In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“[T]he law teaches,” St Theophylact of Ohrid tells us,
that man must give each and every part of himself entirely to God, and must expend all the forces of his life in loving God. When the law says, with all thy heart, it speaks of that force of human life that is purely physical and organic, a force likewise present in plant life. When the law says, with all thy soul, it speaks of that force of human life which feels, a force likewise present in animals. When the law says, with all thy mind, it speaks of that power which is unique to man, the intellect. With all thy strength means that we must use all these powers to pull our stubborn selves to God.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we are to love God with our whole selves, not only partially but fully. And I know this in my heart but I still baulk at the second part of the commandment, “[love] your neighbour as yourself.” Because I want to limit my responsibilities, hide from my duties, conceal myself from what I owe. I, like the lawyer, know the Law but do not want to apply it.
So I come to the Lord, I stand before him, and he tells me a parable about me: I am the man journeying down from Jerusalem to Jericho, descending nearly three and a half thousand feet in altitude, around a thousand metres. I have failed to recognise who my neighbour is so I have lost my citizenship of the heavenly Jerusalem, and I must descend. And with my eyes set downwards it does not occur to me to repent, to turn and return my gaze to the Jerusalem on high, and the demons attack me and leave me for dead.
And while I have forgotten the living God, he has not forgotten me. After two others have passed by, he—in the person of the Samaritan—cares for me and provides for my return to health. Staying in the inn by the road, I am healed; yet the narrative abruptly stops and the Lord speaks not through a parable but directly to me. “And this commandment we have from [the Lord]:” says the Beloved Disciple, “that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:21) So when the Lord directly asks me, “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” he is asking “which truly loves God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and with all his mind?”
The parable has ended yet I stand at the threshold of the inn. I have been healed, I have been made whole, not by my own efforts but by the efforts of the Samaritan. And I must choose my path. Do I turn again to the living God and look uphill to the heavenly Jerusalem or do I return to my descent away from him? Do I take as my example the Samaritan or not? And you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, which direction will you choose? Because to ascend Zion we must be willing to be neighbours, brothers and sisters, to all whom we meet whether they be rich or poor, with honour or without, saints or sinners. We must serve all and thereby we will honour Christ who has honoured and will honour us.
Let us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, turn uphill that we may each ascend to Jerusalem, ascend our own Golgotha, ascend to the Kingdom.
To our incarnate, crucified and risen Saviour Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and worship, together with his Unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord.
— Hebrews 7:26–28, 8:1–2
At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “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.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
— Luke 10:25–37