Monday 9/15/14 The Good Samaritan

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You very, very much.  Please forgive me of my sins and help me repent this day.  Please walk with me and help me walk with You each day of my life.  Thanks for granting us another day on this earth in our land we call America.  Thanks for our family and friends and thanks for watching over them.  Please, Lord, continue that blessing.  Please keep watch over our online flock and our flock at The Bridges.  Please, Lord, be with Burt and Patsy, and also with Dolores and take away their pain.  Be with our neighbor JJ who fell and fractured her back.  Lord, please watch over our nation.  Please be with President Obama and all his staff.  Please be with our veterans and our current military.  Please be with the governors of all of our states, and Lord, please bring peace to the world.  Again, Lord, I want to tell You that I love You dearly.  Now please help me with the message and then please help me to dispatch it  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Brothers and sisters, I am going to be talking to you this day about the story of the Good Samaritan, as I relate to you a true story that happened just outside of Carlisle, PA, on Sunday, September 7, 2014.  I am even going to use names as they appeared in the story that I have followed in "The Sentinel" which is listed as Cumberland County's only daily newspaper.  As we get started let us look over the "Parable of The Good Samaritan."

The Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke Chapter 11

25 One occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" He replied.  "How do you read it?"
27 He answered, "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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied.  "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said:  "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.  They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by the other side.  32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  34 He went to him and bandaged  his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  35 The next day he took our two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper.  'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told  him, "Go and do likewise."  (NIV)

The complete account of my Good Samaritan story can be found in The Sentinel on Tuesday, September 9, 2014, and on Thursday, September 11, 2014.  Here is the base of the story.

On Sunday morning, September 7, 2014, at about 8:30 AM, the Eberly family was on their way to church when they came across a person lying on the ground surrounded by luggage near the end of the family's driveway in the 1100 block of South Spring Garden Street.  According to Carol Eberly, the family believed the man, who was later identified as Joseph Mahoney, of Carlisle, was intoxicated and unconscious.  Her husband, Wendell, returned to their home to call police.  "We thought it was just a pile of garbage until we got closer and the foot was sticking out," Carol Eberly said.  "That's when my husband called police."  The county police dispatcher said she was told it was a non-emergency and the man was intoxicated and sleeping on the side of the road.  The county dispatcher determined that the call should have gone to the Pennsylvania State Police and gave Mr. Eberly the correct phone number to notify our very fine Pennsylvania State Police.  This time the husband, Wendell Eberly, told the State Police that a man "was asleep on the side of the road."  Carol Eberly said she and her children left for church when Wendell went back to the home to make the call, and Wendell followed shortly after calling State Police.  Carol Eberly said "the family did not think there was anything they could do for the man and they wanted police to handle the response."  According to the paper, more than four hours later, the Eberly family returned home from church and found Mahoney's body still lying in the driveway.  A family member called State Police again around 12:30 PM and told police they believed the man was intoxicated.

The police then responded and found the man to be deceased.  Beside that, according to the paper Mr. Mahoney was tied up, his hands and his feet bound and he had been beaten to death.  Now that is the story, shortened a tad, but the names are correct as far as I have gone.

According to The Sentinel, three have been charged with Mahoney's murder.  Stephanie Scott, her 17-year old son Duane Fason, Jr., and Kaysean Smith.  So why am I writing about this story?  I think we all need to take another look at The Parable of The Good Samaritan, and also maybe, just maybe, what might be being taught in the church.  By the way, I have no idea what church the Eberly family was heading to.

So what happened?  The family "on their way to church" see a man lying at the end of their driveway and passed by without taking a good look."  Passed by without checking the man out, just thinking because he was lying along the road he was sleeping off a drunk.  I pray that pastors all around might pick up on this story and ask what people might do.  My gosh, I pray first that no body is dumped at the end of our driveway, but I do pray that if a person would be found lying at the end of our driveway that if I was leaving the house for any reason I would stop and check on the person.  My gosh, at the end of my driveway, well, that could be me or Dolores, the way we get around, I feel that our neighbors would stop and check.  Here was a man who fell victim to murderers and then to "Christians?"  Who without really checking just determined that the man was sleeping off a drunk.  Did they profile the deceased?  Think about it and please answer this.  How would you have handled it if you were on your way to church?  And Pastors on this line, the facts are true, you can check them out.  Is it time for a review at the church you pastor?  Christians, please wake up, I am sure this one did not please God.  Amen.

Dear Father, please comfort the family of Mr. Mahoney and take care of them.  Have mercy on the folks who murdered this man, and Lord, also the Eberly family.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings, and if you see a person lying alongside the road, be a GOOD SAMARITAN.  Love ya.  Please pass on my love to others.

Pastor Dan