As You Pray Let Him Change You
Luke 10:29, 36-37 –
‘But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ ………..
‘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.’
Some of the funniest exchanges I read on social media are when somebody – we’ll call them Bob – makes a big sweeping statement about – let’s say – chickens. Bob is challenged by somebody called Sally but scoffs at her input, proudly informing her that he has a GCSE in chickens. Sally politely replies that she has a PhD in chickens and wrote the GCSE textbook that Bob studied from. Bob doesn’t reply.
The ‘Bob’ in this story has started a conversation to assert his own worldview and justify his life choices. He makes the mistake of doing this with Jesus. Jesus leads him to an orthodox Jewish reading of the law. ‘Love God. Love your neighbour.’ Then Jesus does something extraordinary by flipping the question ‘Who is my neighbour?’ into ‘Who are you a neighbour to?’
‘Bob’ has to conclude that the neighbour is the one who shows mercy to others.
This week we have focused on prayer. As we pray for God to change the world around us, let’s give him permission to change us too. Like ‘Bob’ we may be surprised at what he shows us. Ronald Rolheiser puts it this way:
‘We want to be saints, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out.’*
‘Bob’ wanted to live life his own way but Jesus showed him a different path. What is the different path that Jesus is laying out for you today?
Prayer – Lord, just as we invite you into our impossible situations, we give you full access to our lives. Please reveal our failings and compromises and lead us in the way of Jesus.
*The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality