Daily Devotions

Today we read from Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice.  Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

Isaiah pleads on God’s behalf for Israel to live up to their birthright. While these words are essential for individual Israelites to take to heart, they’re spoken to God’s collective people. To be a society that reflected God’s character, they would have to be a society that was just and compassionate.

Tutors decided to replicate the story of the Good Samaritan with seminary students. First the seminarians were asked why they wanted to go into ministry. The vast majority said they wanted minister to help people. They were asked to prepare a short sermon--half of them on the story of the Good Samaritan and the other half on other topics. Finally they were told to go over to a building on campus to present their sermons.

Along the way, the researchers had strategically positioned an actor slumped and groaning in an alley. The researchers hypothesised that those who said they went into ministry to help people and those who had just prepared the sermon on the Good Samaritan would be the most likely to stop and help.

But that wasn't the case. Before the students left to give their sermon, the researcher said one of two things. Either "You're late -You better hurry.” Or "You're early - why don't you start heading over there?”

Only 10% of the hurrying students stopped to help, while 63% not in a hurry stopped. In several cases, a seminary student going to give his talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way!

The researchers concluded that it didn't matter whether someone wanted to help people or whether someone had just read and was preparing to preach on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The only thing that mattered was whether or not they were in a hurry. They concluded, "The words, 'You're late,' had the effect of making someone who was ordinarily compassionate into someone who was indifferent to suffering.”

In Isaiah’s words we need to learn to do right.

Thank you, Lord, for your compassion towards us. Help us to reflect that same compassion in our interactions with others. May we learn to listen deeply and to respond with kindness and care to those who are hurting. Guide us to be patient and non-judgmental, recognising the struggles and challenges that others face. Help us to extend compassion to ourselves, understanding that we too are deserving of care and kindness. Amen