Rain was a joy mentioned today at church. Patrick said, "The Holy Spirit falls on us daily like a gentle rain falling on the thirsty earth."
The children's sermon and the "big" sermon were about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus answered the question, "Who is my neighbor?" I couldn't believe that Patrick never mentioned the neighbor of all neighbors, Mr. Rogers. I'm sure Jesus was thinking about Mr. Rogers when he was explaining neighborliness to the "lawyer." But it would have confused the issue, having to explain television and all, so he just went with the Samaritan example. That worked out well too.
I think it would be wonderful to hear what you enjoyed about church today, whether you go to IUMC or somewhere else. Leave us a comment. THANKS!
2 comments:
Our pastor explained the good Samaritan story in a very literal way, and compared the set up of a priest and a Levite failing as similar to a joke "a rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar ..." And that the twist Jesus put on it was that instead of an Israelite or common person doing the right thing (as would be usual in that type of teaching story), it was the Samaritan, the lowest in social order. And she talked about how we have to be merciful -- stopping on the side of the road for people, etc. Which seemed scary to me. She said "you've got a phone, don't you?" As if the phone would protect you? I'm a constant struggle.
I like the joke analogy. And I wonder if the Samaritans saw themselves as the lowest social order or if that was just the Jewish perception. And could this be similar to the way some people look at Muslims today? I thought about carrying meal bars when walking in NYC and giving them out to people who look hungry, just giving them out on the way. Not a big thing, and I wouldn't give one to someone who looked dangerous. Small acts of kindness? A lot of things to think and wonder about. That's good.
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