Luke 10:25-37.
(Today was my Sunday to lead morning prayer at the Community of Emmanuel at Inner City Pastoral Ministry. I took with me a large print of the Icon of Mercy, which was commissioned by the Taizé Ecumenical Community in France for its 75th anniversary in 2015. The icon is a beautiful writing whose symbolism has much to teach us. Below is what I shared with my friends, many of whom can relate to this story in many different ways. They look after each other so beautifully -- we see it every Sunday morning in the way people ARE community, caring for each other.)
Today I brought with me a beautiful icon, or holy writing, that illustrates Jesus’ answer to the neighbour question. The person who made this image spent a lot of time praying with Jesus’ story. In fact, this picture is that person’s prayer ---- in colour.
It is called the Icon of Mercy, and mercy means God’s compassion for all of us and within all of us.
In the centre of the icon is Jesus, dressed in white, the colour of holiness, with a green tinge that represents the Holy Spirit. Jesus has a kind face and is giving us a blessing with his right hand, and holding the Alpha and Omega on the bible, which represents Creator, who is the beginning and the end of all things – Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter.
All around Jesus are a series of six pictures that tell the story he told to the law expert in today’s Gospel reading.
It’s the story of the traveller being robbed and beaten out in the middle of nowhere, in the wildlands between Jerusalem and Jericho.
It’s the story of the priest and the temple official pretending not to see the injured one and walking by on the other side of the road, avoiding what could be a messy situation, though you would think that if they are true servants of God, they would stop to help!
It’s the story of the Samaritan, a person who in Jesus’ time was considered to be a heathen, a lowly person to be avoided by good Jewish people. But in Jesus’ way, he turns things upside down. The Samaritan is the truly good person, better even than the temple officials, and a hero who saw someone in a bad situation and did what was right. He picks the injured traveller up and puts him or her on a donkey.
It’s a story of care, the washing and binding of wounds with expensive oils and wines. But the Samaritan doesn’t just dump the person off and say, “Good luck friend, get well soon.”
It’s a story of ongoing care, of the Samaritan taking the injured traveller to an inn, and with his own money, seeing to it that the person is cared for, with a promise to pay all the extra costs upon his return.
And finally, it’s the story of the restoration of the injured one to community, as we see the healed person sitting with the Samaritan and the Innkeeper sharing food and drink like the holy trinity of another famous icon, celebrating wholeness and goodness and the fruit of compassion, which is love and community.
There are a few other interesting things to notice about this icon. First, the angels who are carrying a message at the top and bottom of the picture. It says, in French, As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers or sisters, you did it to me.
When icons like this one are written, different colours mean different things. For example, the angels are different colours: red, symbolizing love, passion, and sacrifice, blue, representing wisdom and divine compassion. And the colour green, which the Good Samaritan is wearing, represents the Spirit of God. The writer of the icon is telling us that the Samaritan is acting with Creator’s mercy, Creator’s compassion in all these pictures. God’s spirit is with and in the Samaritan.
But what interests me the most is the injured person. In each of the pictures, he or she is wearing the same colour as the central figure of this icon, Jesus. In other words, anyone who is hurting, anyone in trouble, anyone experiencing misfortune, is where we find Jesus in our world. Jesus identifies with all who are struggling or lost or hurting in any way, and he wants his followers to do the same. He wants us to do the same. Aren’t those his last words to the lawyer when he answers that the neighbour is the one who showed compassion? “Then go, and do the same,” Jesus says.
I invite us all to take a deep breath and think about the question, “who is my neighbour?”
Straighten your spine if you can and breathe in and out gently and quietly. Let your heart slow, and your body come to stillness.
What kind of a neighbour am I?
As you breathe in and out, know that you are God’s beloved, that Creator loves you just as you are this very minute.
Imagine God picking you up and wrapping God’s arms around you in a warm and tender embrace, holding you as gently as a mother holds a newborn child.
Just relax into God’s arms.
God is looking at you with love, and listening to whatever you want to say.
Now is a time when you can whisper into God’s ear how you are feeling.
Are you feeling like the traveller, encountering trouble on your journey?
Are you like the Good Samaritan, seeing people in need and offering help?
Or do you need some sort of assistance yourself?
In the quiet of these next few moments, let God know what is on your mind and heart.
....
Creator says to you,
I hear you, my beloved.
I am listening.
I am with you in every breath you take, in every thought you think, in every word you speak.
Even when things are difficult, especially when things are difficult, I am with you.
And when things are good and beautiful, I am in those things, too.
I am the courage that helps you to hope,
I am the strength that helps you to heal,
I am the joy that makes you laugh and dance and celebrate.
I am the love in you that helps you to reach out and care for others.
I am.
Rest in me.
Trust in me.
Turn your worries and joys over to me.
I love you with an everlasting love.
And we gently open our eyes, and say to Creator,
Thank you. Hiy Hiy.
+Amen.
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