The Parable of the Good Irishman Part 2

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10:29-37

Jesus’s story has an unlikely hero, the Samaritan. Samaritans were descendants of the tribes of Israel that had split from Judah to become the nation of Israel under the leadership of kings like Ahab and Queens like Jezebel who led the people into the idolatrous worship of the Baals. They were of mixed blood, they read an inferior version of Hebrew Scriptures, and they didn’t recognize the need to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. As a result, they were marginalized and hated by good Jews.

How does Jesus’s story answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” How do you think the law expert felt about having to acknowledge that the Samaritan was his neighbor too? Is there anyone who ISN’T your neighbor? If Jesus were telling the story today, who do you think he would make the hero?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

The Parable of the Good Irishman?

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10:25-29

This law expert had the correct answer, but applied it incorrectly. That he wanted to justify himself indicates that he regularly limited his definition of “neighbor.” How easy it is to define our neighbor as “those who look like me, think like me, believe like me, and/or behave like me.” The rest can be ignored or treated as “other.” The Irish, upon their arrival in the US, were frequently depicted as ape-like beasts – less than human, alien. Other immigrants have had the same experience. Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists. Anyone from the Middle East is a terrorist. Africans are sub-human and uncivilized.

Time for confession… When have you limited your definition of “neighbor.” What was the basis of excluding a person or a group of people from that definition? If they are not your neighbor, what are they? How does the limited definition of “neighbor” make it easier to do harm to those we exclude?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Mark 12:28-34

Jesus’s answer to the law professor’s question brings together two Scriptures – Deuteronomy 4:4 -5 and Leviticus 19:18. This is the first time in the Bible that these two separate “love” commands are unified. The first command relates to our “vertical relationship” with God, while the second relates to our “horizontal relationships” with others. We often hear that we need to be in right relationship with God as if the vertical is primary and the horizontal is secondary. Jesus doesn’t allow us to disconnect them. To be right with God demands being right with others, and to be right with others is necessary for being right with God. The kingdom of God is experienced only when the vertical and the horizontal are connected.

Why do you think we’ve kept “loving our neighbors” secondary (and optional)? Is loving our neighbor the same as loving God. Why or why not?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18 (GNT)

What does”self-love” look like? If you applied that standard of love in your relationships with others, what would you stop doing? What would you start doing?

Why do you think this verse ends with the emphatic statement, “I am the Lord”?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

Peacemakers sow seeds of peace.

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is a documentary that tells the remarkable story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee and the courageous Liberian women who came together to pray, protest, and bring about a peaceful end to a bloody civil war. This inspiring film from Academy Award-nominated director Gini Reticker and acclaimed producer Abigail E. Disney shows how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

The documentary is available for rent on Amazon Prime, and iTunes and Google Play.

¹³ If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. ¹⁵ For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. ¹⁸ And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:13-18

How do you see “earthly wisdom” working on a local and global level? Do you see any evidence of “wisdom from above” at work locally and globally? Do you think something like the Nobel Peace Prize plants seeds of peace on the global level? If so, how? In what ways can you plant seeds of peace where you live?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

⁵ And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”⁶ And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ⁷ All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

Revelation 21:1-7 (NLT)

This is John’s vision of the new creation. How is life in the “new earth” different from the “old earth”? What part of the “new” is most appealing to you? If God is going to re-create and make all things new, what do you think our relationship to the old creation should be? Is there any point to making things better now on the “old earth”? Why or why not?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

¹⁷ “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
    and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
¹⁸ Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
    And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
    Her people will be a source of joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
    will be heard in it no more.

²⁰ “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
    No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
    Only the cursed will die that young!
²¹ In those days people will live in the houses they build
    and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
²² Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
    and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
    and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
²³ They will not work in vain,
    and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
    and their children, too, will be blessed.
²⁴ I will answer them before they even call to me.
    While they are still talking about their needs,
    I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
    The lion will eat hay like a cow.
    But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Isaiah 65:17-25 (NLT)

Once again, Isaiah describes the the future world under the influence of God’s “Shalom.” How is life different in this new creation as compared to the old? God says, “I am creating…,” not “I will create..” In other words, the new heavens and new earth are already being formed. Where do you see the new creation already in existence? What do you think God wants you to do as a co-creator of the new?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

¹⁷ “Your rulers will no longer oppress you;
I will make them rule with justice and peace.
¹⁸ The sounds of violence will be heard no more;
Destruction will not shatter your country again.
I will protect and defend you like a wall;
You will praise me because I have saved you.

¹⁹ “No longer will the sun be your light by day
Or the moon be your light by night;
I, the Lord, will be your eternal light;
The light of my glory will shine on you.

Isaiah 60:17b-19 (GNT)

God promises a change in leadership from rule by oppression to rule by peace and justice. What do you think “rule by oppression” looks like? How would “rule by peace and justice” be different? Isaiah connects “rule by peace and justice” to a reduction of violence and war. Would it be logical to assume that violence and wars would increase under the “rule by oppression?” Why or why not?

Take a moment to evaluate the “rulers” in your location at the local, state and national levels. What type of rule do they follow? What could you do to make sure they rule by peace and justice?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

⁶ A child will be born to us.
    A son will be given to us.
    He will rule over us.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God.
He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever
    and Prince Who Brings Peace.
⁷ There will be no limit to how great his authority is.
    The peace he brings will never end.
He will rule on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom.
    He will make the kingdom strong and secure.
His rule will be based on what is fair and right.
    It will last forever.
The Lord’s great love will make sure that happens.
    He rules over all.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIRV)

We usually associate this prophecy with Christmas and Handel’s ‘Messiah’. In the Christian tradition, the child that is born is none other than the babe in the manger – Jesus – whose name means ‘Savior.’ The vision is powerful. God sends a ruler that transforms the political and social landscape and establishes enduring peace through policies of justice. We believe that the prophecy will ultimately be fulfilled at the return of Christ.

How do you think we are supposed to live in this ‘in-between’ time waiting for the prophecy’s fulfillment? We often think that if only we elected the right person to leadership, every problem would be solved. In the end, we are always disappointed. Can this prophecy help guide us when selecting our leaders? If so, how?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.