His Inn

In his most recent talk in general conference, Elder Gong spoke about the parable of the Good Samaritan. He said this: “In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus invites us to come to each other and to Him in His inn—His Church. He invites us to be good neighbors. The good Samaritan promises to return and recompense the care of those in His inn. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ includes making room for all in His restored Church.” The inn is the place where the Samaritan took the man who fell among thieves to recover and heal. I don’t know that I had ever thought about the inn as the Church, but it makes sense as an analogy. The Savior brings people to the Church and asks us to help take care of them. Moroni described how this worked for the Nephites: “And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith” (Moroni 6:4). Elder Cook reminded us how President Hinckley used this verse to teach that all converts—and by extension really all of us—need “a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ‘the good word of God.’” As we work in the “hotel” we should strive to provide these three things for others in our wards and branches.

               Elder Gong told a sad story of an experience a young man had where some did not welcome others to the Savior’s inn as they should have. He related, “I went with a brokenhearted father to visit his son. Years earlier, the son was excited to become a new deacon. The occasion included his family buying him his first pair of new shoes. But at church, the deacons laughed at him. His shoes were new, but not fashionable. Embarrassed and hurt, the young deacon said he would never go again to church. My heart is still broken for him and his family.” That should never be the case for those who have made covenants to live like the Savior who welcomed all to come unto Him. I knew a wonderful man on my mission named Jean-Michel who had gone from being homeless to an active, faithful member of the Church. That was the case when I came to his area. He loved the missionaries and served selflessly. He seemed to me to be beloved of the members, but later (after I left the area), he stopped attending church went back to his life of homelessness. The reasons for his departure likely were complex, but my understanding was that one was that he felt judged by the members for his tattoos, particularly when passing the sacrament. Whether there was truth in that or perhaps it was just his perception, his story is a reminder that we need to welcome all with open arms in the Lord’s inn in a way that we don’t judge. In the parable of the Good Samaritan it was not the perfectly well that were brought to the inn, but those that needed care. And surely we all need that care in His inn with our figurative wounds, seen or unseen.

I was struck by a simple observation from a character named Shatov in Doestyevsky’s book The Possessed who, in an hour of desperation, went to a woman for help with his wife who was in labor. He was trying to break from the society of this woman and her husband because of their extreme political views, and yet despite their differences she agreed to come in the middle of the night to help Shatov (without pay). Seeing her kindness, Shatov said to himself, “There is something generous even in these people. The convictions and the man are two very different things, very likely I’ve been very unfair to them!… We are all to blame, we are all to blame … and if only all were convinced of it!” Indeed, there is generosity in nearly all people and the political convictions and the person are two different things. We should strive to set aside differences and unite under the Savior. As Elder Gong summarized, “In His restored Church, we are all better when no one sits alone. Let us not simply accommodate or tolerate. Let us genuinely welcome, acknowledge, minister to, love. May each friend, sister, brother not be a foreigner or stranger but a child at home.”