Good Samaritan

Being a Volunteer

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments

One thing I dislike about surgery is the paperwork needed to be filled out. Now, I don’t mind the forms that just need my name and address, but then come the pages that ask me to make payment in case the insurance doesn’t cover, accept medical consequences in case they mess up, etc. etc. I felt like they are pressing me into volunteering myself for things I don’t understand. You see we all love the idea of being a volunteer until they are asked to be one. From church organizations to community boards, from someone delivering meals to the elderly to simply being blood donors, there seems to be an ever-diminishing pool of people willing to volunteer. The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA) defines volunteers as individuals that provide services without any expectation of compensation, and without any coercion or intimidation. Maybe things would change if we used Jesus’ much less complicated definition. He simply calls us to be neighbors. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus finds himself in conversation with a lawyer looking for a loophole (not much has changed in 2,000 years!) When asked about which was the most important commandment, the lawyer quickly answered.

…. “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.” 
Luke 10:27 ESV

When Jesus simply agreed with him, the lawyer realized that he had just opened himself up to a whole universe of things he might not want to do. So, looking for a bit of wiggle room, he followed up with another question, “And who is my neighbor?” We might feel superior to that guy because we know today that Jesus answered that question with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who doesn’t love that guy? But are we really that much different? Of course, we all want to be a good Samaritan, until we get cornered about making actual commitments. Then we start looking for some wiggle room ourselves. In case you are short on wiggles, here are a few of mine: “I’ll pray about it. – I’ll have to check with my wife. – Maybe after the Summer (or Winter, Spring or Fall).” The hard truth is that there isn’t a convenient or comfortable way to be the kind of neighbor that Jesus asked us to be. But the good news is that Jesus never asked us to do this all on our own (something the lawyer missed). Jesus came to be our neighbor and He laid down His life so we could be His. When we ask Him to take over and be Lord of our lives, we discover that He has a place for us in His beautiful neighborhood in Heaven. If we thankfully remember that Jesus is our neighbor, it will make it so much easier to be neighbors to a whole slew of people that we discover along our way. Though it isn’t always easy, and it is a big world, with God’s help we can joyfully learn to go out and love one neighbor at a time!

Would You Do It For One? Ministry- Launch in October

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IMG_5023  I have often published news of our Nursing Home Ministry work on the Praise2worship blog but today God has put on my heart the plan to launch a separate blog site on WordPress devoted exclusively to Visitation / Nursing Home Ministry. I will be posting about twice a week with a variety of training material, personal stories and updates on our activities. It would be great for others who have an interest in this to interact with us on this blog-site. We would love to hear what others are doing and how you are encouraged in any way by the posts here. God bless our fellow workers in this often overlooked and underestimated outreach.

If you are considering Nursing Home Ministry or any other kind of work for God, this blog-site is for you!

Let’s begin our first post with another look at, “the Parable of the Good Samaritan”

Luke 10:30-35 NKJV Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’

The first person we meet is the man who fell among thieves. His story was a lot like that of the residents in any nursing home. The thieves that caught him by surprise go by various names, such as age, physical disability or disease. People fall into a system where they lose control of their finances, their health and their personal freedom.

Three different people came by the man that day. The first was a priest. He came from a good family, had chosen to dedicate himself to God’s work and was recognized as a leader in his community. But in spite of his opportunity to show God’s mercy, that day he failed. He passed by, saw the need but chose not to get involved. The second man was only a follower of the first, so he simply took the same path – the path of least resistance. Last in line came the Samaritan. This was the man from whom no one expected any help. But when the Samaritan passed by that place, he saw the need, rolled up his sleeves and got involved. He became a neighbor when he became a part of the injured man’s world…

This blog is designed not just to inspire you, but to challenge you to become a “roll up your sleeves” neighbor! Why? Because there are countless men and women left to die at the side of the road in every community. I did some research and discovered that within seven miles of the center of our small city live 2700 people in long-term nursing home care. From the street they look clean and well landscaped. The entrances are nicely decorated but what is lacking for the vast majority of the residents is someone, anyone who will come to visit, listen to them and call them by name. To be a nursing home ministry worker doesn’t require a special title, God is just looking for neighbors. Are you ready to be a neighbor?

A Good Neighbor

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

If you are considering Nursing Home Ministry, Let’s take another look at the story we call, “the Parable of the Good Samaritan” which could also be titled        “The Parable of the Good Neighbor”

    Luke 10:30-35 NKJV Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ IMG_4061

The first person we meet is the man who fell among thieves. His story was a lot like the residents of any nursing home. The thieves that caught him by surprise go by various names today such as age, physical disability or disease. People fall into a system where they lose control of their finances, their health and their personal freedom. Three different people came by the man that day. The first was a priest. He came from a good family, had chosen to dedicate himself to God’s work and was recognized as a leader in his community. But in spite of his opportunity to show God’s mercy, that day he failed. He passed by, saw the need but chose not to get involved. The second man was only a follower of the first, so he simply took the same path – the path of least resistance. Last in line came the Samaritan. This was the man who no one expected to help. When the Samaritan passed by that place, he saw the need, rolled up his sleeves and helped. He wasn’t an expert. He wasn’t a scholar. He was just someone passing by but he became a neighbor when he decided to stop and get involved.