since I saved my first man!” Jesus asked, “Which of these then, do you think proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” And we reply, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”
 
Dr. Hal Brady is a retired pastor who continues to present the Good News of Jesus Christ and offer encouragement in a fresh and vital way though Hal Brady Ministries (halbradyministries.com).