In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Regularly I stand before the Lord and I ask him, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” I know the answer but I want to justify my inaction. It is as if I am saying to him, “What’s the minimum I have to do? I have done enough already.” Because I lie to myself: I convince myself I am a virtuous person, an upstanding person, a person already expert in the ways of God and his Law: surely I have done enough.
And the Lord looks upon me with compassion. He knows my half-heartedness, my lukewarmness (see Revelation 3:16), yet calls me to answer my own question and I know I must reply, “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 neighbour as yourself.” So that loving God is not something I do, it should be something I am; every action should be an expression of my love for God. But this is expressed in my love for my neighbour, who should be to me as my brother. “If someone says,” the Beloved Disciple tells us,
‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
First John 4:20
But to make my point I tell the Lord, “And who is my neighbour?” “Who is as virtuous as I am,” I tell Christ, “who knows the Law of God as much as I do?” So the Lord describes to me my fall. “A man,” the Lord is describing me, “was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” I, like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32), have left the glory of God, left the Father’s House, left the heavenly Jerusalem, and am going down, becoming more sinful as I descend. And having reached a certain place where I ignore calls to turn around and return to Life, my sin catches up with me and I am stripped of much of what makes me a human being. Yet, even in this state the Lord does not abandon me yet acts in a way I do not expect.
He sends first those whom I consider to be my equals, those whom I flatter, whom I am willing to serve, who are my peers, yet they leave me alone. Yet one I consider far beneath me comes and does the will of God even when I did not—I should be the example to him yet he it is who is my example. He cares for me, he heals me, he puts me back in the right frame. And he shows me that my neighbour, the one whom I should love as being myself, is everybody.
And now, having been set back I stand at the threshold of the inn. Will I resume my journey down—away from God and away from his Kingdom? Will I ignore the free gift of eternal Life I have been given in Christ and turn again towards death. Or will I set my sights on the heavenly Jerusalem and journey uphill to the Kingdom? It is a hard road, a steep path, but one which leads to the glory of God.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are standing at the threshold of the inn. The Lord has sent to us help and support, care and healing, often from the most unexpected places, but we now have to make a choice, a decision. Which way will we journey: the path to death or the path to Life? Let us journey upwards, together, being a support to each other, a help to each other, carrying one another, that we may enter together into the joys of the Kingdom.
To our crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who heals us and gives us the means to repentance, be all glory, honour and might, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
— Second Corinthians 9:6–11
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