Consider donating to the Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Manville. They have a partnership with Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP), one of Nassau’s Mission Partners. HIP received an exceptional grant from Nassau’s Mission & Outreach Committee in January for their transitional housing move-in/move-out days. Often a family is in need of furniture as well as a home. HIP’s partnership with the ReStore helps families furnish their new apartments.
Luke 10:25-37
David A. Davis
February 18, 2024
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He never called him good. That was everyone else, ever since. Jesus never called him good. In the parable Jesus tells of “a Samaritan” who came near the man, saw him, and was moved with pity. Not “good”, just a Samaritan traveler. In the gospel of Luke, the words “Samaritan” and “good” are never paired together. In the previous chapter in Luke, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem”. He was heading out from Galilee and intentionally went out of his way to enter “a village of the Samaritans.” The Samaritans where not hospitable to the visit of Jesus and the disciples and James and John wanted to “command fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” Jesus, of course, rebuked them and they headed off to another village. The disciples wanted to wipe out the Samaritans.
You will remember Luke’s account of Jesus healing the ten people with leprosy and only one of them turned back and fell at the feet of Jesus to thank him. Do you remember that it happened “in the region between Samaria and Galilee”? The man who turned back was a Samaritan. Jesus didn’t call him good either. Though the man had already been healed, Jesus said “Get up and go on your way, your faith has made you well.” John’s gospel includes the longest conversation Jesus had with any one person. It was the woman at the well. She was a Samaritan. Late into their conversation, the disciples return and find Jesus talking to her. “They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman.” They didn’t say anything but John writes that they were thinking “Why are you speaking to her?” Presumably because she was a woman and she was a Samaritan. “Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony.” Jesus didn’t call her good either. Jesus never called the traveling Samaritan good. That was everyone else, ever since.
Small groups started this week and my group on Wednesday morning had such a good conversation. Helpful for preaching, too. One person in the group noted that when the lawyer was asked by Jesus which of the three “was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robber”, the lawyer couldn’t even bring himself to say it. That he was the Samaritan. No, all he could muster was “the one who showed him mercy.” The one. When Jesus finished the parable, everyone and their uncle knew the answer. It wasn’t the Levite. Come on, say it. It wasn’t the priest. You can say it. IT WAS THE SAMARITAN. Jesus could have said, “uh, uh, uh…..which one?” But the parable is shocking enough, Jesus just said “Go and do likewise”. Shocking and timelessly relevant when it comes to the human condition. Part of what makes the parable so lasting and powerful in the world we live in today is not that the Samaritan was good. It’s that he was a SAMARITAN.
Several years ago, Iman Chablis from the Islamic Center of New Jersey out on Rt 1, Rabbi Feldman from the Jewish Center of Princeton and I together did a three-night gig. Each night was at one of our respective houses of worship. Our intent was to show our collegiality and respect for one another and for each of us to give an example of how we interpret our sacred texts. I chose this parable of the man in the ditch. I won’t ever forget how, after we finished at the Jewish Center, several members of the synagogue came up to me one after the other. Not a few. Several. They told me they were raised to think this parable is an example of the antisemitism of the New Testament and of Christians. It was all because of how the priest and the Levite were portrayed by Jesus as walking by and failing to show mercy to the man in the ditch. One or two mentioned that they never heard that the man who had been robbed was Jewish. I had argued that while Jesus doesn’t say it one could assume someone traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho was Jewish. But notice, Jesus never called the Samaritan good and never criticized, said a negative thing, or called the priest or the Levite bad. As another person said Wednesday morning, “Can’t we find something good to say about the priest and the Levite?”
Jesus never called him good and he never called them bad. Maybe that’s because at the end of the day the parable isn’t about being good. The wonder and the power of the parables is that they cannot easily be reduced to a moral point. They are not simply morality tales with a takeaway about being good. Jesus didn’t say “Go and be good” or “Go and do good.” Like a parent dropping a child off for a friends birthday party or a practice or a rehearsal or an SAT test. Jesus asked “who was a neighbor”. The lawyer is the one who brought up mercy. Jesus might as well of said “go and be” or “go and live” or “go and neighbor”.
If a takeaway from the parable here is about being good, you and I are in deep trouble. Because we are good enough. We aren’t ever good enough. I’m not good enough. You’re not good enough. And compared to the priest and the Levite, we’re not holy enough and probably not smart enough either! If this parable about the traveling Samaritan who acted as a neighbor to the beat up man in the ditch left for dead is about being good, if that’s the standard of assessment when it comes to faithfulness, the instruction manual for how to live and work and stop and care and help and give, I will only speak for myself, but I am failing miserably. And I am the one who walks down Nassau Street as the religious professional like the priest and the Levite.
A long time I was in the office of the church in South Jersey all by myself. Solo pastors are often in the building all by themselves. The doorbell rang and as I went to the door I could see man outside whose clothes were very tattered. He was clearly worn down from life and life on the street. I was smart enough to not invite him into the building. It wasn’t cold outside so we stood in the parking lot and he started telling a long story that was hard for me to follow. At one point I was able to interrupt him and I asked him in a very straight forward way: “what can I do for you?’ I was expecting him to ask for money or food or a bus ticket or a hot meal or a place to stay. I could have helped with some but not all of those things. In a manner different from the rambling story, he looked me in the eye and asked “Can I have a ride to Camden?” That was about a fifteen-minute ride from the church. Maybe I was sort of dumbfounded by the request but a few minutes later I was driving up the Atlantic City Expressway on the way to the bus station in Camden. It didn’t take long on that trip for me to think of my family: Cathy, Hannah and Ben who were very young at the time. That’s when I said to myself, “Self, this might be the stupidest think you have ever done in ministry” I sort of think Jesus would agree with me. Going and doing likewise. It’s not as easy to figure out as it seems. And the Christian life as never been as easy as “What Would Jesus Do?”
To go and do likewise is not an exhortation to do good or to be good. It is the call of Christ to live and to be and to work toward a world defined by compassion, mercy, kindness and love. To go and do likewise is the expectation of the gospel of Jesus Christ that boundary walls should be tumbled down and hateful stereotypes of all kinds should be crushed and that everyone should be treated as a child of God. To go and do likewise is confirmation for the followers of Jesus that righteousness starts with a trickle of unexpected action and liberation from all the world ingrains in us about those who are different from us and we. To go and do likewise is the less an invitation to do what Jesus would do and more an invitation to see the world and the people in it as Jesus did.
The first step to going and doing likewise is to find yourself and know yourself on the receiving end of God’s compassion, mercy, kindness and love. To know with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind that this saving grace of Jesus Christ is as unexpected and undeserved and upending and life transforming as being on the receiving end of the loving, not anticipated, surprising care of a neighbor. And there is no better way to remember that and experience it afresh than to hear the words “This is my body broken for you. This is cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. It is for you.
He never called him good. That was everyone else, every since. Jesus never called the Samaritan good. Not at the end, not in the middle, not at the beginning for the parable. Maybe that’s because when it comes your life of faith and mine, the parable actually begins with us in the ditch.
This past summer, the Coordinating Team reported the good news that the family’s asylum applications had been approved. This gave the family the legal right to live and work in the United States and to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship.
More recently, the father of the family who is stranded in Dubai has received preliminary approval for his spousal asylum application and an invitation to submit his information for a visa. That could still take a long time to resolve, but the Coordinating Team is hopeful that things are moving in a positive direction.
There is other good news. The second oldest daughter has passed her GED and is enrolled at Mercer County Community College. Her mother and older sister are also enrolled there.
The oldest son is still working at Princeton Orthopedics, and his brother is in the process of enrolling in a commercial pilot training program which will prepare him for a promising career.
We are grateful that they and all the members of the family have been such cheerful and enthusiastic partners in our work together.
We want to recognize the ongoing commitment of the Refugee Coordinating Team, who are walking alongside the Hashimi’s as they continue to navigate immigration, education, and medical systems. Our thanks to them and the other volunteers who have given of their time and resources as part of Nassau’s commitment to support refugees.
But wanting to vindicate himself, [an expert in the law] asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” ~Luke 10:29 NRSV
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room
Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan invites us to imagine what it looks like to be a good neighbor. What does it mean for us to “go and do likewise” (v. 37) as individuals and a congregation? We will explore stories from Luke & Acts about how Jesus and the early church engaged with their neighbors. We will consider what neighboring looks like for us today in our own communities.
Get Linked-In for Lent as our education, small groups, and preaching life at Nassau will all focus on these stories.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
Join us each Sunday morning as Eric Barreto facilitates our exploration of what neighboring looks like through stories in Luke and Acts.
Eric Barreto is Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, an ordained Baptist minister, and a Nassau parent. He earned a BA in religion from Oklahoma Baptist University, an MDiv from Princeton Seminary, and a PhD in New Testament from Emory University. Prior to coming to Princeton Seminary, he served as associate professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, and also taught as an adjunct professor at the Candler School of Theology and McAfee School of Theology.
Ned Walthall will lead the class in connection with his Conference Room exhibit “Who is My Neighbor?” featuring portraits from New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. View on Lenscratch (link).
Ned Walthall is a photographer based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He received his MFA from the Institute of Art and Design at New England College (formerly the New Hampshire Institute of Art). His work has been shown throughout the United States and abroad.
Youth Sunday preachers will use Acts 5:16-29 “The Arrest of the Apostles”
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Sunday morning services at 10:00 a.m.
Sunday, February 4, 2024, Film Documentary, Acts of Faith, showcases the role of WSPC in the creation of a planned integrated community in Princeton during the 1950s. Immediately after church in the Fellowship Hall there will be a discussion and a Q&A with the filmmaker, Diane Ciccone, Esq.
Sunday, February 11, 2024, A Moment for Mission: A video montage of beloved members sharing in their own words, their hopes and love for WSPC. A presentation of the unique accomplishments of past WSPC members by Deacon Shirley Satterfield will follow.
Sunday, February 18, 2024, Black History Month presentation by the WSPC Verse Speaking Choir.
Sunday, February 25, 2024, Following worship, there will be a showing of the documentary, Telling Our Stories, an exploration of the complexity of the historical relationship between WSPC and Nassau PC. A panel discussion will follow in the Fellowship Hall.
Sponsored by:
WSPC Christian Education Committee
WSPC Church Life Committee
Contact: WSPC Office (email)
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If you have never been part of a Small Group, why not try it out? If you are a perennial participant, welcome back! Space may be limited for many groups, so sign up soon! Whether you opt for in-person or virtual groups, the promise that the Holy Spirit is present when two or more are gathered in God’s name remains a constant.
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SUN |
MON |
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WED |
THU |
SAT |
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9 a.m. | Murals in Motion | |||||
10 a.m. | Who Is My Neighbor | |||||
12 p.m. | Who Is My Neighbor | |||||
1:30 p.m. | Who Is My Neighbor | |||||
7 p.m. | Movies | Contemporary Novels | Who Is My Neighbor | |||
7 p.m. | Creatio Divina | |||||
7:30 p.m. | Sacred Art of Photography |
Linked In Learning Series
But wanting to vindicate himself, [an expert in the law] asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29 NRSV)
Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan invites us to imagine what it looks like to be a good neighbor. What does it mean for us to “go and do likewise” (v. 37) as individuals and a congregation? We will explore stories from Luke & Acts about how Jesus and the early church engaged with their neighbors. We will consider what neighboring looks like for us today in our own communities.
Get Linked-In for Lent as our education, small groups, and preaching life at Nassau will all focus on these stories. Join us on Sunday mornings in the Assembly Room as Eric Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, leads adult education. Ned Walthall will lead the class on March 3 in connection with his Conference Room exhibit “Who is My Neighbor?” featuring portraits from Grand Central Terminal.
Download the Study Guide:
This group is full
Carol Wehrheim is Clerk of Session. She finds small groups a necessary part of her life with Nassau Church and enjoys playing cornhole.
This group is full
Dave Davis has been pastor and head-of-staff at Nassau since the fall of 2000. His PhD in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary focused on preaching as a corporate act and the active role of the listener in the preaching event. He has published two sermon collections A Kingdom You Can Taste and Lord and Teach Us to Pray.
Register Here
Len Scales serves as the Associate Pastor for Faith Formation, Mission, and Outreach. She also serves part-time as the Executive Co-Director of the Westminster Foundation and Presbyterian Chaplain at Princeton University.
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Steve Heaps has been a member of Nassau Presbyterian Church since October 2022. He is retired from the Federal government where he spent his career with the National Archives as an archivist, project manager and supervisor. Steve has enjoyed participating in previous small groups and looks forward to leading a group during this Lenten season. He lives in Princeton with his wife and Nassau member Wendy Davis.
Register Here
Jesus answered the question, “Who is my neighbor?” by telling a parable. We will explore the question with black filmmakers in front of and/or behind the camera lens as they tell their stories. We will watch the movies during the week and discuss them together when we meet. Movies in the six-week small group series: Selma, Black Panther, Fences, Do the Right Thing, Just Mercy and Moonlight. Find where to stream these movies on Just Watch (https://www.justwatch.com/).
Roz Anderson Flood is a deacon, a ruling elder, a member of the Worship and Arts Committee and sings second alto in the Adult Choir. She is a former member of the Adult Education Committee. She has led workshops in poetry and participated in many small groups at Nassau.
Marshall McKnight, a lifelong movie buff, has been a Nassau Church member since 2011. He is a deacon and is active on the Mass Incarceration Task Force. He also serves on the Adult Education and Membership Committees. He was a journalist for seven years and for the last 19 has worked for the State of New Jersey.
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God loves us, this we know. That love transforms us, makes us new, and it is that grace, that love, that enables us to love one another, a process that is also transformative. This group will explore the complex ways in which love transforms the lives of characters in three contemporary novels, Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, and Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead.
Ned Walthall is a photographer based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He received his MFA from the Institute of Art and Design at New England College (formerly the New Hampshire Institute of Art). His work has been shown throughout the United States and abroad. Additionally, his street photography in Grand Central Terminal after the Covid pandemic has been featured in the online journal Lenscratch. His work can be seen at nedwalthall.com and he can be followed on Instagram at @walthallphotography.
Carol Wehrheim, a writer and Christian Education consultant, finds that Lenten small groups deepen her own prayer life and her connection to her church community.
Register Here
CreatioDivina, hosted by BeauFolio Studio, combines the spiritual discipline of Lectio Divina with the guided practice of creating sacred visual art. We will utilize various modes of creativity to reflect on our emerging stories as we dwell on the Seven Last Words of Jesus during this Lenten small group.
Carmelle Beaugelin (www.carmellebeaugelin.com ) is a Haitian-American visual artist based in Princeton, NJ. Her creative focus includes paintings inspired by Afro-Latin Caribbean art styles and Christian spirituality. She is the Founder and Lead Curating Artist at BeauFolio Studio. Carmelle received her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Register Here
This Spring, Sacred Art of Photography returns for six sessions, focusing on the concept of neighbor. What are the words we think of when we encounter other human beings? The range is huge, and depends on context. Sometimes it is “love” or “compassion” or “joy” or the desire to “help.” Sometimes we feel “threatened” or “irritated.” Sometimes our own response to others is “arrogance” or “fear” or “anger.” Sometimes that is precisely their response to us. Members of the group will be provided with a large list of these words. Each week they will be asked to choose one word from the list and take two photographs that are evoked by it. In doing so, we will explore the range of emotional responses that are possible when we encounter those to whom Jesus has called upon us to be neighbors.
Ned Walthall is a photographer based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He received his MFA from the Institute of Art and Design at New England College (formerly the New Hampshire Institute of Art). His work has been shown throughout the United States and abroad.
Tim Brown has led and participated in numerous small groups. He has been an amateur photographer going back to when cameras used film and lenses had to be focused by hand. For over fifty years he has been on a photographer’s journey of discovery; reveling in the light of the world.
Register Here
Whether you view yourself as creative or not, you are made in the image of the great Creator. Julie Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, states, “When we open ourselves to exploring our creativity, we open ourselves to God.” The disciplines of art and dance will be joined together, creating a playful and supportive morning to explore your view of God and yourself through movement, art, creation, and conversation.
Carmelle Beaugelin is a Haitian-American visual artist based in Princeton, NJ. Her creative focus includes paintings inspired by Afro-Latin Caribbean art styles and Christian spirituality. She is the Founder and Lead Curating Artist at BeauFolio Studio. Carmelle received her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Annalise Hume is a dancer who spends her time teaching, facilitating movement workshops, and offering Spiritual Direction to others with the hope of helping individuals and groups take steps towards wholeness and flourishing. She holds a BFA in Dance from Univ. of Minnesota and MDiv and MA from Princeton Theological Seminary. Her work brings together faith and movement as she invites participants to live out their own faith and purpose.
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room
Valentines for Food is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year!
Started by members of Nassau Presbyterian Church led by Don Dickason, this annual food drive to stock the pantry has broadened and helped feed more than 26,000 families since it began. Join us to hear more about our shared history and Arm In Arm’s ever expanding love in our community on February 4. There will also be a hands-on opportunity with Arm In Arm on February 11.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
Executive Director David will share updates about how Arm In Arm welcomes over 5,000 families to the food pantries and works with 400 at-risk families to prevent and end homelessness. Sallye, Mission & Outreach Committee Co-Chair and Arm In Arm’s Board Treasurer, will introduce David and share about the reciprocity between her faith and service with Arm In Arm.
Join Arthur, member of the Mission & Outreach Committee and regular volunteer with Arm In Arm, as he introduces staff members Shariq and Maureen. Shariq is the Development and Community Engagement Coordinator and Maureen is the Chief Development Officer. There will be a tour of Arm In Arm’s space on the lower-level and an opportunity to pack snack bags as we show more love as Valentine’s Day approaches.
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room (breakfast snacks available at 9:15 a.m.)
Our tradition of intergenerational classes in the month of January returns. Middle School, High School, and Adults of all ages are invited to light breakfast with members of our community as they share stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
Annalise is a dancer who spends her time teaching, facilitating movement workshops, and offering Spiritual Direction to others with the hope of helping individuals and groups take steps towards wholeness and flourishing. She holds a BFA in Dance from Univ. of Minnesota and MDiv and MA from Princeton Theological Seminary. Her work brings together faith and movement as she invites participants to live out their own faith and purpose.
Scott currently works in Sales for Church & Dwight and works closely with Target (or Tarzhay, as some know it). He has a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from West Point and an MBA from Harvard. Scott held general management positions with the United States Army as the commander of a US Army Bomb Disposal company. He lives with his wife and has three grown daughters, most of whom are much happier that he now works on a computer rather than live explosives. Throughout the year, you may have seen Scott helping lead Loaves & Fishes, serving with youth at Appalachia Service Project, or starring in the recent Christmas Pageant.
Paula lives in Trenton with her wife Patrice (and their beloved pets) and is truly blessed to be a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church family. She moved from New England to New Jersey 17 years ago to work in Education and then in Artistic and Community Engagement at McCarter Theatre Center. She recently shifted from the nonprofit arts to the social services sector, joining HomeFront in Lawrenceville as the Community Engagement Events and Administrative Specialist.
Hanna grew up in a Lutheran family and spent their formative years in Germany, Venezuela, and Argentina. They pursued studies in theology and economics in Bonn, Beirut, and Heidelberg, culminating in a PhD dissertation on Karl Barth as a contextual theologian. Side-tracked from ordination, they taught in Heidelberg and Halle-Wittenberg before being appointed Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2018. In their academic work, they try to bring theological reflection together with insights from queer theory and other contemporary fields of critical inquiry. When not teaching, reading, or writing, Hanna Reichel loves to run, hike, or play boardgames. A member of Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Reichel lives with a spouse, two kids, and a dog in Hopewell.