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From the Pastor's Desk

Thoughts on Stewardship and the Good Samaritan

In life, we think of owning many different things: our money, our car, our home, etc. As we find out through experience, though, these things can actually come to own us – but that’s another story for another day.  When we look at what God’s Word has to say, we find that it takes us in a different direction than what we may have first thought about owning things. We read this: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). The deeper truth here is that we really own nothing. We merely manage what belongs to our Creator God who has entrusted the precious gift of life into our hands for a time. The question becomes how we will manage this gift.

In the Bible, one of Jesus’ well-known parables is that of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10%3A25-37&version=ESV). Take a moment and read through this passage of Scripture. Of the four Gospel writers, Luke alone records this parable of the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was attacked by robbers who took everything he had, and left him for dead by the side of the road. The telling of this parable was occasioned by a lawyer who asked Jesus two very telling questions: 1) “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and 2) “And who is my neighbor?” Those two questions are connected, as we shall see. We can look at the parable, and come to an understanding of ownership of things, from three different perspectives: 1) the robbers; 2) the priest and Levite; and 3) the Good Samaritan.

First, the robbers, who in robbing and beating the man, embody an understanding of ownership that is, “What’s yours is mine and I’ll take it.” We see this often in life. People, who by force or contrived legal means, take from others what is not theirs to take. It goes by many names: robbery, theft, larceny, etc. People may have worked hard to have these things, and they can be taken away in a moment. Of course, things can be replaced; people cannot. Respecting others and what is theirs is what the Seventh Commandment tells us: “You shall note steal.”

Second, the priest and Levite who did not render aid to the injured man lying by the side of the road, but passed by on the other side, embody an understanding of ownership that is, “What’s mine is mine, and I’ll keep it.” Their fear and suspicion held them back from giving help when and where it was needed. We can hold the things of this world too closely and miss the greater good that might be done through them for the sake of others who are around us.

Third, the Good Samaritan who stopped and help the injured man, who took him to an inn and cared for him, embodies an understanding of ownership that is, “What’s mine is yours, and I’ll share it.” The Good Samaritan, we are told, “had compassion,” and went to considerable trouble and expense to give assistance. He interrupted what he was doing and where he was going. He paid for the innkeeper’s services out of his own pocket. In other words, this cost him time, money, and personal involvement. The Good Samaritan points us to what God has done for us: rescuing us when we were dead in our sins and trespasses (Colossians 2:13); binding up our wounds not with oil and wine, but with the precious blood of Jesus; and in sending Jesus to be the One who rescued and redeemed us, had great compassion upon us all.

The attorney who asked Jesus those questions was then called by Jesus to go and do as the Good Samaritan had done. Jesus calls us to do the same; to see our neighbor as anyone who needs our help. As we think about what it means to have ownership of things in life, that understanding of “What’s mine is yours, and I’ll share it,” is what God would have us do. This is what will prove to be a blessing to others. May our use of the many things that our Creator God has placed into our hands be used not just for our own benefit and pleasure, but to render help to our neighbor, who is Christ in our midst.