Acting the Good Samaritan

There was an end of term feel to yesterday morning's service at Mossley Hill, with a party following at which lunch and cakes were served with proceeds going to our heating appeal. We have just about reached 50% of total, so are well encouraged.

The Gospel reading was the Good Samaritan, and I had some children acting out the story. They were brilliant, especially the young girl who played the thug, beating up the hapless victim - who happened to be her brother. She acted the part energetically: 'years of pent-up emotion', said their mother! The point I emphasised was that the question the teacher asked Jesus ('Who is my neighbour?') is different from the one Jesus asks him ('Which one was the neighbour?') - it's a distinction between law and grace. Law which says 'what should I do?' and grace which says 'how should I live?' It's interesting that Luke the evangelist tells us the teacher 'wanted to justify himself'. That's what law does: gives you the means of protecting yourself, making you secure within your own terms of reference. But that isn't necessarily the way of Christ, who went beyond established boundaries and paid the price. Ultimately, of course, it is Christ who is the Good Samaritan, showing pours out mercy upon fallen human beings. And he is also victim, who calls us to take risks as we meet him in the poor and needy.

I used the example of Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year old Pakistani teenager shot by a Taliban gunman for championing women's education. Last week, she addressed the United Nations Youth Assembly:

I am (not) here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban...I do not even hate the one who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned...This is the philisophy of non-violence I have learned...This is the forgiveness I have learned. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

I think the key word is 'learned'. Malala has been on an amazing journey, which has taken her from her small village to the UN. It has also been a journey to grace, releasing her from any sense of bitterness and strengthening her resolve for the cause she has espoused. A journey into grace is one we could all make: in short, it is about seeing the bigger picture, beyond our own personal circumstances to what God is doing in our life and in our world. That's something the teacher who met Jesus found it hard to do. It was all about him.