Life's Wounded Warriors!

Rev. George R. Dillahunty
685 Grant Avenue
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452-3047

October 29, 2009

Text: Luke 10:30-37 (King James Version)

"And Jesus answering said, ’A certain young man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (v. 31) And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (v. 32) And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. (v. 33) But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. (v. 34) And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (v. 35) And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, ’Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’ (v. 36) Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? (v. 37) And he said, ’He that shewed mercy on him.’ Then said Jesus unto him, ’Go, and do thou likewise.’"

Topic: Life’s Wounded Warriors!

Life is filled with examples of wounded individuals - people who have been wounded in many different ways - wounded by physical or spiritual warfare - wounded by criminal activity: such as, armed robbery, child abuse, spousal abuse, neglect; and, so forth! Our Holy Scripture text, for today, the "Parable of the Good Samaritan" is the response of Jesus, the Christ, to the question of a certain lawyer, who in trying to justify himself and trap Jesus, the Christ, into saying something wrong, asked Him the question, "And who is my neighbour?"

We know very little about the young man who fell among thieves. The Holy Bible - the written Word of Almighty God - does not tell us his name - it does not tell us his race - it does not tell us his nationality - it does not tell us whether he was rich or poor - it does not tell us whether he was educated or ignorant - in point of fact, he could have been anybody - even, someone like one of us! Regardless of who we are, we can be left by the "roadside of life" - through no fault of our own - in a hurting or wounded condition! We can be hurt in so many ways - often, it seems, that when we are making our greatest progress - when life is at its best for us - suddenly some disaster strikes and becomes a thief that steals our joy - that steals those things that we love!

Life itself carries with it the possibility of being hurt! If we had no feelings at all, we could not be hurt; but, a person without any feeling at all is a dead person! So, the very fact that we can be hurt is a sign that we are still alive! The lesson that Jesus, the Christ, would have us learn from His parable is this: We should be "Good Samaritans" all of the time! However, there are times when we are in no position to be a "Good Samaritan" - instead, we find ourselves being the wounded person - left by the "roadside of life!"

The tragedy of life is not the wound because life is so constituted that the wound is inevitable! The tragedy comes when we quit or give up on life because of the wound - when we fall down and we can’t get up! There are times, however,