GO AND DO LIKEWISE

Lectionary passage: Luke 10:25-37 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

“To inherit life eternal tell me what I have to do,”
        asked a calculating lawyer, just to see if Jesus knew.
Jesus turned the tables on him with a question that was fair:
        “What do you read in the law,” he asked him.  “What is written there?”
Then the lawyer quoted the commandment, thinking he was smart,
        about loving God with all one’s strength, and mind, and soul, and heart,
and one’s neighbor as oneself.  Thus he most certainly did give
        the right answer.  Jesus told him , “You do this and you will live.”
But to justify himself the lawyer then asked Jesus, “Who
        is my neighbor?”  Jesus answered him, as he was wont to do,
with a parable.  It was about a certain Jewish man
        who received the help he needed from a good Samaritan.
First a priest and then a Levite saw the man and passed him by.
        “Of the three, who was a neighbor to the man about to die?”
Now, the point of Jesus’ story he was quick to recognize;
        “Just the one who showed him mercy.”  Jesus said, “Go, do likewise!”
So to ask “Who is my neighbor?” only showed the lawyer’s sin.
        For one ought to ask oneself, “To whom have I a neighbor been?”
If the question that he asked deserves an answer it should be:
        Every person is my neighbor who has any need of me