A Show of Faith
Millennial, Priest, Minister, and Rabbi walk into a radio station...
A Show of Faith
January 12, 2024 Love and Faith: Interpreting Commandments and Community Obligations
What does it truly mean to love your neighbor as yourself? This question, steeped in ancient wisdom, becomes the heart of our discussion on "A Show of Faith." Join us as Reverend David Capes, Father Mario Arroyo, Rabbi Stuart Federow, and Rudy, a millennial theologian, navigate the profound intersections of love and faith across religious teachings.
Listeners will gain insights into the "love commandment" found in the New Testament and the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, while exploring the timeless parable of the Good Samaritan. Together, we uncover how these teachings resonate with the complexities of contemporary public life, emphasizing the importance of empathy and community through the lens of modern challenges, such as the devastating fires in Los Angeles.
Our dialogue takes a thought-provoking turn as we explore the nuances of living a life aligned with ancient commandments. Ponder the profound question posed to Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" and discover how these teachings from Deuteronomy and Leviticus still guide us today.
We examine the delicate balance between action and intention, reflecting on the deep-seated connections between emotions, intellect, and faith. Through lively conversations about morality and public policy, we scrutinize the roles of Christians and Jews in addressing pressing issues like immigration and homelessness. Together, we reflect on real-world examples of compassionate legislation and the moral responsibilities we hold in an interconnected society.
Finally, we venture into the realms of personal responsibility and the power of words. Explore the consequences of choosing to live in high-risk environments, delving into the broader implications for society when resources are directed towards sustaining such choices.
We wrap up with an engaging discussion on the dynamic nature of language, recognizing its ability to create, heal, and harm. As we ponder forgiveness, repentance, and the enduring relevance of the Good Samaritan, our conversation encourages reflection on who our neighbor truly is and how mercy shapes our actions.
Join us for this episode, where faith, love, and the power of words guide an exploration of moral and ethical landscapes.
Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body. I know, not everybody has got a body like you, but I got a big twice before I threw my heart away, and I know all the games you play because I play them too. Oh, but I need some time off from that emotion, time to pick my heart up off the floor. Oh, and that love comes down with a devotion. Well, it takes to start me, baby, but I'm sure I'm through the door, cause I gotta have faith. I gotta have faith Cause I gotta have faith, faith, faith, I gotta have faith. I gotta have faith Cause I gotta have faith, faith, faith. I gotta have faith, faith, faith. Welcome to A Show of Faith on AM 1070, answer where priests, millennial rabbi and professor delve into the depths of philosophy, theology and anything of interest in religion. Yes, yes, that's the voice of the Reverend David Capes, who is the I noticed that I was the last In the series.
Speaker 1:You do what? Well, it's more poetic. It's poetic. Rabbi, millennial. I forgot how I did it already. So that's the voice of David Capes, our minister, and I forgot how I did it already. Anyway, so that's the voice of David Capes, our minister, and director of. Let's see, you have my phone so I can't remember what it is. Director of Academic Programming. Yes, that's what I said At Linnard Theological Library and our priest is Father Mario Arroyo, pastor Emeritus at St Cyril of Alexandria in the 10,000 block of Westheimer Great to be with you, I am Rabbi Stuart Federo, retired rabbi from Shar Shalom in Clear Lake, texas. Rudy is our millennial and he has his master's degree in theology from the University of St Thomas. Howdy, howdy, hey, hey, he's with us. Yes, and Miranda is our board operator. Nikki helps us with the phone and welcome to a show of faith on a 10 70 answer.
Speaker 2:yeah, it's great to be back with you guys today. Yeah, thanks very much. I got father Mario over. He's looking up James Davison Hunter. He's written some pretty interesting books, his most recent one called Democracy and Solidarity, a very interesting kind of new book by him, so I'm looking forward to reading. I haven't read it yet, but I've heard about it. I had several people tell me about it and we're in the process of ordering it, getting it into the library and hopefully having it available to everybody.
Speaker 3:Is somebody going to answer the phone?
Speaker 2:I think so. Yeah, I think so. So anyway, rudy glad to hear from you. Are you in Guatemala?
Speaker 5:I am. I just got back from Nicaragua. I went to some family there and had a whole experience there, so it's good that we're talking about the subject that you picked for today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm the show director, so we're talking about a couple that you picked for today. Yeah, I'm the sub, I'm show director, so we're talking about, uh, a couple of things really related. One is the what's called in the new testament and comes from the old testament hebrew bible called the love commandment. And the other thing is, uh is the kind of the parable of the good Samaritan, which is one of those parables that Jesus told during his earthly ministry. It's one of the most famous parables that he tells there are hospitals named after that, there are laws named after that Good Samaritan, good Samaritan, good Samaritan. So we're going to be talking a bit about that.
Speaker 2:Specifically, I'm kind of interested in the question of what does that look like in terms of public life? What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Well, let me just tell you the story, and it comes right out of the Gospel of Luke, and it begins with a question that Jesus was being asked by a legal scholar from the day he said. He stood up saying to Jesus Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And I often ask my students. I say what do you think the most important word is in that question? What must I do to inherit eternal life, stuart, what do you think?
Speaker 1:Well, it could be inherit. Although I'm not, you'd have to tell me if that's really what the translation reads.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty close yeah.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Speaker 1:Another important line is eternal, okay, okay, and somewhere in there has to be the word do, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Most important word, father Mario, the question that was asked to Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life? Master, master, okay.
Speaker 3:The relationship is the primary. Okay, but he's actually an outsider at this point.
Speaker 1:That's very interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Well, the word master could also mean teacher. In that day I would make the case, darrell Bock. Okay, darrell Bock. Yes, sorry, sorry, it does it. Does Stuart Trust me? Anyway, the idea is, what is the most, I think, the most important word there? And the reason that I think it's the most important word is because Jesus repeats, repeats that same word twice, a little bit later. What must I do to inherit eternal?
Speaker 1:life.
Speaker 2:He repeats the word do, or he repeats the words do, oh, okay, yeah, and also life, also life, and, and. And. Then jesus responds to the guy. He says what's written in the law? How do you read it right? So that's the the next part. And the man answered well, he said you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. Stuart, where does that come from? Leviticus 19.18. Leviticus 19.18 is the second part love your neighbor as yourself. But what is that other part? Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6.
Speaker 3:Deuteronomy 6 does not include the word mind.
Speaker 1:It does, but not the way you think. In the ancient world, and this I know to be true. Yes, not what you just said, but the seat of the emotions was not the heart. In the ancient world, when it says with all your heart, that's where they thought the intelligence, the brain power, the thought processes took place, they actually thought kidneys was where the emotions were.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they didn't know, I mean, they didn't have brain scans.
Speaker 6:They didn't have any of that stuff.
Speaker 2:Everything's in the brain anyway, we know now and part of that, part of that goes out of the fact that when you feel very emotional about things, right, you feel it in your gut, right. Right, that's when you feel things. When you feel fear, when you feel, uh, love, right, you feel a lot of things. You feel that and there actually have been studies, been studies demonstrating that we have some really interesting kind of cells in there that do connect to the brain.
Speaker 1:But anyway, at any rate. At any rate, the other word is not strength, the other word is variness.
Speaker 2:Variness. What does that mean?
Speaker 1:We interpret it to mean strength. It can mean a number of things With all your very-ness Like be very good, very this oh okay, okay, my-od-ness yeah. Oh, really My-od as well.
Speaker 2:My-od.
Speaker 1:yeah, the very Well my-od-ah-ha, with your being very, your very-ness. Okay, so it's interpreted.
Speaker 2:It's interpreted as strength, heart, soul, strength and mind. And then the second part of that is love your neighbor as yourself right. And what's interesting is how Jesus responds. He said well, you've answered it right. He said go, do this, do this and you will live. Rudy, did you pick up on that?
Speaker 5:the do and live. Did you hear that? The do, yeah, do this. Rudy, did you pick up on that? The do and live did you do? Yeah, do this. I was gonna say one of one of the things that I thought was was critical is it was obviously that's that action, right. But he said must, hmm, what must you do? Yeah. Then he references the law, right, as if there's some sort of like sort of inherent statute, right, there's a criteria that you have to follow, like there's a path, right, and of course, jesus he's talking, so it's kind of pointing to that.
Speaker 2:So, stuart, there's another. Okay, yeah, father Mario, I was going to say.
Speaker 3:I find, at the very risk of being struck by lightning. Jesus kind of contradicted himself there, did he? Well, yeah, because he says the question is Master, what must I do? And Rudy was emphasizing that.
Speaker 2:Right, what must I do?
Speaker 3:And Jesus says follow the commandments right.
Speaker 2:Right, well, in particular, love God, right. Okay, love your neighbors yourself.
Speaker 3:But then he adds one thing, so that he says you lack one thing.
Speaker 2:No, not yet I know, but he will, will not on this particular parable. This is the different, this is a different parable, this different story. Well, okay, but, this is the setup for the good samaritan. Okay, not the, not the one about selling all the poor?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, but in that one he does. It's the same question it's a.
Speaker 1:It's similar, but it's not the same exactly it's also interesting, because there he says do this, do this, do this. One thing you lack. And he says basically, give tzedakah right poor. And then he adds a second thing, when he said you'll need one thing more, and that was come follow me.
Speaker 3:So come follow me is an addition, probably later possibly possibly, so we're going to the good samaritan so we're talking about good samaritan.
Speaker 2:So here's, here's the here's the thing that I'm wanting to. To wrap in here, this past week there were fires all over los angeles. Oh, my god. I mean awful, terrible People who've never lost their houses, their lands, their livelihood, their animals and their lives.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And now there are people on the internet. The internet is awash with people who are saying well, you get what you deserve. What you get what you deserve. Woo-hoo, you've lost your houses, you've lost your lives, you've lost your animals, you've lost your friends and family because you elected Newsom in California. You elected these people in California. So they're saying this happened to them because they voted for Newsom in California. You elected these people in California.
Speaker 1:So they're saying this happened to them because they voted for Newsom?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they said in a sense you get what you've deserved. If you had just had more sense, if you had. That's not my theology, thank you very much. But this is I think it's important to talk about this kind of thing because again, the Internet is awash with this kind of blaming people or shaming them for what they have done and it seems to me that publicly that that should be decried, that should be criticized soundly and we can do that. And a lot of people have said you know, people have lost their moral compass, etc. Look, there's no straighter path north on a moral compass than to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength to love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker 3:So wait a minute. I don't agree with it fundamentally, but there is a nugget of truth in it.
Speaker 2:Nugget of truth in.
Speaker 3:But it's indirect, it's not God said oh, they won't throw out a new sin. No, it's not about God, it's about that's the implication. No, the implication what I'm saying is, you know there are consequences to your choices. Okay, yeah, now God knows the Santa Ana winds and the fire. That's an accident. Nobody, god doesn't send that. Thank you, but the lack of availability.
Speaker 1:Right, $12 million cut from the fire department.
Speaker 3:Not only that, and then Governor Newsom, you know putting cutting all that, the what do I say? The water reservoirs and sending them into the sea instead of reserving them Right right. Okay, so I mean, you're talking about?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there were decisions that made it worse. That made it and they bear the brunt of that decision.
Speaker 3:That's right. They're the brunt of that decision, that's right. So I think you just can't say a condemnation to all of those people, because they may be emphasizing the wrong thing, because it's an accident and it's a tragedy.
Speaker 2:Right, but you do.
Speaker 3:It's a natural disaster, it's a natural disaster made much worse by bad choices, by bad choices.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this is what I know about California, because there are about 45% of the people who voted who don't vote and yet their houses are burning. And yet their neighborhoods are decimated.
Speaker 1:And these jackasses who say that it's the fault of the people who got their houses burned will probably add something stupid like well, you should have voted so you didn't, and therefore They'll always come up with stupid things like that.
Speaker 3:The question also has to do, for example, in general. I'll go to the ultimate issue Are all the Germans to bear some responsibility? Does the German nation bear some responsibility for Adolf Hitler?
Speaker 1:Those who did are dead.
Speaker 3:I know, but the question is still, you know, and especially for us Christians. Okay, let me bring it to this level. Do we and this is Christian theology do we bear any responsibility for the killing of Jesus? And I would say yes.
Speaker 2:Do we? Yes, we yeah, we didn't do it.
Speaker 3:Right, but we do Our way of thinking. Our way of thinking does it.
Speaker 2:But Jesus died for our sins.
Speaker 3:Yes, I agree with you.
Speaker 2:That's one of the hallmarks of Christian theology.
Speaker 3:One of the great sins of the world is the fact that we have to go to a commercial, otherwise we're not going to have a show.
Speaker 1:Yes, but they pay for us to be online, amen.
Speaker 3:This is 1070 KNTH and we'll be right back.
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Speaker 12:All I want is to be left alone In my average home, but why do I always feel?
Speaker 10:Like I'm in the twilight zone and I always feel like Somebody's watching me and I love to dance. Oh, I always feel like Somebody's watching me.
Speaker 2:I never heard of this song, Wow Stuart.
Speaker 8:You almost hit that note, man that's good, that's good.
Speaker 2:Wow, stuart, you almost hit that note, man, that's good.
Speaker 5:That's good.
Speaker 2:Hey, Rudy, what have you heard about the Los Angeles fires down in Guatemala? Has it been on the news down there?
Speaker 5:It's been all over the news and yeah, and I've heard the same things. You know, the internet's just kind of, you know, blaming a lot of DEI DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion policies that were made, trying to push for a more diverse firefighter, I would say, pool of people. Right, there was a lot of mismanagement of water, which California has traditionally done for the last 40 years. I mean, this is like.
Speaker 1:You mean mismanaged for 40 years?
Speaker 3:Yeah, mismanaged yeah.
Speaker 1:Mismanaged for 40 years Mismanaged.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, so it's just been. There's actually a great author and military historian, victor Davis Hanson. He has a podcast and he does a great take on it. He actually does a lot of agriculture there too, so he's kind of in tune with a lot of these policies.
Speaker 5:And I would play a little bit of devil's advocate too and say that California has one of the most and I'm going to use these air quotes right, like they are the most sort of progressive in what they call now sanctuary cities, right. So a lot of their funding has gone to a lot of immigrant services, whether we think they're illegal or not, or I mean they are, of course, but you know there's a lot of good there that's being done too. And and I think it's not fair to say that you know that that certain actions you know, I think you have to kind of look at the entire picture. I'm not saying that it wasn't mismanaged, of course it was but but California does have a, you know, kind of a long track record of kind of being this sort of sanctuary of a place for a lot of people. So it does help. I mean, I personally know a lot of people that live in California, got to California, have found jobs in California and are able to send money home to Guatemala, to El Salvador, to Nicaragua.
Speaker 1:You may remember the fires that was in Hawaii, yeah, and when the smoke and ash cleared out, who brought everything up? Who bought the housing that got burned down? The wealthy Hawaiians, including Oprah, thank you. I didn't say you said it, but yes, including very famous celebrities. Just swooped in and bought out the land, how convenient and how, and I wonder what's going to happen. You said it, but yes, including very famous celebrities. Just swooped in and bought out the land, bought out the land, how convenient and how, and I wonder what's going to happen with this part of western LA.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, it's hard to know, right. So and I know we've got to go to a break here in yet another minute but I do think it's worth pondering. For those of us called to be Christians and Jews, for whom the love commandment love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, love your neighbor as yourself for whom those are very important teachings to think about. What does that look like when that is put into practice? In other words, not necessarily to policy, you can't command people to love, you can't make people love but what does it look like for us as Christians and as Jews to think about? What does it mean to love?
Speaker 3:In the context of these fires.
Speaker 2:In the context of public life, public life in general. He was talking a moment ago about immigration. He was talking a moment ago about the homeless problem. So all of these issues that come together to think about what is our moral compass story? One time, stuart, about a teaching, maybe a rabbinic teaching, about standing on one leg. A rabbi.
Speaker 1:It'll have very similar nuances to what you read out of the New Testament. But there was a rather obnoxious person who came up to one rabbi and said I will convert to your religion if you can tell me everything about Judaism while I stand on one foot. In other words, down to its quickest, simplest thing, because I'm not going to be able to stand on my foot for very long. Now, there are different ways to understand that, but basically that's what was meant. And the first rabbi he went to did not take this too well and basically chased him away. So he goes to another rabbi. Did he use his cane to chase him away? Yes, literally. So he goes to a different rabbi, hillel. And Hillel said ask the same question. I will convert your religion if you tell me everything about Judaism while I stand on one foot, them while I stand on one foot. And Hillel said that which is hateful to you, do not do to anybody else.
Speaker 1:That's the whole Torah. All the rest is commentary. Now go and study it. So, in other words, it doesn't end with simple academic acquisition of knowledge. Okay, it has to do with learning it and executing it and putting it out in the real world.
Speaker 2:So do to others what you would want them to do to you. Do not do to others what you don't want yourself to do. But I mean how Jesus said it do to others what you would want them to do.
Speaker 3:Which is theologically different, Okay. But now are we saying by this that what we want people to do for us okay, let's say, in the loss of my house, okay, in a fire, if I had lost it should the rest of the community, or even the United States as a whole, be on the hook for rebuilding my house.
Speaker 1:See, this is why I would say, yes, you can in fact legislate morality, and you can legislate people to love. But here's the thing, but here's love is a choice I taught you that right here, so you choose okay but here's the problem that I have.
Speaker 3:What if I say, okay, you need to love me and you need to help me rebuild my house, but I'm not changing and I'm still voting for all the things that may help, that might go wrong?
Speaker 6:So I'm saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can't. No no no, but should, Then they're going to have their house burned down later no but then we have to keep rebuilding it.
Speaker 3:But we have to keep rebuilding it.
Speaker 1:This is why it shouldn't be an obligation, people stepping forward to help.
Speaker 3:But here's what my question is Is repentance required at all?
Speaker 1:For forgiveness, yes, but to help somebody no.
Speaker 3:Well to help somebody. So For forgiveness, yes, but to help somebody, no, well to help somebody. So you know. You say well, I'm an addict, help me, give me.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and I can help you by bringing you to a, and I'm fully intending to be an addict again. Then it becomes your problem. But I've done what I could to help you. No, you could do more.
Speaker 1:But it's both. You could do more. No's both. You could do more, no, no. You're asking above and beyond. What you're asking then becomes I know We've got to go to a break.
Speaker 3:Yeah, cut him off.
Speaker 2:Cut him off, cut him off, cut him off.
Speaker 3:Okay, take care.
Speaker 2:I might do one off.
Speaker 5:I might do 770, the answer.
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Speaker 8:Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Speaker 4:I think this is for your benefit because it sounds like Spanish.
Speaker 3:No, this is Portuguese. Portuguese.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's for Rudy's benefit.
Speaker 6:Rabbi, come on Rudy, come on man.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to a show of faith. On M1070 Answer.
Speaker 2:All right, Rudy, would you interpret that for us, please? The song yes.
Speaker 5:Pretty much. The Rabbi doesn't speak any Portuguese is what I'm learning.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's what we're learning. Yeah, we're talking about the love commandment tonight. We're talking about the love commandment in regard to some pretty unloving things that have been said on the Internet about people whose houses are burning and burning and burning in California, and we're talking about the love commandment. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You know what you remind me of and hold on, I can't hear you. What did you say? I?
Speaker 1:said you know what that reminds?
Speaker 2:me of what does that remind?
Speaker 1:you of? Hold on, I can't hear you. What did you say? I said do you know what that reminds me of? What does that remind you of? When there are natural disasters, tornadoes, hurricanes, whatever I have seen in the front of private homes, signs put up in their front yard. 2 Chronicles 7, 14. 14, yes, you know, blaming the victims. Yeah, it's blaming the victims.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, you know, blaming the victims. Yeah, it's blaming the victims. Well, yeah, same idea. Yeah, we don't have wildfires here like they have them in California, but we do have floods, we have tornadoes and such, and they happen. So I mean, can you take the love commandment and make policy out of it? Yes, can you? Stuart says yes.
Speaker 3:Mario's not so sure oh, I, I mean yes, but you have to remember that love what you mean by that word okay, let's talk about that, because I think that's really critical, because we often think of love in very emotive sense. Okay, right this is where I would make the distinction. I would use the word love and compassion as equal okay, to some degree, and then I would say that you have to the distinction that I constantly make between sentimental compassion and effective compassion.
Speaker 1:Also appears here.
Speaker 3:Okay, because sentimental compassion is when you do something for somebody else that makes you feel good, so you don't pay attention to what they really need to do and what would ultimately benefit them long term.
Speaker 2:So you do something and you feel better. It makes you feel better.
Speaker 3:Effective compassion is when you look at another person and you see the issue that they're dealing with and you don't necessarily do what they immediately want. You make, you do some thinking about what is ultimately good for them, and and that's that, because there's a short term and a long term, you know looking, and so to me, of course, you can legislate, um, you can legislate love, but you have to also legislating. Love means effective compassion, love meaning help with a little bit of justice. You know the old thing of St Paul saying if you do not work shall not eat. You just can't be on the dole all the time and say but initially, you should help when you can.
Speaker 3:That's correct, and once you've helped, the obligation is no longer in your hand, as they say no, I see, I would disagree with that because to some degree, when, especially for us Christians, how many times must I forgive my brother?
Speaker 1:no, no, we're not talking forgiveness, I know. We're talking about rebuilding their burned down homes, but yeah, but said forgiveness. So you do say to keep helping, no matter what they do with it well, I'm talking forgiveness, I know I'm talking about rebuilding their burned down homes? Yeah, but forgiveness. So you do say to keep helping, no matter what they do with it. Well, I'm saying that that's abuse of the word love. That's abuse of the word love.
Speaker 3:No, no, yes, it's the abuse of the word love.
Speaker 1:So you're saying we don't keep helping them and keep having their house burnt?
Speaker 3:You don't. What about houses in Galveston keep getting flooding out by hurricanes. They keep rebuilding. They should have to pay. You want to build, you do insurance, but your insurance is going to be skyrocketing and you better be able to afford it, and that does happen.
Speaker 2:A lot of people are self-insured who live down there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or the insurance it's the same thing with, in Texas, the whole issue of riding a motorcycle without a helmet. You can say you can have a motorcycle riding without a helmet, but I don't want to have to pay for your medical bills. You should there's a law wear a helmet. Why? Because the society should not have to be burdened with that, with your bad choices or alcoholism. You know, I should not have to bear your issues. But then there is repentance, you know. And if there is repentance, then you do begin to say well, I mean, you can help somebody after repentance.
Speaker 1:But the repentance also includes a change of behavior. That's correct.
Speaker 3:See, it's one of my interesting things that I always find that the prodigal son. Is that what we're talking about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, no, not the prodigal son, but the story of the good Samaritan, you keep trying to jump around, okay, so here's kind of the rest of the story, and we'll talk about this and go to the break in a minute. When the man responded, and he said Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbors as yourself, jesus said Good, you've answered correctly. Go and do and you will live. The man, though, came back with the next question who is my neighbor? Apparently, he knew who God was right. I mean, he didn't ask who is God, he said who is my neighbor, because that is the question. And so Jesus told a story to illustrate the idea of that, and it's called the Good Samaritan. Stuart, I know, has a question on this. So, jesus, here's the story.
Speaker 2:There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and when he fell among the hands of robbers, they stripped him, they beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, there was a priest going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So, too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side, but when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him. He looked at him and he had compassion Going back to that word, compassion he went to him and he bandaged his wounds. He poured oil and wine on the wounds. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him there.
Speaker 2:The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper Take care of him there. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Take care of him. He said, and on my return journey I'll repay you for any additional expenses. Which of these three, jesus asked, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The hands of robbers? And the man said the one who showed him mercy. Jesus said go and do likewise. So the story of the good samaritan becomes the illustration to the question who is my neighbor?
Speaker 1:so, stewart, who is my neighbor in that story? Well, clearly, the way the whole story is set up, it's the Samaritan. Yeah, but how do we know who? The no, not the Samaritan.
Speaker 2:Samaritan is the neighbor.
Speaker 3:Yes, oh, I thought no. Because Jesus says who was neighbor to the Samaritan.
Speaker 2:The Samaritan considered the man.
Speaker 1:The man who was injured right.
Speaker 3:The man who helped him was neighbor to the Samaritan.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, okay. But if you take a look in Exodus, chapter 3, okay, the Hebrews are about to leave slavery in Egypt. And God says to them you're not going to leave empty-handed. And God says to them you're not going to leave empty-handed, go to your neighbors and from them, you know, ask for their jewelry and their riches and wealth and everything else. Clearly, the word neighbor does not talk about, doesn't mean the fellow Jews, it means the Egyptians, because they're the ones who would be having the jewelry. So the word neighbor means anybody else. It's not restricted to being like you, it's being people. It means people who are. It also includes people who are not like you, right. So to the Samaritan I have a question about that, by the way oh, wonderful Greek scholar, yeah, okay. But to the Samaritan he didn't say oh, you're not a Samaritan, I'm not going to help you.
Speaker 2:Exactly Right, exactly Now. So the Samaritan was the neighbor.
Speaker 1:The Samaritan saw in the eyes of the man beaten up Right.
Speaker 6:Made of the image of God, his own neighbor.
Speaker 1:Exactly as a neighbor. As a neighbor, as a neighbor, someone who needed help at the time that he could give Right Right David scholar. Everybody talks about this person as being the good Samaritan. Where's the word good in the whole paragraph?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's not there Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So why does this Samaritan get the epithet, the name of being the good Samaritan?
Speaker 2:Maybe there were some bad Samaritans.
Speaker 1:Because the stereotype of the Samaritan was.
Speaker 1:They were all bad. Yeah, they were the competitors to the Jewish community politically and religiously, right, right, they're the reasons why. So, for example, we have Passover coming up. The Bible says seven days. Why is it eight days? Because it was the Samaritans who would throw the Jewish calendar off and try to mess up the Jewish people to have them by setting the fires at the wrong time. So he becomes the good Samaritan as opposed to well, you know how the Samaritans are. It's meant to contrast with the stereotype of the day Go ahead, Father.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, Rudy, I'm sorry Stuart's been taking up all your time. He looked right at me as he asked me. I'm sorry, rudy Stuart was taking all your time. Are you there? No, I'm not at. Rudy Stuart was taking all your time, are you?
Speaker 8:there.
Speaker 6:No, I'm not at all.
Speaker 2:I was giving the right answer. No, I think it's. Yeah, the word good is not there, right, exactly right, I think. A lot of times the word prodigal, by the way, I don't know that the word prodigal is there. So for prodigal, son, so what do you think, rudy?
Speaker 5:I wanted to come, I wanted to come back to something that father mario was alluding to, and it's kind of this kind of notion is to to what extent right, am I responsible for the continual bad decisions that another individual? Um, because the notion here is is we're looking at things from a sort of communal and and a societal perspective, right, and, and this whole thing of, for example, living in coastlines let's take um galveston right, we know they get hurricanes, we know they get flooding, we know that they get shot down, and not shot down but but completely demolished, right? I mean, it's happened a couple of times already in which we have recorded history, and there's this guy, dr Bjorn Lomborg, I don't know if you guys know him.
Speaker 3:We have 20 seconds for it. Go to break.
Speaker 1:We'll come back to him, let's come back to you.
Speaker 3:Okay, Rudy, this is 1070 KNTHth and we'll be right back am 1070 and fm 1033 the answer.
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Speaker 8:The answer oh, who are the people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood. Say who are the people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood. Say who are the people in your neighborhood. The people that you meet each day. Miranda Waldo oh hi there little fella, hello, hey, listen, you know who you could be if I gave you this little hat and a bag to carry over your shoulder. That could be a laundry man. No, not a laundry man. How about Santa Claus?
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no, not santa claus. What's wrong with santa claus? There's nothing wrong with santa claus, don't you like?
Speaker 2:christmas oh, I love christmas, I have no idea who are the people in your neighborhood? Yeah, when it first started I thought it was the uh sesame street song no, no, I thought it was the uh.
Speaker 1:What uh so far you're saying can you be my neighbor?
Speaker 2:no, no, no, no, no. What's?
Speaker 1:his name. I can't think of his name.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, mr Rogers.
Speaker 4:Mr Rogers, yeah Right, but it wasn't no it was Sesame Street.
Speaker 3:In the good old days of.
Speaker 2:Sesame.
Speaker 3:Street. Yeah, Okay, we're going to go back to Rudy. Let's go back to Rudy.
Speaker 2:Rudy, you were in the middle of something there when Father interrupted you.
Speaker 5:I'm when father interrupted you. I'm sorry, yeah, it's just. There's this doctor, his name is jordan lomberg and and he, if you haven't heard of him, he does a lot of analysis on the top of what I in my opinion, it's sort of the hubris of humanity, right, like where we want to live in, these coastlines that are constantly destroyed and, for example, take New Orleans, right, it's like extremely dangerous what happens. We've even developed technology, pumps, huge dams and all in an attempt, it's below sea level.
Speaker 2:It's below sea level a lot of it.
Speaker 5:Yeah, all in an attempt to sort of subdue nature, right. And he goes through this list. He's an economist, he's got a lot of data and he gives examples. For example, if we were to spend $4 billion in anti-malaria programs, we could pretty much cure and prevent malaria across the world, right? So he kind of goes down this entire list. A lot of it is climate-related too.
Speaker 5:So when we talk about California and all these things, it's like, okay, yeah, there's a lot of mismanagement, but also, why do I want to live in a place that has huge fires all the time? Right, and he kind of makes this argument that that, like, what is the issue with humanity? It's like, yes, okay, you're in a beautiful mountain, great. But it's like, is it also rational? And I think a lot of this. And when we talk about helping the other, it's like like, okay, I'm going to help you, but I'm not going to help you build the house in the exact same spot where this danger just happened. Okay, let's do the rational and logical thing, right? God is a God of order, right? Should I continue spending my time, effort, money, sweat in a family or individual that wants to go back and continue doing the same thing right now If they were to come and say look, go ahead, roy.
Speaker 1:Well, I just want to say we did the same thing here After the hurricane. We had the horrible floods we had. You could build your house again, but you have to build it like 10 feet above the ground, so on stilts you had to raise up the house you know how many houses got flooded out but then they got the insurance money and whatever and they had to raise up the entire house. Same thing you can build it again, but with certain changes, so it doesn't happen again.
Speaker 5:With changes, right, sure. And look for Houston. I saw the investments that the government was making. They expanded waterway passages with the canal. There was a lot of. Now is it probably going to happen again? Yes, it's probably going to happen again, right? It's every what? 500 years or something, that storm that hit something like that? Right, statistically. So it's going to happen again. But then again I go back to the point. It's like what is this hubris of us trying to live? It's like the people here in Guatemala, rabbi, that live literally on the slope of an active volcano, literally on the slope of an active volcano, and then you want the government to come and help you when there's a large explosion and it washes away all your entire house and land, and it's like I don't know man.
Speaker 3:It doesn't make a lot of sense, but the only problem, rudy, it all depends on where Do the poor? You have to take this into consideration. If all the land other land is very desirable, where are the poor to live in the undesirable land? Why?
Speaker 1:is it undesirable? Keep them out of Hawaii.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Why is it undesirable? Because it's dangerous, okay, but I agree with you to a certain degree, but there has to be a certain amount of justice in terms of where do you let them, where do you let the poor live? You know, it's kind of like. It's kind of like people who live in an island and it's beautiful beaches and all the beaches are controlled by private property and the natives get to live in the center. Get they live in the center. They got their own land, but they have no access to the water, they can't make a living, and so you have to say, well, do they have access to livable land that is not dangerous? That's the other part of justice.
Speaker 1:And that won't eventually turn into slums because of where it is.
Speaker 2:These are complicated problems.
Speaker 3:Extremely Go ahead, rudy.
Speaker 5:I just wanted to add one more thing. It's something that the rabbi was mentioning, and okay, if, if we are prepared to make laws to sort of I don't want to say, enforce love, but based on love, we also need to be prepared to execute justice in the name of that love, or lack of love, right, and I think of something like murder. Right, so I can make a law that says murder is illegal. Okay, and why? Because, imago Dei, right, I see the faith of God in my neighbor and so I want to preserve that life. Okay, but then, if somebody doesn't follow that law, if somebody doesn't particularly face that law, we have to now build an entire infrastructure, which is what we have now. Right, jails, yes, that are dealing with criminals. So we have to be very careful with what we mean by love. It's something that you were kind of talking about earlier.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's my original point, that we have to be careful what it means. But real love. That's why it's, you know, when I said effective compassion as the difference between sentimental compassion, effective compassion takes thought.
Speaker 1:Right, and it takes what is in the best interest of the person who you're loving.
Speaker 3:Correct, right the sentimental compassion is easy. All you have to do is do a little thing. It makes you feel good and you let it.
Speaker 1:Go pat yourself on the back yeah, I'm a good person.
Speaker 3:I'm a good person. Yeah, that's why, you know, if you do stuff that just makes you feel good, it looks good. That's what's called virtue signaling. You know, you do something that signals that you're a virtuous person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it makes everybody feel good, and I believe that the whole search for being able to call yourself a good person and to be able to virtue signal is what stimulates most of the left. For all that they do, I agree with you, because it's the quick, the easy, and then, once it's done, they can pat themselves on the back and say I helped, I'm truly a good person. It's like they don't even believe they're a really good person and they have to keep doing these shallow, meaningless things so they can say to themselves I'm a good person.
Speaker 2:When you look at the story here of the Good Samaritan and I think he was good, stuart, I know, I know I'm just teasing you I mean what he did was really remarkable To stop a journey, to bandage the person, to put him on his animal, transport him to the next den, to pay the kinds of things. I mean this would have been in our economy hundreds and hundreds of dollars. This was not just a little tip here. Let me give you a quarter.
Speaker 4:Let me give you a couple of bucks to take care of this guy.
Speaker 2:This was significant cash outlay to take care of this man.
Speaker 3:But notice it was not just sentimental compassion, it was effective. He did to help him. He did it he did it to help him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know. So if he would have seen the same guy just sitting around getting drunk and asking for money and he doesn't want to get any help then you don't do that.
Speaker 1:Right, right, and it's also a great purveyor of polemic against the priests and the Levites. Don't forget that too. What this? The story of the Good Samaritan.
Speaker 2:Well, I think what it's saying is you have these people who are very religious, but just because they're religious doesn't mean necessarily that they're good people.
Speaker 6:It's polemical.
Speaker 2:It is polemical, but I don't think it's anti-Judaism. I don't think it's anti-priest.
Speaker 1:It has certainly been used that way. It has been used that way and the whole question of who's your neighbor you know, except for, like I was quoting the line from Exodus Right, there are people who have said and will say, oh to the Jews. That just means helping other Jews, oh to the jews.
Speaker 2:That just means helping other jews. That doesn't mean helping anybody else. I've never heard anybody. Oh, I certainly. Oh, stewart, absolutely. You've been reading. You've been reading the wrong side of the internet, man? No, I'm sure I'm sure they have been. I mean, uh, sometimes people will say things like well, you know, charity begins at home, right, charity begins at home, so we start with our. We start with our own first, we help our own first, right and and so we don't worry about people on the outside. We help our own first, whatever that means.
Speaker 3:That's why I love that charity begins at home. The jesus statement, who is my mother, my brother and my sister right right, because it just the blood means nothing. Yeah, it means nothing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it means nothing. Yeah, which is so counter-cultural for that day?
Speaker 3:Yes, it was.
Speaker 2:When your blood relation meant pretty much everything. At that point, jesus is expanding this notion of what God's reign was about. It was about those who did the will of God, those who sought God's will. You could be my brother. Stuart could be my brother. Anyone who's seeking to be faithful to God could be a brother or a sister. That's the way the liturgy reads in a lot of churches these days. So anyway, next week, stuart, you're going to be up.
Speaker 1:Stuart J, I definitely hope to be absolutely. Darrell Bock, you're going to be up. I definitely hope to be Absolutely, and the topic I hope is going to be speech.
Speaker 2:What about speech? Are you for it or against it?
Speaker 1:I am speaking as I say, I am for speaking, but God made the world by speech and one thing that humans have over the animals is speech and our speech. You know, words can hurt, words can heal, words can hurt. So different angles on the idea of speech.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in postmodernism they say words both mean things and do things. Yeah, words do things, but in the modern world.
Speaker 1:you can change the meaning you can make anything you want. You can, you can and therefore it loses its meaning.
Speaker 2:It can lose the meaning, but it also can be used for a variety of things, for good or for bad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll talk about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for the use of your phone, by the way, you're very welcome.
Speaker 3:By the wayry, wants you to get in touch with her. Oh, thank you, I will do.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, she's she's been texting yes. So just once, very quickly, uh, when is your wife getting her her visa, rudy? Um, I'm waiting for the uh, for the approval letter from the government.
Speaker 3:We are waiting anxiously to meet the woman.
Speaker 5:I don't know if I'm happy for you all to meet her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll tell her the truth about you. Yeah, yeah yeah. Liz, if we do that, you can tell her the truth about us, Okay folks, this is 1070 KNTH.
Speaker 3:You've been listening to the Show of Faith. Keep us in your prayers. You're going to be in ours.
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