Daily Devotion for Saturday 16th August 2025

St Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 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 neighbour as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” 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.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  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. 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.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
 
Reflection

Jesus understood the power of story – and this is a good one.  A point clearly illustrated using a story.  Church Related Community Workers do the same thing in our communities – we listen to, and gather up, the stories of those we work amongst. We allow people to give voice to their concerns by telling us their story.  I wonder if Jesus knew his story would still be relevant 2000 years on?  He probably did – he’s the son of God after all!

Whenever I hear a story, I often wonder – what would I have done? With this parable, it seems quite relevant to my job – so what, as a Church Related Community Worker, would I have done? I hope I would have had the courage to help the injured traveller; we’re often called to find the courage to work outside our comfort zone. I also think that perhaps I might have been quite cross about what had happened and had a conversation with the innkeeper about how often these attacks took place. If it was a regular occurrence, what was wrong that might need addressing? Did other people feel the same about that stretch of road? Would I be able to start some kind of community action so that people could travel safely?

Of course, if the story was brought up to date then a badly lit stretch of road that was used by people walking home at night definitely calls for some community action around streetlights!

Working with communities helping each other to change lives for the better is our calling, and as a CRCW mine is a privileged position. There are people who think I do what I do to increase church numbers – but I do what I do because it needs doing. Only then can I build the trust of those outside church. And after all – Jesus never said that the Samaritan went on to persuade the injured man to become a Samaritan.
 
Prayer

Loving God,
help us to find the courage to step up,
the courage to step out,
and the courage to speak out
against everything that makes people less.
Help us in our desire to build your Kingdom
here and now, Amen.