Stated Clerk's Column
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About This Column
Written by Gradye Parsons
Each month the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Moderator or Vice Moderator of the 220th General Assembly write a column of general interest for the church-at-large.
Recent posts
- June 2016 - A journey of faith—Gradye Parsons
- May 2016 - A distinct family portrait of the PC(USA)
- April 2016 - Pack your mission T
- March 2016 - The hard work of reconciliation
- February 2016 - Sustainable ministry results from sustainable souls
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August 2015 - Celebrate your neighbors
My grandson is at the age where my and mine can become rather loud. He also is very committed that whatever he is eating is shared by everyone else. If you don’t mind the sticky hand that is offering goldfish crackers to you, it can be a sweet learning moment.
In Luke 10 we have a grownup trying to learn this lesson. A lawyer stands up and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him what the law says and the man replies correctly. Then the big question comes. “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus sees this as an educational moment. It is a moment containing not just information, but also transformation. A literal answer might have sufficed for the day but would have left the lawyer with a smaller soul, not a larger one.
The story we know as the Good Samaritan brings together elements of a crime story, a pair of callous religious leaders and an unlikely compassionate hero. The lawyer might have liked the crime story since it was his arena of life. Poking fun at the two religious workers would have appealed to the crowd gathered since no doubt they suffered from similar snubs. But Jesus surprises them all with the hero—a hero that makes them rethink everything they know and believe about prejudice.
Education is like that, especially spiritual education where you think you are learning a fact. That fact has a funny way of becoming a factor in the way you live. You live a life where you celebrate all of your neighbors on this little planet.
Good ole John Calvin said it this way:
“All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors.”
Those blessings include being loved in Jesus Christ, forgiven with tons of grace, and equipped to live a worthy life. And yes to remembering to always share your goldfish crackers.
- Posted at 1:09 p.m.
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