Friday 11 December 2015

252. Rock Goes The Gospel - Talking Heads "No Compassion"


Talking Heads: 77 is the debut album by the rock band Talking Heads, released in September 1977. The single "Psycho Killer" reached #92 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. In 2003, the album was ranked #290 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. In his 1995 book, The Alternative Music Almanac, Alan Cross placed it in the #5 spot on his 10 Classic Alternative Albums list. The album was released by Sire Records in the UK and US and Philips Records throughout continental Europe. In 2005, it was remastered and re-released by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format with five bonus tracks on the CD side. The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and videos of the band performing "Pulled Up" and "I Feel It in My Heart". In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.The album was re-released on vinyl on April 18, 2009. "No Compassion" is track  six on side one.


In a world
Where people have problems
In this world
Where decisions are a way of life
Other people's problems they overwhelm my mind
They say compassion is a virtue, but I don't have the time

So many people...have their problems
I'm not interested...in their problems
I guess I've...experienced some problems
But now I've...made some decisions
Takes a lot of time to push away the nonsense
Take my compassion...Push it as far as it goes
My interest level's dropping, my interest level is dropping
I've heard all I want to and I don't want to hear any more

What are you, in love with your problems?
I think you take it...a little too far
It's...not so cool to have so many problems
But don't expect me to explain your indecisions
Go...talk to your analyst, isn't that what they're paid for
You walk, you talk...You still function like you used to
It's not a question...Of your personality or style
Be a little more selfish, it might do you some good

In a world where people have problems
In this world where decisions are a way of life
Other people's problems, they overwhelm my mind
They say compassion is a virtue, but I don't have the time

Here we go again





"No Compassion" is a track about just that. Someone having no compassion for what is happening in the world or sympathy for others in their times of need. This track fits very well with the parable Jesus told about the Good Samaritian. It's the dominant feeling that comes from the priest and the levite. The contrast is the dominant feeling that the samaritan has for the injured man on the road. Luke 10 tells the story once more. 



A biblical name for the drying up of compassion is hardness of heart. The biblical images of hardening one’s heart are used to describe individuals and communities that have become blind to the pain and suffering of other people. Hardness of heart blocks grace and denies God’s spirit, which calls us to be compassionate in our personal conduct and to build compassion in our communities and institutions. When there is lack of compassion in societies, it is often perceived that God has abandoned His people. When the truth about Auschwitz concentration camp, the massacre of Hiroshima and the senseless killings in Vietnam was revealed, God was put on trial. Is God guilty of hardness of heart? Has God abandoned the world? Can there be authentic Christian faith that does not honestly wrestle with the agony of the human situation? What kind of God reigns in the midst of widespread hunger, poverty, and oppression ? 


What does it mean to be a Christian in world that is subjected to a recession, a world that experiences an economic meltdown? The question of God’s hardness of heart or abandonment of this world can be a necessary step towards our involvement in the world as responsible Christians. World poverty, oppression and exploitation should put on trial both human compassion and our belief in an all powerful God. Because, Christians who seriously consider the reality of hunger, economic exploitation, and injustice, eventually meet a God who suffers. The agony of the world, reflected in the pain of the millions of starving children, causes God to suffer. The suffering of both the world and God is alleviated when I and you become instruments of healing, hope and justice. God works through our compassionate action. Conversely, God suffers, and hunger and injustice thrive when you and I lack compassionate action. And all of this Jesus demonstrate in a very practical way through a parable.


I have heard several sermons on this parable and I am sure that some of you have even heard more. But I am almost certain that the majority of these sermons concluded with the appeal to be nice to other people. People have too narrow a definition of compassion. Compassion seems bound by the familiar, the noncontroversial. Definitions of compassion is nearly always associated with personal relationships and divorced from social problems such as oppression and economic exploitation. It is in this context that we need to consider the response of Jesus when one of the scribes who “desiring to justify himself” ask Jesus “and who is my neighbour”. Jesus responds with a description of a real-life situation.

Many of the priests who served in the temple in Jerusalem lived in Jericho. Some of them were returning home after completing their duties in the temple. Robberies were common along the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite come across a victim who was robbed and passed by on the other side of the road. But the Samaritan, when he saw him, he was moved with pity, and went to him and bandaged his wounds…and took care of him. But what is it that Jesus is saying to us through this parable?


Firstly, the parable of the Good Samaritan is not about being good or bad; it is a story about compassion. We often interpret the meaning of this parable from the perspective of one of the characters e.g. the Samaritan, the Levite or the priest. The problem with such an interpretation is that we individualise and personalise the meaning of the parable and therefore loose much of what it is saying. We either bask in the false glory of self-righteousness behaviour or we sink deeper into guilt, which reinforces our sense of our own worthlessness. The truth is that we are all of the characters in the story: scribe, priest, Levite, Samaritan, and victim. Each one of us is capable of denying or giving birth to compassion.
Secondly, Jesus defines neighbour in a far broader sense than the scribe expected. The Jews could not imagine a good or compassionate Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans were enemies. The example of a compassionate Samaritan was repulsive to the scribe. When Jesus asks: “Who proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” the scribe could not bring himself to use the word “Samaritan”. He instead said “the one who had mercy on him”. Jesus, by using a compassionate Samaritan in the story, is telling the scribe that the breaking into history of God’s kingdom involves a redefinition of neighbour. 

Thirdly, Jesus gives the term “neighbour” the force of a verb. The neighbour is someone who seeks out others in need, he “neighbours” them. Liberation theologian Gustavo Gutièrrez wrote: “The neighbour was the Samaritan who approached the wounded man and made him his neighbour. The neighbour … is not he whom I find in my path, but rather in whose path I place myself, he whom I approach and actively seek”. Being a neighbour implies action. We create a neighbourly relationship between ourselves and others through compassionate action. Compassion or neighbourliness is not simply a matter of sentiment or good intentions. It involves action that seeks to effectively alter the situation of those who are in need. The Samaritan “had compassion … bound his wounds … set him on his own donkey … brought him to an inn … took care of him … and gave” money to the innkeeper. We become neighbours through compassionate action.

Fourthly, in the parable Jesus tells us that it is easier to be compassionate with those whom we know well or who are similar to us. Conversely, it is more difficult to be compassionate with those who are racially, economically, nationally or otherwise different. Jews despised Samaritans; they were considered as being racially inferior. Jews did not consider Samaritans their neighbours. “Crossing over to the other side of the road” can be a metaphor for distancing ourselves from the claims of others on our humanity. Suburban development is a means by which middle-and upper-class families physically separate themselves from the poor. Ideology is an effective tool of separation. The word “communist” distort debate about key issues. Racism and sexism are other common ways of keeping individuals and groups of people “out”. So it is clear that we have become very creative in creating vehicles that can take us "to the other side of the road", to justify our indifference, our aloofness towards the poorest of the poor, one of the most vulnerable category of workers. Against this backdrop of physical, ideological and sociological separation from the poor, the parable of the compassionate Samaritan reminds us that compassion means identification with the needs and humanity of our neighbours.  Samaritans were despised, ridiculed, abused, and oppressed. Perhaps his own daily experiences of oppression made the Samaritan in Jesus’ story more likely to be in tune with the needs of someone who was beaten and left for dead on the road to Jericho. Jesus’ call to compassionate action cuts through stereotypes of race, culture, and ideology, and affirms our common humanity, our oneness with God.


Fifthly, compassion is not something that can be legislated. Levites and priests were religious professionals. They are expected to be models of the faith. Even though all of them, including the Samaritan, lived under the Torah, only the Samaritan acted compassionately. There is no indication that the Samaritan acted out of a sense of duty. The point is not that laws are bad or that Jesus was opposed to the law. Jesus was a Jew who had great respect for Jewish law. However, Jesus opposed legalism, which violates the spirit and intent of the laws of God which was meant to encourage justice and compassion. Jesus understood that laws can be circumvented, ignored, or interpreted inflexibly. Compassion and the situation of the neighbour, on the other hand, daily implore believers to open their hearts to the pain of others and respond to their situation with compassionate action. Laws are important but they cannot of themselves overcome hardness of heart or ensure justice. Most of the economic policies that result in widespread hunger are legal. Despair, indifferences, callousness, and selfishness can be legal. Fair and equitable legal systems are a necessary component of justice but they are not a substitute for compassion.


Sixthly, compassion is risky, it can be dangerous. Compassion demands emotional and physical risk. We need to rip open our conscience and explore our complicity in the suffering of others. Those of us who are adequately fed should acknowledge our fear of being victims. We should also be honest and say that we are glad that we are not hungry but that we often express our gratitude in ways that are fearful and self-centred rather than compassionate. One reason why we are afraid to take risks for others is our enslavement to a sense of powerlessness and guilt. We assume inadequacy of our response to complicated issues such as hunger, evictions, poverty and injustice and thereby condemn ourselves and others to self-fulfilling prophecies of gloom.


Compassion may involve risky bodily harm as well as emotional distress. There are lots of examples of how “good Samaritans” who dared to intervene to help others are themselves beaten, killed or jailed. For example there is Dietrich Boenhoeffer a German Lutheran pastor who was hanged by the Nazi regime because of his attempts to save the lives of the Jews during World War II. To the point where he even participated in an attempt to assassinate Hitler. Some of you will remember Corrie Ten Boom, the woman from Netherland who worked with the Dutch underground to save the lives of the Jews during World War II. She continues to save the Jews even when she knew that was under surveillance. In the end she and the rest of her family were arrested. Her father died 10 days after the arrest in prison. Her brother died shortly after his release from prison due to sickness that he got in the prison. Her sister died in the concentration camp. The Ten Boom family showed compassion. Sacrificial Compassion. They paid the price.


According to Lev 21:11 "a high priest must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother". Maybe the priest was afraid that the "half dead" victim was dead and by toughing him, he might be compromised. His position as a priest might be in jeopardy. To show compassion might be risky. There might be a price to pay. But how can we still consider our sacrifices when Jesus did not hesitate to pay with His life for my soul because He showed compassion for you and for me. In the weeks, months and years to come, our faith will be tested, our brand of Christianity will challenged.


How will you respond? Will you, create a vehicle that will take you "to the other side of the road. Let us emulate Jesus. Let us go out there and show compassion to our neighbour, even if it demands a price.



Thursday 10 December 2015

251. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Rembrandts "I'll Be There For You"


"I'll Be There for You" is a song recorded by  rock duo The Rembrandts. It is best known as the theme song to the American sitcom Friends, which premiered during 1994 and ended in 2004. The song was also released as the first single from the group's third studio album LP. "I'll Be There for You" was co-written by Friends producers David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Kauffman's husband, composer Michael Skloff, and songwriter Allee Willis, along with Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde, both of the Rembrandts. It was initially offered to the rock bands They Might Be Giants and R.E.M. It is strongly influenced by The Beatles, especially reminiscent of the "I Feel Fine" guitar riff, and is also highly reminiscent of The Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday." The original theme, which is under one minute long, was later re-recorded as a three-minute pop song. After Nashville program director Charlie Quinn, along with radio announcer and music director Tom Peace, looped the original short version into a full-length track and broadcast it on radio station WYHY, it became so popular that they had to re-record it. "Our record label said we had to finish the song and record it. There was no way to get out of it," lead singer Phil Sōlem said.


So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but

I'll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
('Cause you're there for me too)

You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight
You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these
But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees that

I'll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
('Cause you're there for me too)

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst, I'm best with you, yeah!

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year

I'll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
('Cause you're there for me too)

I'll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
('Cause you're there for me too)


This track "I'll be there for you" is a classic friendship track taking in the theme of standing with someone through thick and thin. It explores what it looks like to be commited to being a freind when life is really bad for the other. This touches the very heart of Jesus story of the Good Samaritan, The theme of being there for someone else during the worst times of their life. This is the truth behind the story Jesus told but it has an extra sting in the tale. The freindship that Jesus talks about comes from one who has been a sworn enemy of the other. Amazing stuff indeed from Luke 10:25-37.



The story here takes an even more ironic twist, which would have shocked Jewish listeners, as the Samaritan turns out to be the moral hero here. The Samaritan felt compassion. The nearest inn would be in the Jericho area, where Samaritans would be unwelcome (Jews there would even assume that the Samaritan was responsible for the man’s injuries). The Samaritan not only helps the victim, but goes beyond all normal expectations and makes sure the man is cared for until he recovers. He does not need to stop and weigh his actions or the man’s ethnic identity, but reacts promptly out of the compassion of his character. So the Samaritan left the victim at an inn to rehabilitate, and he paid generously for his care (two denarii would be enough for the man to stay and eat for about three weeks).


The Samaritan did not blame the injured person for the collective attitudes between Jews and Samaritans, and use that as an excuse for doing nothing. He dared to act as a concerned individual, in three specific ways. He Showed Compassion. "But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." (Luke 10:33) This word means much more than passing pity. The original has with it the connotation of being deeply moved inside. It is the word used to describe the way the Lord feels about lost sinners. Compassion describes the way God feels about us. When we show compassion we are merely demonstrating our family likeness. He showed compassion.


The Samaritan aslso took the initiative. "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. (Luke 10:34) The Samaritan could have excused himself. He was a foreigner in a hostile country. He was alone and vulnerable, but Agape, God's love does not look for excuses, it looks beyond obstacles. It does not ask why, but why not? The Samaritan cleansed the victims wounds with wine and soothed them with oil. He bound up the wounds so they would begin to heal. He took the man to the inn to recover and promised to return to pay the bill. The lawyer was willing to talk, the Samaritan took the initiative. He demonstrated compassion. He took the initiative and, thirdly


The Samaritan also bore the cost. "The next day he took out two silver coins 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." (Luke 10:35). He interrupted his schedule to help this man. It may have made him late for a business appointment, it may have delayed him from seeing his family. But he paid the cost. He gave a living sacrifice. What did he have to gain from this personally? Nothing - except the joy and strength that come when you help others. When you serve in love without expecting recognition or reward. What did the Samaritan show? Compassion, initiative, sacrifice. Jesus said, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" (Luke 10:36) When Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three was a neighbour to the victim, the lawyer gave the correct answer but he would not even bring himself to use the word "Samaritan". He was still resisting Jesus attempt to reach his heart.


I wonder whether we have got the message? With continued anxiety over the world in which we live in we would do well as the question - who is my neighbour? For Jesus teaches that we cannot separate our relationship with God from our responsibility toward those he brings across our path. The lawyer wanted Jesus to define the limits of his responsibility of neighbourliness. He wanted Jesus to identify those he had to be a neighbour to and those he could ignore. Jesus turned the question round. The question is not to whom need I be a neighbour? But rather what kind of neighbour am I? - to anyone I meet?


This is not what Jesus’ listeners would expect from a Samaritan or from Jesus for that matter, And certainly not like to hear of a Jew being helped by a Samaritan. Jesus intends this story to be scandalous, even offensive. When the lawyer answers Jesus parting question, he avoids the word Samaritan. But if even a Samaritan is your neighbour, then everyone is. That is the point!




Wednesday 9 December 2015

250. Rock Goes the Gospel - Bruce Hornsby & the Range "The Way It Is"


"The Way It Is" is a song recorded by Bruce Hornsby and the Range from their 1986 album The Way It Is. It topped the charts in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands in 1986, and peaked inside the top twenty in such countries as Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Written by Bruce Hornsby, it made explicit reference to the American Civil Rights Movement. The song portrays 1980s America from a critical perspective. The opening verse recounts a story taking place at a line for welfare that illustrate a divide between the rich and poor. The chorus presents several lines insisting that social ills are "just the way it is", and repeatedly suggests resigning oneself to them as a fact of life—however, the chorus ends with the author rebuking this attitude by insisting "but don't you believe them." The second verse recounts past social issues from the voice of someone supporting racial segregation. The author responds in a narrative voice, insisting his view that if those who make laws took them into careful consideration they would be convinced that laws enforcing principles like racial segregation are morally wrong. The song reminds the listener that it was at one time argued that racial segregation was "just the way it is", and suggests that legislation and what the author views as progress on current social issues should be pursued without regard to those who insist "some things will never change." The third verse recounts the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a victory in the civil rights movement, but insists that more is needed. In particular, the verse highlights individual prejudice and employment discrimination as an enduring form of racism. The third chorus suggests that it only feels like "some things will never change" when we wait for social problems to change themselves rather than taking steps ourselves to actively change them.


Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job

The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old lady's eyes
Just for fun he says, "Get a job."

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them

Said hey, little boy, you can't go where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do
Said hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
And did you really think about it before you made the rules?
He said, son

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them, yeah

That's just the way it is
That's just the way it is

Well, they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
'Cause the law don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, no

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
That's just the way it is, it is, it is, it is



Over the last few days we have been looking at "The Parable Of The Good Samaritan" that Jesus told. This parable is recoreded by Luke in his gospel - chapter 10. This morning we will be looking at the characters in the story more closely. With the exception of the Samaritan's action, what happened in this story sadly was an every day occurance, you could say that this is "The Way It Is" from the basis of this story as we project it out into this world we see indifference and enmity at every turn in the road. We may lift up our hands and say "Somethings will never change" lets look at the story and dig a bit deeper this morning.



The characters of the story were going down from Jericho in the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem, which is in the high Country. The route consisted of a 20km road that was notoriously dangerous, long, narrow, and winding through rocky terrain, which made it easy for country robbers to hide and attack people. So it had a reputation of being dangerous for travellers up into the twentieth century. However, robbers did not attack priests or Levites due to their religious stature (who would be recognisable by their religious attire), but others were “fair game”. They stripped him (probably down to his undergarments), which is significant; since various ethnic groups wore distinctive clothing, it would hard to tell whether the man was a Jew.


Of course, one would expect the priest to be an example of godliness, love, and mercy. He had to teach the Law and pray several times daily. Jericho was a major area where priests lived when not on duty – about 12,000 priests lived there at the time. This priest may have been returning home after his period of temple service. One possible reason for not rendering help could be that priests would not want to defile themselves by touching a Gentile or a dead man (or a man about to die), or being within 2m of a dead body, in obedience to religious laws of personal cleanliness. Under the Mosaic Law, touching or being near a dead person made one ceremonially unclean (Num. 19:11). Such defilement would be embarrassing for a priest returning from religious duty, and would be seen as a threat to his own spiritual purity. His “rule book” approach to spirituality excused his behaviour, and he might have even thought that he was obeying God by doing so. His system of rules trumped love of God and neighbour, and so his faith was one that did not translate to proper action.


The Levites served as helpers for priests in various temple duties. They were not under the same regulations that the priests were, so he at least stopped and looked at the victim. Perhaps because he could not identify the man as a Jew, he also decided not to get involved. The fact that Jesus cast both the priest and the Levite as antagonists or as unloving characters is not only ironic, given the religious culture where they were highly respected, but is an indictment against the hypocritical religious establishment of his day. They came upon the man “by chance”, implying they habitually travelled that road, and maybe implied that they habitually ignored other’s needs. Judaism has always upheld the sanctity of human life, and has taught that almost all the laws could be broken in order to protect life. Only the high priest would be constrained from helping under these circumstances (Lev. 21:11). Even if they believed he was already dead, they were obligated to help; providing burial for a stranger was also considered an important good deed in Judaism. The priest and the Levite may have passed by because they believed the man was not their neighbour.


The passage in Luke 10 and the Bruce Hornsby & the Range song "The Way It Is" focus our minds this morning to indifference and inhumanity. When we react to situation that we find with indifference and less than human caring then we find ourselves on the side of the priest and the levite. The gospel calls us higher (Or lower) Jesus calls for us to display humanity to all regardless of who they are. This is the real challenge. Just how much of a challenge we will see tommorow as we look at the character of the samaritan.




Tuesday 8 December 2015

249. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Beatles "The Word"


Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the Beatles. It was recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market, and was released on 3 December 1965. It was produced by George Martin. Unlike the five albums that preceded it, Rubber Soul was recorded during a continuous period, whereas the group had previously recorded albums during breaks in between tour dates or other projects. After this, Beatles albums would be made without the burden of other commitments, except for the production of short promotional films.

Rubber Soul incorporates R&B, pop, soul, folk rock, and psychedelic music styles. The album is regarded by musicologists as a major artistic achievement that continued the Beatles' artistic maturation while attaining widespread critical and commercial success. The album's name comes from the term plastic soul which popular African American soul musicians coined to describe Mick Jagger, a white musician singing soul music. It was the second Beatles album – after the British version of A Hard Day's Night – to contain only original material; the Beatles would record no more cover songs for their records until 1969, with the "Maggie Mae" excerpt appearing on Let It Be.

Rubber Soul is regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the greatest albums in popular music history. In 2012, Rubber Soul was ranked number five on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".  In 2013, after the British Phonographic Industry changed their sales award rules, the album was declared as having gone platinum.


Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

In the beginning I misunderstood
But now I've got it, the word is good

Spread the word and you'll be free
Spread the word and be like me
Spread the work I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Everywhere I go I hear it said
In the good and bad books that I have read

Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Now that I know what I feel must be right
I'm here to show everybody the light

Give the word a chance to say
That the word is just the way
It's the word I'm thinking of
And the only word is love
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Say the word, love
Say the word, love
Say the word, love
Say the word, love



Rubber Soul is John Lennon’s initiatory declaration, of the philosophy that would come to characterise some of his greatest songs in the following years, from “All You Need is Love” and “Come Together” to “Imagine” and “Mind Games”: that “the word is ‘love.’” But more than this simple assertion, Lennon singing “Now that I know what I feel must be right, I’m here to show everybody the light” indicates that “love,” by which he seems to mean compassion, empathy, and care for others, is the result of a deeply felt epiphany, a kind of conversion experience. That he exhorts the listener to “say the word and you’ll be free” suggests that love for others is the way to free oneself from the limiting confinement of one’s self-centered fears and insecurities. The answer, he seems to assert, is to give one’s life to something greater than one’s individual needs and neuroses. "The Word" is part of exploring what it looks like to love others, to have empathy and compassion for others. We look again to Luke 10 in today's bible reading, and reflect on the parable of the good samaritan as we explore what the lawer said to Jesus.


Yesterday we looked a little at the parable of the good samaritan and looked at the theme of "Selfless Love" In the coming few days we will look a little deeper at the parable and reflect of Jesus core message.



This parable is unique in that so concrete and simple that anyone can understand its basic point, yet its insights and moral implications are profound. However, the real impact is lost on us today, since modern readers generally don’t understand the cultural context and the parable’s real impact. Samaritans were hated by Jews, and so this parable is absolutely full of irony. For the original audience, a “good Samaritan” would be an oxymoron, and for a Samaritan to be the moral hero of a story would be downright shocking.


Like other parables, this was told in response to a question or event. Here a religious lawyer – an expert on the Torah, or the Law (i.e., the first five books of the Old Testament) – questions Jesus about salvation1. In v25, Jesus asks, “What is your reading of it” – a technical term used by the scribes or lawyers in discussing interpretations of religious law. The lawyer gives a technically correct answer – the need to love God and your neighbour – but clearly does not actually understand what it means, though he probably believes he understands. The verses come from the Torah, from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18, which Jesus himself taught and upheld. He then asks a flawed question, “Who is my neighbour?”, and like the rest of the religious establishment of his day, he probably assumes that no Gentile or non-Jew could be his neighbour.


Jesus tells the parable to set straight his misguided moral beliefs. The question is also flawed, because he assumes a person must work to earn salvation. But Jesus doesn’t deal with that here. Instead, he aims first to break down the man’s sense of self-righteousness The man wanted to justify himself, to look good, and also to be spiritually justified by obeying the law. In typical lawyer fashion, he tried to get around the law and make it more suitable for his tastes. Jesus agrees with him on the surface, but tells a parable about what it means, and to challenge his beliefs.


The different gospel accounts of this are similar, but in Luke Jesus also tells the man that he needs to follow him. The lawyer thought that loving God just meant obeying the commands of the law; for Jesus, it means following him, and thus full and sincere commitment to God. This is what salvation is about. Like Jesus, we have to challenge a popular notion that says, “Let me interpret the Bible my way, to suit my lifestyle”, rather than changing and conforming to biblical teaching.


The man’s original question was about inheriting eternal life. Jesus is saying, that inheriting eternal life requires you to reach out to the unloved (as God did for us). Jesus is not implying that we must earn eternal life by being good to others, but that such behaviour will demonstrate eternal life. Tomorrow we will be looking at the characters in the story and reflecting on the theme of "Responses"





Monday 7 December 2015

248. Rock Goes the Gospel - Extreme - "More Then Words"


"More Than Words" is a ballad written and originally performed by American rock band Extreme. It is built around acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and the vocals of Gary Cherone (with harmony vocals from Bettencourt). Released in 1990 on the album Extreme II: Pornograffiti, the song is a detour from the funk metal style that permeates the band's records. As such, it has been often described as "a blessing and a curse" due to its overwhelming success and repercussion worldwide, but the band ultimately embraces it and plays it on every show. This song appears in the 1999 album Monster Ballads. The song was described by Bettencourt as a song warning that the phrase "I love you" was becoming meaningless: "People use it so easily and so lightly that they think you can say that and fix everything, or you can say that and everything's OK. Sometimes you have to do more and you have to show it—there's other ways to say 'I love you.'"



Saying "I love you"
Is not the words
I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you
Not to say
But if you only knew

How easy
It would be to
Show me how you feel
More than words
Is all you have to do
To make it real
Then you wouldn't
Have to say
That you love me
Cause I'd already know

What would you do?
If my heart
Was torn in two
More than words
To show you feel
That your love
For me is real
What would you say
If I took
Those words away
Then you couldn't
Make things new,
Just by saying
"I love you"
More than words,
More than words

Now that I've tried to
Talk to you
And make you understand
All you have to do
Is close your eyes
And just reach out your hands

And touch me
Hold me close
Don't ever let me go
More than words
Is all I ever
Needed you to show
Then you wouldn't
Have to say
That you love me
Cause I'd already know

What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying I love you

La di da, da di da, di dai dai da
More than words

La di da, da di da, di dai dai da
More than words

La di dai, dai dai, di dai dai da
La la di da da da

La di dai dai da
La la da da
More than words

Oooh uuuuh uuuh
Uuh

More than words


This song "More Then Words" does what it says on the tin. Essentialy it's a song about actions. In the lyrics we find sentence structures like "All you have to do, Is close your eyes, And just reach out your hands" The songs pushes forward the theme of love in action. In other words "Selfless love" that you can see, touch, feel. It's concrete it's not just platitudes, It's gutsy. In the reading this morning in Luke 10:25-37 Jesus explores with an expert of the law what selfless, costly love looks like.




The characteristic of Selfless Love is one of the most important traits any follower of Jesus can have. It’s so significant that Jesus said it is the second most important of all God’s commandments: “You will love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31; cf. Galatians 5:14). Jesus wasn’t creating a new law here; He was merely agreeing with and expounding on an Old Testament law (Leviticus 19:18). James calls this the “royal” law to emphasise its supreme value to God (James 2:8). Jesus had much to say about Selfless Love during His earthly ministry. In the Sermon on the Mount, He goes beyond what some may think of as Selfless Love — helping a friend, ministering to a spouse, caring for an ill child, etc. Jesus extends Selfless Love far beyond normal expectations—we are to love our enemies, even, and pray for our persecutors (Matthew 5:44). Jesus taught that it’s easy to love a friend or a spouse—even unbelievers do that (Matthew 5:47). The follower of Jesus is expected to love the unlovable, because this is how we become more like God, who gives blessings to everyone (Matthew 5:45). It’s a difficult thing to lay aside hurt feelings and wounded hearts, but that’s part of being selfless.


As in so many areas, Jesus is the ultimate example of Selfless Love. In coming into this world, “he made himself nothing” and took upon Himself “the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). Now, as followers of Christ, we are to “have the same mind-set” (Philippians 2:5). Jesus came not for His own benefit but for ours. He came to minister to us and die for us: “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Humanly speaking, Jesus gave up His will for God’s will (Luke 22:42)—and this is another striking point: Selfless Love involves more than putting other people first; it is putting God first. As John the Baptist said concerning Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). More of the Lord; less of us.


Selfless Love is illustrated well in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan In this "Jesus" story we see this Selfless Love in action. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story about a man from Samaria who encounters a robbery victim. The Samaritan has compassion on this man, who had been stripped, beaten, and left for dead (Luke 10:30). The Samaritan immediately puts his own plans on hold and tends to the man’s wounds (Luke 10:34). Not only does the Samaritan give selflessly of his time and his sympathy, but he gives selflessly of his assets. The Samaritan places the wounded man on his own animal, takes the man to an inn, and takes care of him there (Luke 10:34–35). The next day, the Samaritan pays the innkeeper money enough for a few more days at the inn, with a promise to return and pay the balance of whatever was owed (Luke 10:35). Jesus’ story reveals the Samaritan to be a supply of Selfless Love in numerous ways as we will see. He put the needs of others ahead of his own and went out of his way to shower benevolence on a battered stranger.


Selfless Love runs counter to human nature, which is why being selfless is so much more difficult than being selfish. It’s natural to care about ourselves, and we are encouraged to think selfishly from all sides. However, as followers of Jesus we must take to heart the words of the apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). No believer, young or old, can live a life of selfless Love without a constant abiding in the Jesus, for it is only through Him that our attitudes can be changed and moulded toward unselfish behaviours. If Christ indeed lives in us and we keep in step with Him, we should find ourselves identifying with, rather than marvelling at, the Good Samaritan.