Family Talk - Oil of Human Kindness

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THE OIL OF HUMAN KINDNESS

The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner

Reading: Luke 10:25-37

"Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

The Lord gave us the commandment to treat our neighbors the way that we would like to have them treat us. But sometimes we hear of bad people, thieves and robbers, or people who laugh at what is right and do what is wrong. We might like to be kind to them, but how can we love people like that? How can we think of someone as our neighbor if he or she is not acting like a good neighbor?

When the Lord was in the world, a man came up and asked Him, "Who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). He meant, whom I am supposed to love? In answer, the Lord told a story about a traveler who was robbed and beaten and lay by the road, helpless and bleeding. Three men saw him: the first and second - a Jewish priest and a Levite - went by quickly. Perhaps they were too lazy or selfish to take the time to help him. But the third, who was a Samaritan, stopped and bound up the man's wounds and took him to an inn and left money to pay for him to be looked after until he was well again.

When the Lord had finished the story, He asked, "Which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" (Luke 10:36). Of course, there could be only one answer. We could not call the robbers good neighbors, nor the priest, nor the Levite. The good neighbor - the person we would love and admire - was the Samaritan who showed mercy and helped the wounded man.

Therefore the Lord said, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). If we help others in need, then we, too, will be good neighbors, person whom others can rightly love, who will some day go to heaven, where everyone is a good neighbor.

The Word tells us that we should give to the poor, help the lame and blind, look after the sick, the fatherless and the widow, and be kind to those in trouble. "Go and do likewise." We may never come across some one who has been robbed or wounded by thieves. But we can help in other ways. When there are floods or disasters, epidemics and famines, people send help and food and clothing. Even those who have no money can help others who are in trouble. It takes no money to be kind and helpful. All it takes is a loving and unselfish heart.

You remember that the Samaritan poured oil and wine into the wounds of the man who had been hurt. The wine was to cleanse the wound, so that it would not fester and bring on a fever. The oil was used to take away the soreness and pain.

There are many different kinds of oil. There is oil that is used to make machines run smoothly so the gears and wheels won't screech and rust and wear out. There is oil that you can burn in an oil lamp. There is oil that is good to eat and to use in cooking. And there are also kinds of oil that are used for medicines. All these oils help to make things run smoothly or to give comfort, warmth, and pleasure to people. But there is nothing that gives more comfort and warmth to a person's heart than kindness and good-will. And therefore we sometimes speak of "the oil of human kindness."

Now we know that the Word was written for angels as well as for people on earth. And when angels read the story of the good Samaritan, they do not think at all of a man traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho and being attacked by robbers. Instead, they think of someone who is in sadness and temptation and doubt, and who feels forsaken by his friends and even by the angels, who feels "wounded" in spirit. When evil spirits attack a person, he comes into great sadness. His feelings are hurt. He feels as if he was left all alone, as if everybody was against him and he had no place to go. Perhaps you have felt that way sometimes. And how glad you would be then if some good neighbor, some friend or sibling or parent, or even somebody whom you had never met before, stopped and poured oil on your wounded feelings and made you feel less alone and not so hopeless, until you cheered up again.

Would you not think that the Lord and the angels had sent that good neighbor and put it into his heart to help you out of your trouble or temptation, out of your sick-hearted feeling? Would not you say that there was a friend, who did not tease you or make you feel worse and who did not pass you by with a shrug, but whom you could really love for his thoughtfulness and kindness? And would not you hear the words of the Lord - "Go and do likewise" - ringing in your ears, urging you to help others, the way you had been helped?

The older you grow, the more you will notice people around you who are in trouble, who are worried or bewildered. You will meet people whose dear ones have just died and whose hearts are sore and wounded because they know nothing about the other world, and so they dare not hope that they will ever see their loved ones again. If you then told them what the Heavenly Doctrine for the New Church reveals about the life of heaven, it would be as if you had poured wine into their festering sores and refreshed them. If you were sympathetic and helpful to them in their sorrow, it would be like oil which relieved their pain. And, if you actually brought them a belief that the Lord does provide a heaven for all good people and caused them to think about spiritual things, it would be as if you had put them on your own donkey and brought them to an inn for food and rest and healing.

The New Church and its teachings are like that kind of an inn. We are all travelers on earth, here only for a short time. We travel from babyhood up to old age, and we do not find our real home until we get to heaven. But the Church is like an inn on the road, where our minds can be refreshed. There we can be told about the right and safe roads to take in our journey, what provisions we will need for our next day's travel, and about where the journey ends. The Church provides what we need, like the Good Samaritan and the inn did in the parable.

We cannot love the thieves and the robbers. We cannot love the hard-hearted priest and the indifferent Levite. But we love the good Samaritan, because anyone who cares for another person is a good neighbor. We should love him because it is through people like this that the Lord shows us His mercy and pity. And we can show our love for the Lord when we also go and do likewise.

Amen.

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