Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10.30-37

As we continue to prepare our hearts for Advent this season we continue in Luke 10 remembering that God wants us to fully worship Him. The words of the Mosaic law expert in Luke 10.27 is the emphasis of what Jesus is trying to explain and help the man understand, as the lawyer quoted Deuteronomy 6.5 saying, “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.” So, what should our worship look like? What kind of offering would display God most glorious? According to the text and the picture of today’s text, I believe the answer is loving all.

One who worships Jesus with the entirety of who he is, is also one “loving their neighbors as themselves” (Luke 10.27), and as Jesus says, “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13.34). So, church, what if we do something this advent season. What if we said we are not going to just go to church, sing our songs, and listen to a message, instead we are going to be the church, live out the songs we sing and deliver the gospel message to others. Jesus said, “do this and you will live”.

So, God wants us to worship Jesus fully and love others. There are some threats to that this season. We will be around some people this season that will be hard for us to show love and compassion to. Think about the compassion of the Samaritan. He is an outcast to society and disliked by many and is traveling down a risky road. To walk down it is one thing (risky) and then to stop is another (very risky). The easy thing to do would be to mind your own business like the religious people did so you wouldn’t risk your own life. He chooses the not-so-easy-love and helps this complete stranger by cleaning up his wounds and bandaging him up. He took him to an inn and took care of him. This is compassion.

We usually choose easy love – loving those who love us. “Jesus says what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same” (Luke 6.32-33). May we not be prejudice in our love and love those who are hard to love, being merciful as the Father has been merciful to us.

Take the risk this Advent season and love like the Samaritan. Take time to get to know your neighbors, take them a Christmas treat or small gift or serve them in some way. Invite them to an Advent service or to the Christmas Eve service. Build a bridge to them, a family member or a co-worker this Advent season and show the compassion of this first-century risk-taker.

Weekly Memory Verse: You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16.11