St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-02-16
Who Is My Neighbor ?
A Moody Sermon for Sunday Reading.

Who Is My Neighbor ?
Moody Sermon for Sunday Reading.
COMPASSION BETTER THAN PREACHING.
You will find my text, tonight, in the
fourteenth chapter of Luke, part of
the twenty ninth verse, the question
that the lawyer put to Christ: "Who
is my neighbOr 2" That is another
truth we have got to find out before
much is accomplished here in Boston.
We have got to find out who our neigh
Dor is. The church has been nearly
1900 years finding out the answer to
that question and very few have found
out yet, who their neighbOr is. Jerusa-
lem was called the city of peace, Gods
city Jericho was city that Joshua
cursed. 1t was about twenty miles
from Jerusalem, and all the way down
hill. And this man started from Je-
rusalem to go down to Jericho, and on
his way down he fell among thieves.
A great many, think, have travelled
from Jerusalem to Jericho. | think
there are great many in this audience
that will understand what l mean when
l say that this poor fellow fell among
thieves, and they stripped him of all
that he had. | don't think Jeri-
chO is a great way from Boston. |
don't think you have got to trav-
ell thousands of miles to get to
Jericho. | think you will find good
many that have been stripped and
wounded, and then left for dead in the
streets of Boston, and you haven't got
to go far to find them. | think there
have not less than eight or ten Chris
tians been to me to-day and wanted me
to set them to work. looked at them
in perfect amaZement. People that
have been living in Boston for ten or
fifteen years, and want me, a stranger,
to set them to work Why, you will
find enough to do without my telling
you what, if you will keep your eyes
open. There is a great many men that
are waiting for some one to come and
help them up. Satan has tripped them
up. They have fallen among thieves,
and they are not only half dead, but
many of them are dead in trespasses
and sin.
Now, the three men that Christ
brought out here are for our profit,
and let us take a look at them. The
first man was priest. He belonged
to the temple, up there in Jerusalem.
He was on his way down to Jericho,
perhaps on some very important bust
ness ; perhaps they were going to ded-
icate "a temple down there, and he was
on his way down to open this syna-
gOgue; to dedicate it. And when he
gets about ten miles from Jerusalem,
half way down, as he is passing along
he hears the grOan OF this poor wound
ed man. He is in great hurry. He
turns and looks to see. But it is Jew,
not Samaritan. 1t is a Jew, one of
his own kind, and 1 don't doubt but
he had pity on him, as great many
men would have now. No doubt he
said to himself: "POOr fellow, it was a
pity he took this way. He ought TO
have gone some other way, down to
Jericho, or he ought not have been out
late at night, as perhaps he had been
drinking too much. Poor fellow, / pity
him." and passed along down to Jeli-
cho. If he did pity him, he didn't have
compassion enough to give him one
kind word even. He might have Just
given him something to rest his diving
head upon; or given him just one drop
of water. In that hot country no doubt
the man was crying for water, and per-
haps that was the first cry that fell up
on his ears, "Watcr, water,n for that
is usually the first cry of wounded
man but he was too busy. He could
not stop even to give him a drop of
water. He must attend to his profess
siOnal duties, and on he went.
The next man who came along down
was Levite. He was deacon, and
he did more than the priest did,
for he did stop to look at the poor
fellow. He gave him a good look
saw he was a Jew; saw he could
not help himself; saw he Was
wounded heard bis dying groans. But
his business was very important, it was
very pressing. He must, perhaps, go
down to Jericho to help open this syn
agogue, to help the priest; he must go
down to officiate. Or, perhaps, he was
gong the other way, up to Jerusalem,
to attend to some very important du-
ties at the temple. But first he took a
good look at the man, and saw, per-
haps, it was his next door neighbor
and he may have said, 81 saw him in
the temple last Sunday. He has al
ways done all he can to keep up the
temple service. l wish l had time to
help him but have not. My business
is pressing. If | see a policeman on
the way | will send him back to look
after him /; and | think when II
get to Jerusalem we will start some
society to look after this fellow
And perhaps he will contribute a
few shillings to help it along. A
great many of that class now. They
are willing, if they have great deal of
money, to give few dollars, but how
few are ready to take off their coat and
go right into the vineyard and go to
work themselves But he follows in the
footsteps of the priest. Perhaps, for
some ways on, he can hear the groans
of the dying man, and then, perhaps,
he begins to reason out with himself
what he shall say to that mans wife.
She will perhaps go to the temple on
Sunday and ask him if he saw her bus-
band. And those two boys of his. II
know Johnny and Jimmy. They have
been watching and waiting for their
father to come home, and what will
they say if | tell them met him on the
way down to Jericho, wounded and
dying. But he goes on. l don't know
how he eased his conscience, but on he
went.
Perhaps he had not gone but a short
distance before he met the Samaritan.
He would not look at him. He would |
not even allow his dog to follow him. |