Divine Interruptions

The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that loving God and loving our neighbour are inextricably linked. In the parable, the priest who passed the man by, probably had legitimate reasons not to stop, perhaps he had a long journey ahead and needed to make it home before dark, perhaps he had pressing responsibilities at the temple in service of God, perhaps stopping for the man would have caused him to become ritually unclean under the law, perhaps he thought someone else would attend to the man.

We may shake our heads at the thought of the priest attending to his business over the needs of the man, but how often do we do the same with much lesser excuses?

We should ask ourselves why we are easily distracted by just one more show on Netflix or scrolling endlessly through social media, but irritated by a person who needs to talk when we need to get out the door. Jesus showed us that people are a priority, and the believer can model that, even in the busyness of modern life.

To love and serve others you have to be willing to be interrupted. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions...”

The full sermon can be watched here https://npconnect.snappages.site/media/3x68882/love-your-neighbour-the-parable-of-the-good-samaritan