Today's Gospel contains the parable of the Good Samaritan which, together with that of the Prodigal Son are the two best known in the canon. Anyone who has attended church regularly has heard many sermons on both and probably feels they have heard it all and may safely sit back and catch 40 winks during the sermon. Certainly the lawyer knew his stuff, he had all the right answers and like most of us felt comfortable in the knowledge that he had made his peace with the world and was satisfied with the conclusions he had arrived at. Like us he did not want his world shaken up.
Today's lessons are a wake-up call for complacent Christians. Remember God can create believers from the stones at our feet or descendents of Abraham as the text says in Luke 3:8.
Mat 5:13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.
We in the Western World have become Cultural Christians. We assume we live in a Christian State, we have freedom of worship and we are not persecuted for our faith. Todays lessons ask the question, have we become too comfortable?
If you look at census figures the most common religious affiliation is fast becoming 'none'. More and more young people are deciding that conventional religion no longer has relevance to their lives. Churchly stands on human reproduction, sexuality, the status of women, serve to strengthen this discontent.
The implication here is that if we decide we have the answers and have nothing new to learn our faith becomes calcified and rigid. If we are not growing and learning and renewing ourselves constantly then we are falling by the wayside like the priest and the Levite who walked by on the other side.
Today's lessons are a wake-up call for complacent Christians. Remember God can create believers from the stones at our feet or descendents of Abraham as the text says in Luke 3:8.
Mat 5:13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.
We in the Western World have become Cultural Christians. We assume we live in a Christian State, we have freedom of worship and we are not persecuted for our faith. Todays lessons ask the question, have we become too comfortable?
If you look at census figures the most common religious affiliation is fast becoming 'none'. More and more young people are deciding that conventional religion no longer has relevance to their lives. Churchly stands on human reproduction, sexuality, the status of women, serve to strengthen this discontent.
The implication here is that if we decide we have the answers and have nothing new to learn our faith becomes calcified and rigid. If we are not growing and learning and renewing ourselves constantly then we are falling by the wayside like the priest and the Levite who walked by on the other side.
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