The Inn

It seems that the narratives rarely change, or at least they move too slowly. Poverty, violence, and disorder seem be by cyclical, rather than a permanent solution being found. It seems that so often people and communities are left beaten and bloodied by the side of the road while the righteous and well to do just shake their head and pass by. After all, it is probably because they deserve it, or we were too busy, or the cost is too high and the results too uncertain. It is easy to talk in the abstract about these things, but when the rubber meets the road, when the problem gets real, what are we going to do?

If the allusions above seem vaguely familiar, it is because it is from a narrative many have heard in some fashion before, either Christian or Non-Christian; the parable of the Good Samaritan. For those unfamiliar, the basic outline consists of a Jew beaten and half dead by the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, two Jewish religious leaders pass by without offering help. A third person is a Samaritan, a sworn enemy of the Israelites, and he not only cleans the wounds of the beaten person, but takes him to the inn to recover. He pays for the care, and leaves the person with the inn keeper with the promise of coming back, charging the keeper to take care while he is away.

Jesus has called called the Church to serve a function similar to the Inn keeper. Christ has already saved this broken world, he delivers this world to the Church and charges us with its care. Christ left the church to take care of this world, we are to be the In where people are brought to health and wellness. Peace, healing, and care are just a few things the Church is called to carry out in this world.

“It is a world based on the Lamb who was slain, a city built on the work of the Cross of Christ. And the Church is to be a sign of this world” (1).

Yet, as we look around, it is hard to see this. In the midst of the brokenness and pain, much of the Church is painfully silent. We’ll often get fired up about yoga pants, Hobby lobby, or even, owners of cake shops. Yet, when conversations about poverty, injustice, and the death around much of the world come up, so many are a lot less eager to speak up. Jesus chose us to be the inn keeper, the care taker, the advocate for those marred and mangled by this world.

(1) Gornik, To live in peace, 102