We Are All Innkeepers
In our stake conference this weekend, one discussion centered around the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and we were invited to consider which of the characters in this story we might relate to. Of course we ideally want to be like the Samaritan who took the time to care for the man who was injured, but often we may actually be more like the priest and Levite who passed by on the other side or even the wounded man himself when we feel broken and in need of help. (Hopefully we aren’t ever like the thieves!) The other interesting character that was mentioned which perhaps we might see a connection with is the innkeeper. The account records that the Samaritan brought the wounded man “to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee” (Luke 10:34-35). The innkeeper was a secondary help to the wounded man but not the main source of healing, and the comment was made in our meeting that we might sometimes fill that role also. We often assist in some small way to help another in need without playing as significant a part as others.
As I pondered this question some more, I realized that considered from the angle of being disciples of the Savior, we are all supposed to be like that innkeeper. In the end, only the Savior is really like the Samaritan—He is the only one who heals, the only one who saves, the only one who works miracles and rescues us. Our job as disciples is not to heal or to change lives or to work miracles; rather, it is to help Him as He does those things. Our job is to accept those whom He brings to us and administer the aid He asks us to with means that He gives us. That may be for people who He causes to cross our path or those we are assigned to minister to or even the children He has placed in our home. Our role is to look for those opportunities when He metaphorically says, “Here is this wounded man—I have provided everything that is necessary for his healing by binding up his wounds and putting oil on them, and I just need you to watch over him and provide a place of peace and rest for him to fully recover.”
And not only does He do all the healing, but He also symbolically “pays” us as we help Him like the Samaritan did to the innkeeper. We are given not only what we need to help others but receive blessings ourselves as we participate in His work of healing. That payment of course is not financial but comes in the form of spiritual blessings and strength and development for our own lives. King Benjamin put it this way: “He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you” (Mosiah 2:24). Just as the Samaritan gave two pence to the host for following his instructions, so too does the Lord provide His own kind of payment for obeying Him and helping as He asks us to. For example, in modern revelation we learn that those who are faithful in “magnifying their calling” are “sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:33). He gives us strength and renews our bodies when we serve with Him. Or in another scripture the Lord promised those who would preach His word: “I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:3). He helps provide for our families and opens doors for us in our own challenges when we take His word to others. As we consider ourselves to be like the innkeeper in this story we come to realize our true relationship with the Savior and learn to trust His healing and care as we try in our own small way to labor with Him in His great work. And when we do, we find He has paid us far more than we gave in the first place.
As I pondered this question some more, I realized that considered from the angle of being disciples of the Savior, we are all supposed to be like that innkeeper. In the end, only the Savior is really like the Samaritan—He is the only one who heals, the only one who saves, the only one who works miracles and rescues us. Our job as disciples is not to heal or to change lives or to work miracles; rather, it is to help Him as He does those things. Our job is to accept those whom He brings to us and administer the aid He asks us to with means that He gives us. That may be for people who He causes to cross our path or those we are assigned to minister to or even the children He has placed in our home. Our role is to look for those opportunities when He metaphorically says, “Here is this wounded man—I have provided everything that is necessary for his healing by binding up his wounds and putting oil on them, and I just need you to watch over him and provide a place of peace and rest for him to fully recover.”
And not only does He do all the healing, but He also symbolically “pays” us as we help Him like the Samaritan did to the innkeeper. We are given not only what we need to help others but receive blessings ourselves as we participate in His work of healing. That payment of course is not financial but comes in the form of spiritual blessings and strength and development for our own lives. King Benjamin put it this way: “He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you” (Mosiah 2:24). Just as the Samaritan gave two pence to the host for following his instructions, so too does the Lord provide His own kind of payment for obeying Him and helping as He asks us to. For example, in modern revelation we learn that those who are faithful in “magnifying their calling” are “sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:33). He gives us strength and renews our bodies when we serve with Him. Or in another scripture the Lord promised those who would preach His word: “I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:3). He helps provide for our families and opens doors for us in our own challenges when we take His word to others. As we consider ourselves to be like the innkeeper in this story we come to realize our true relationship with the Savior and learn to trust His healing and care as we try in our own small way to labor with Him in His great work. And when we do, we find He has paid us far more than we gave in the first place.
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