Far As The Curse Is FoundHuman Suffering & The Hope of Christmas

“Responding to a World of Hurt”

~ The Gospel of Luke 10:25-37 ~

“This book is nothing more nor less than

the account of a few humans who were entrusted with the

role of helping others taste the fruits of

peace.

“…Instead, we watched as the devil

took control of paradise on earth

and fed on the blood of the people we

were supposed to protect….”

“We will recommend that our government NOT intervene as the risks are too high and ALL THAT IS HERE

ARE HUMANS.”

“I can only answer the question, ‘What am I to do?’ if I can

answer the prior question, ‘Of what

story do I find myself a part?”

~ Alasdair MacIntyre Scottish Philosopher

“The whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the

whole world. ”~ NT Wright, Scholar

& Retired Bishop

Far As The Curse Is FoundHuman Suffering & The Hope of Christmas

“Responding to a World of Hurt”

~ The Gospel of Luke 10:25-37 ~

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put

Luke 10:25

him to the test, saying, “Teacher, whatshall I do to inherit eternal life…?”

He said to him, “What is written in

Luke 10:26

the Law? How do you read it?” Andhe answered, “You shall love theLord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all yourstrength and with all your mind, andyour neighbour as yourself.” And

he said to him, “You have answered

Luke 10:28

correctly; do this and you will live….”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said

Luke 10:29

to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour…?”

Jesus replied, “A man was going down

Luke 10:30-31

from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fellamong robbers, who stripped him andbeat him and departed, leaving him half dead….

down that road, and when he saw him

Luke 10:31-32

he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed byon the other side….

“Now by chance a priest was going

“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed,

Luke 10:33-34

came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.He went to him and bound up hiswounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal

“and brought him to an inn and took

Luke 10:34-35

care of him. And the next day he tookout two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him,and whatever more you spend, I willI will repay you when you come back.”

“Maybe it would be something like an Islamic fundamentalist helping an evangelical Christian who was injured in a terrorist

attack. It was the last thing anyone would expect.”

“Which of these three do you think

Luke 10:36

proved to be a neighbour to the manwho fell among the robbers?” He said“The one who showed him mercy.”And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

According to Jesus, love is what a neighbour inserts

into a world of hurt.

Imagine our city filled with the kind of neighbours that Jesus was….

image credit: Michael Gil https://www.flickr.com/photos/msvg/16277726220/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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