Good Samaritan
Recently I read the story of a Nursing Home in California that refused to assist a resident with CPR due to the danger of litigation. The 911 operator literally begged the nurse on the phone to do something so that the woman wouldn't die. But the Nursing Home's protocol prevailed and they waited for an ambulance instead. Sadly, the woman didn't survive. (see the story and hear the 911 call here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/03/04/06/18/nurse-refuses-to-perform-cpr-on-dying-woman)
It made me think about Jesus' great parable here in Luke 10. Imagine if the Samaritan hadn't come along, and only the priest and Levite happened across the wounded man. They were so worried about ritual uncleanness and getting too involved that they would have let the man die.
Jesus was not so much a human driven by protocol and His own protection. As the Son of God, He wasn't consumed about His rights and the honor that was due Him. Quite the contrary. He was so driven by our need that He allowed Himself to be beaten, mocked and crucified. He died so that we might live and He rose from death so that we might live forever.
Are you driven by human need? Are you ready to get your hands dirty in compassionate care and generous self-sacrifice? Or are you sometimes like the priest and Levite -- so consumed by anxieties about your own protection that you walk by on the other side?
May the Jesus who offered you His own body and blood on this Holy Thursday enable you also to give of yourself to others -- perhaps even in spite of the inconvenience, expense, or danger.
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