The death of Elisabeth Jane Ross, known to family and friends as Lisa, is a grievous story. It calls first for sorrow, prayer, and compassion, not easy conclusions.
A public photo of Elisabeth “Lisa” Ross is available through BBC News: Photo and the story link.
Ross was 38 and from Edinburgh. She had been a member of City on a Hill church for about twenty years and had been volunteering with a refugee-support organization in Athens. On July 18, her body was found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens’s Kypseli district, several days after she had been reported missing. Greek authorities arrested and charged a 26-year-old man with homicide with intent, robbery, and weapons offenses. He denies killing Ross but admits moving her body. The legal process is ongoing, and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Her family described Lisa as “kind, principled, and selfless.” Her pastor remembered her as a precious member of the church, a woman with a deep passion for mission who cared for people around the world.
She was not a celebrity. She did not appear to seek public attention. By the testimony of those who knew her, she was someone who kept showing up for people in need.
That kind of faithfulness matters.
The Road Where Mercy Stops
The parable of the Good Samaritan is often reduced to a general lesson about kindness. It is that, but it is also more.
A lawyer comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus directs him to the commands to love God and love one's neighbor. Then the lawyer asks a question that can sit underneath many moral calculations:
“And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29
The question may sound sincere, but it can also be a boundary test. Whom am I required to love? Whom may I pass by? How far does my responsibility extend?
Jesus responds with a story set on a dangerous road.
A man is beaten, stripped, and left half dead. A priest sees him and passes by. A Levite sees him and passes by. Then a Samaritan, a person from a community despised by many Jewish hearers, stops.
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.”
Luke 10:33
The Samaritan binds the stranger’s wounds, places him on his animal, brings him to an inn, and pays for his care. He does not merely feel concern. He acts.
Jesus then turns the lawyer’s question around:
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
Luke 10:36
The answer is simple: “The one who showed him mercy.”
And Jesus says:
“You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:37
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was known for danger. The Samaritan’s mercy was not abstract. It involved interruption, vulnerability, expense, and risk.
This does not mean Christians should seek danger or romanticize suffering. It means that love of neighbor can carry a cost when it becomes more than words.
Compassion Without Romanticizing Risk
Ross’s death should not become a sermon illustration that makes tragedy sound simple, noble, or necessary. The loss of a human life is not noble. Violence against a person made in God’s image is evil. Whoever commits violence bears moral responsibility before God and should be held accountable through a just legal process.
Scripture does not minimize wrongdoing.
“The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”
Psalm 11:5“Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!”
Micah 2:1
The Christian response to violence includes lament, truth, justice, and care for those who are harmed.
“Learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.”
Isaiah 1:17
We should pray for Ross’s family, friends, church, and all who were touched by her life. We should pray for a thorough and fair investigation. We should pray that truth comes to light and that justice is served without vengeance.
At the same time, compassion does not require carelessness.
Churches and organizations serving refugees, migrants, unhoused people, survivors of trafficking, or others in vulnerable circumstances should take safety seriously. Wise boundaries, training, local partnerships, team-based work, check-in procedures, and clear reporting practices are not signs of weak faith. They are expressions of prudence.
“The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.”
Proverbs 22:3
Jesus instructed his disciples to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Christian courage is not recklessness. It is faithful love joined to wise judgment.
The People at the Margins
Ross had been volunteering with a refugee-support group in Athens. That context matters, but it should be handled with care.
People fleeing war, persecution, poverty, trafficking, or political instability are not problems to manage. They are people made in the image of God.
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him.”
Genesis 1:27
The Bible repeatedly commands God’s people to care for the stranger and the sojourner.
“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:34
Israel was commanded to remember its own history: “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The command was rooted in God’s character, justice, and mercy.
Jesus identifies himself with those who are vulnerable:
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Matthew 25:35
This does not settle every policy question about immigration, asylum, borders, or national security. Christians may disagree in good faith about policy and practical responsibilities. But it does settle something more fundamental. We must not treat displaced people as less human, less worthy of care, or beyond the reach of neighbor-love.
Ministry among refugees is not only a calling for unusually fearless people in faraway places. Some Christians will serve overseas or in difficult settings. Others will serve locally through hospitality, language assistance, legal support, job networks, meals, prayer, financial giving, and friendship.
The question is not whether every Christian must do the same work. The question is whether Christ will enlarge our understanding of who counts as our neighbor.
Overcoming Evil With Good
Paul writes:
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21
This is not a command to deny evil’s reality. Paul knew persecution, imprisonment, rejection, and violence. He knew that evil could wound and kill.
Nor does overcoming evil with good mean abandoning justice. Earlier in the same chapter, Paul writes:
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.”
Romans 12:19
Christians are not called to private revenge. We are called to entrust final judgment to God while pursuing truth, lawful justice, mercy, and peace.
Ross’s death confronts us with a world that remains dangerous. It may tempt us toward fear, withdrawal, or the conclusion that mercy costs too much.
But fear cannot be our final teacher.
The cross tells us that love is costly. Jesus did not remain at a safe distance from human suffering. He entered our world, drew near to the broken, touched the unclean, welcomed outsiders, and gave himself for sinners.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
The cross does not call Christians to pursue harm. It reveals that suffering and sacrifice do not have the final word. Christ’s resurrection assures us that death will not finally defeat God’s purposes.
A Long Obedience
Twenty years in one church is a long time. A life shaped by service and mission is usually formed through ordinary, repeated acts of faithfulness rather than a single dramatic moment.
Lisa Ross’s death ended in tragedy. But her life should not be remembered only by the manner of her death.
Her family, friends, and church remembered her as someone who cared deeply for others, especially people in need. That testimony points beyond one terrible day to a long obedience in the same direction.
The road to Jericho has never been entirely safe. Neighbor-love can require interruption, inconvenience, resources, courage, and sometimes risk.
Yet Christians do not serve because the road is safe. We serve because Christ first loved us.
“Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
1 John 3:18
May we mourn without exploiting grief. May we seek justice without hatred. May we practice wisdom without becoming indifferent. And may we remember Lisa Ross not only for the tragedy of her death, but also for the ordinary, faithful love that marked her life.
~ Sunny
All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV).
I pray that you keep smiling like this, that there is no problem in your life, that all the powers of Satan are at your feet, that God blesses and restores your life, Ameen.🙏🙏🙏🙏☺️❤