Modern Good Samaritans

Last week and this week, we’ve been back at church – kind of. Those who feel comfortable with some closer contact sit by family six feet apart on the grass, while those of us who don’t, listen from the car. 

We have been working our way through the parables of Jesus and this week we were on the Good Samaritan. I’m sure I don’t need to recap the story for you because we all know it. And of course, we always say we’d have been the good Samaritan in the situation, or at least we aspire to be. Let me share the verses with you: 

Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

God’s word is living and active (Heb. 4:12) and today He showed me something new in this familiar parable. This was in great part due to the current conversation about systemic racism, discrimination, and prejudice sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. 

The idea that we might be racist is hard for many of us to accept. We've never had slaves or been part of a lynching, and most of us feel pretty sure that we wouldn't have participated in such evil acts even if we had been alive back then. The majority of my white readers probably have black friends or get along with black coworkers or enjoy the art of black actors or comedians. There is no race issue in America, some of us think. 

Clearly, our black brothers and sisters see it differently. And I believe them and stand with them. But if you are one who doesn’t see a problem, who believes you treat all people equally, and are not complicit in any race problem, take another look with me at the Good Samaritan. 

The Good Samaritan wasn’t the one who had beaten and robbed the man on the side of the road. It wasn't his fault the man was lying there hurting. This wasn't his mess to clean up. He had even seen two religious people turned their heads away from the hurting man and walk right past him, so surely he was justified in doing the same. And yet - 

"When [the Samaritan] saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."

Regardless of whether or not you think you are part of the race problem in America, as Christians we are called to be the Good Samaritans of the world - to have compassion on those who are hurting, to reach out to them, try to bandage their wounds, to inconvenience ourselves, go out of our way, to use our own resources to facilitate their healing. We can't say, It's not my problem, because this parable tells us - Hurting people are our problem. Hurting people are our neighbors and we are to love them as we love ourselves.

Will you join me in seeking to do this and humbly learning as we go?