Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 11th, 2022
In the Tenth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear about a "certain lawyer" who asked Our Blessed Lord how to "inherit eternal life." (v. 25) Our Lord in turn asked the lawyer what is written in the law? The lawyer anwered Our Lord's question saying: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (v.27) Not content with simply answering Our Lord's question correctly, the lawyer then wanted to know exactly who qualified as his neighbor. Our Lord answered his question by telling what has come to be known as the "Parable of the Good Samaritan." We have all heard this parable before. In essence, the Samaritan's were the hated and bitter rivals of the Jews. The Samaritans were the sworn enemies of the Jews. To the Jews, there was nothing good about the Samaritans. To the Jews, the Samaritans represented everything that was evil in the world. To the Jews, the Samaritans were worse than dirt. To the Jews, the Samaritans were filth. The Jews hated the Samaritans with a passion and wanted nothing to do with them whatsoever. And yet today this same passionate hatred still exists, doesn't it? Who is it that we simply can not stand? Is there one person or one group of people that we detest and despise with all our heart? When we think of someone who is totally evil, who do we think of? Is it someone who has a different political slant than us? Is it a Democrat? Is it a Republican? Is it someone who is a different race than us? Is it a White person? A Black person? A Hispanic person? Is it someone who is richer than us? Is it someone who speaks different than we do? Is there a "Samaritan" in your life? Is there someone you just can't stand? Is there someone who you want nothing to do with? Well, according to Our Lord's parable, that person is your neighbor as well. That person is capable of doing good. That person is worthy of our concern. That person is our neighbor as well. Our Lord told the parable to the lawyer in order to show him that even those whom we do not love are our neighbors too. It is difficult to love those whom we can not stand. This is true enough. But never forget that God sent His Son into the world to die on the Cross for those people too.
St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.
NOTE: Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.
Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to: hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life. Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.
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