A modern version of the Good Samaritan Parable.
Then the president of the Woman’s Missionary Alliance stood up to test Jesus. “Jesus,” she said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (And everyone around got all quiet and listened because frankly, they were surprised that she had to ask such a question. Everyone knew that! For heaven’s sake, those words were printed on the city light poles, on banners at the local schools, and on the brand new welcome sign down at the local lake. It was so important, that they’d made it the town mission statement. What was she up to?)
And Jesus said to her (without any sarcasm in his voice at all), “Well, sister, what is our mission statement? How do you interpret it?”
She answered with confidence, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus responded, “Yep! That’s it! Just do that, and you will live a life that glorifies God not just now but for all eternity.”
She had another question, though. “But Jesus. Exactly who would you say is my neighbor?”
Jesus said, “Let me put it to you like this:
“A businessman was in the habit of exercising after work. At the office, he’d change from business attire to gym clothes, place his valuables in his backpack, and walk over to the downtown YMCA for a work-out before going home. One night, as he headed back to his car over near his office, he was jumped from behind and mugged. They stole all his credit cards, his iPhone, and his laptop. Then, they beat him and left him–broken, bloody, and unconscious–to die.
“Now by chance, the senior pastor of World’s Biggest Church was leaving a ministry meeting in the city and happened to walk right by the unconscious man. The thing was though, he still needed to update WBC’s website and Facebook page before he could go home; he hurried on to his office, asking Siri to remind him to look into the matter later.
“Likewise, the leader of the homeless ministry happened upon the injured man; of course, any other time, she would have stopped. (She would have!) But that night, she was on her way to B-SUB (Bible Study Under the Bridge), and she knew there would be a big crowd waiting on her. She kept walking.
“Then, an undocumented immigrant came along. When he saw the man, his eyes filled with tears, and he knelt beside the man. He noticed the guy’s t-shirt: torn and bloodied with a graphic and slogan that spewed hate. No matter, the immigrant carefully removed his own hoodie, folded it, and used it as a pillow for the man’s head; then he took off his coat and carefully draped it over him.
The immigrant called 911, remained with the man while awaiting the EMT’s, then followed the ambulance to the hospital. Once they arrived and he saw that the man was getting the appropriate care, the immigrant stopped by the front desk. Without hesitation, he gave them his credit card information to cover the man’s medical expenses and his cell phone number just in case there were any additional needs he might address.”
So, Jesus asked the woman, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who was mugged?”
And the woman said, “Um, well, in that story, I guess it would be the . . . uh . . . the one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to her, “Mercy. That’s it. Mercy.”
