 Jesus said to the lawyer, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). The lawyer asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the question back to him and the lawyer responded, “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.” Then he asked for clarification and Jesus told the parable about the Good Samaritan.
This interchange helps me understand the General Rule of
Discipleship: To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Here is the pattern of sharing about our acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion in Covenant Discipleship. In it I hear the words of the lawyer echoed. They all blend together in some ways, but “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind” covers worship and devotion pretty well. “Love your neighbor as yourself” directs us to compassion and justice.
“Go and do likewise.” In Jesus’ parable we don’t hear much about what the Good Samaritan felt, or thought. He was “moved by pity” but otherwise all the words are active: saw, went, bandaged, poured, put, brought, took care, took and gave. So we should not be surprised by Jesus’ commandment: “Go and do likewise.” Jesus
didn’t say, “Study this, reflect on it, analyze this.” He prompted the lawyer to action.
As we work with the Covenant process we are challenged to do the same. We are actually supposed to do something compassionate, take an action of justice, do something devotional, and participate in worship. Focusing on this week after week helps us grow in knowing how our beliefs can lead to action. Sharing with one another helps us learn new ways to respond.
When the massacre at the Amish school house happened last year I remember my CD group struggling to respond. We said we felt compassion, but we realized our covenant prompted us to do something. We decided to pray.
We United Methodists are, at heart, a people of action. We take the joy of salvation – of claiming our relationship with God – and work consistently to help it unfold in the world through actions of love
and hope. “Go and do likewise,” Jesus said. Like the lawyer, our questions and answers are not enough – we are called to put them into action for the world.
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Rev. Michelle M. Hargrave is pastor of Fairmount Avenue United Methodist Church in St. Paul, MN. You may read her blog at http://33namesofgrace.blogspot.com/ http://33namesofgrace.blogspot.com/.)
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