Thought for the Day - Thursday 16 July

Thought for the Day – Thursday 16^th July

‘On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘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 neighbour as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He

went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”’ (Luke 10: 25-37)  

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

The question of eternal life is one which often comes up in conversations – well with me anyway - particularly in conversations which young people and those seeking to know if they should follow Jesus in their own lives but also in those of later years as the realisation that their life is drawing to a close comes ever nearer. Funeral visits are often another time when this question arises as families seek reassurance that they will see their loved one again.   

With the young folk, although not exclusively with them, the question is often followed by more questions focusing on how they can have eternal life if their body is buried in the ground or cremated which leads to all sorts of conversations about how they live their life and resurrection and what a heavenly body may be as opposed to an earthly body. I usually take time too to explain that no one has ever come back to tell us what eternal life is like and so we just have to have faith and believe there will be eternal life – which as you can imagine leads to even more questions!

With older people the question often leads to a time of reflection on the life they have lived with them wondering and hoping if it will be judged to have been a fruitful life and one worthy of eternal life.

In relation to grieving families it seems that even if they are not part of a faith community they still voice their hopes of eternal life, so by questioning eternal life, in a way, they are showing a belief in eternal life and hold hope in their hearts that they will ‘be’ with their loved one once more – perhaps this is actually a seed of faith.

Yet, this question here goes a little deeper than just questioning what eternal life might be – for the question the law expert asked of Jesus was - “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Hence his parable of the Good Samaritan and his assertion to ‘Go and do likewise’!

Which really brings us back again to sowing those seeds of love!

So, the question of belief in an eternal life and “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Well, I came across a quote recently and thought perhaps it might help us reflect on that question “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” and those words at the end of this parable to ‘Go and do likewise’ - or as we have been saying all week go and so sow seeds of love. The quote is from Blaise Pascal who was born in June 1923 and died in August 1962:

‘Those who live as if there was no after-life will gain nothing if they are proved to be right and will lose everything if they are proved to be wrong. Those who live as if the present influences the next world, have lost nothing if they are proved to be wrong and will have gained everything if they are proved to be right.’

Food for thought!

Prayer

Loving Lord,

Bless us in all we do as we try to love you with all our heart and soul and strength and mind. Give to us a willingness to reach out to our neighbours in love and be merciful in all we do in your name. Keep us faithful in our beliefs of life with you for all eternity and help us to live out our lives in the present as those who know such a promise. In Jesus name we pray. Amen