Who is your neighbor?
‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ – Luke 10:27
March 11, 2020
“And who is my neighbor?” is the question an expert in the law goes on to ask Jesus in Luke 10:29. Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan. The story is of a man that had been robbed and left half dead. A priest was walking toward him, crossed to the other side of the road and went on by. A Levite did the same. But a Samaritan “saw him and took pity on him”. He stopped, bandaged his wounds, fed him and found him shelter at an inn. Not only that, he gave the innkeeper money to look after the man; and promised to reimburse him for any additional expenses when he returned.
The significance of this story is that the person Jesus commended was neither the religious leader nor the lay associate, but a hated foreigner. It didn’t have to be someone that was well versed, wealthy or even Christian; it had to be someone that would see, take pity and be willing to help someone in need. Jesus asserted that love has no boundaries be it economic, religious, racial, age or gender.
At Café Central we want to show “Good Samaritan” love to all of our “neighbors”. At a volunteer meeting one Tuesday before we started serving, one of our volunteers made this statement, “Everyone out there has a story and a struggle, the least we can do is smile and be kind.” It’s amazing how stopping, smiling and providing a hot meal, can, for just a moment, bring a little shelter and healing.
The end of this parable has Jesus asking the expert in the law, “which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus then told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37
“GO AND DO LIKEWISE!”
Until we “read” again…God Bless!
You can GIVE anytime at: https://cafecentralmilledgeville.org/give/
Or mail a check payable to: Café Central 500 Underwood Rd., Milledgeville, GA 31061
Stephannie Shelton
Stephannie and her husband Doug have been volunteering at Cafe Central for 6 years. They moved from Colorado to Milledgeville Georgia in 2015. That year during Sunday service, the announcement that Cafe Central needed extra help for their Thanksgiving service, brought them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have now served weekly since January 2016. Doug is the volunteer coordinator and member of the Cafe Central Board. Stephannie just likes to talk to, and about, the “family” Cafe Central has become.