August 21, 2011
Luke 10:25-37 - Parable of the Good Samaritan
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So have you heard the parable about the Good Samaritan? Oh, yeah, I was afraid of that. In fact, this parable told by Jesus is one of those stories in the Bible that almost everyone has heard at least once, even if they have never been inside a church building. And if they don’t know the parable, they at least know what a good Samaritan is. The phrase “Good Samaritan” is such a common one, that when I googled it, I found 11 million references. I narrowed my search to “good Samaritan hospital” and had over 2 million references. And when I just plugged in “Samaritan” I had almost 19 million references. So I studied all of those results…ok, I didn’t.
Isn’t it amazing that Samaritan has become such a popular word? That so many benevolent agencies incorporate Samaritan into their name? It’s amazing because in the context of first century Israel, Samaritans were looked down upon and despised. But because of this passage in Luke, Samaritan, or good Samaritan, has become almost ubiquitous in our culture. I found it somewhat daunting to think about preaching on this parable that everyone is so familiar with. I don’t know that I have anything new to say about it. So I sat with the text. And what captured me in sitting with this parable was the array of characters in the story. I thought it would be interesting to look more closely at them.
I took this idea to the youth group on Wednesday evening, and asked them to help me out with my sermon. So I’m giving credit now to the youth for at least some of what is coming. By my count there are 8 characters in this parable. I’d like to look at each of them very briefly, because for me it is instructive.
First we have the expert in the law, or a lawyer, or an expert in the religious laws of Moses, who tests or tempts, or tries, Jesus with a question. I am quite puzzled by this as I try to decide whether this fellow is an honest seeker or was trying to trap Jesus with a trick question. I think you could read it either way, but on Wednesday night we were inclined to view this teacher as an honest seeker. But in Matthew 22, where this situation is referenced, the question is set in the context of the Pharisees trying to test Jesus. Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees with some skillful teaching on marriage and the resurrection. That would seem to indicate that the lawyer was trying to trap Jesus. In Mark 12 this story of a teacher of the law asking Jesus about the greatest commandment also appears. Here Jesus and the teacher seem to appreciate each other, and Jesus ends up telling the teacher “you are not far from the Kingdom of God.” That seems to suggest that perhaps the expert was truly seeking knowledge.
By asking Jesus “who is my neighbor” it may be that the lawyer was trying to make himself look good by asking a tough question. Or he may have been trying to deepen his own understanding of the commandment. We can look at this lawyer and see ourselves, sometimes trying to look smarter, sometimes having some knowledge and trying to deepen our understandings by asking tough questions. If we say “That’s me.” when we think of the lawyer, then this parable can encourage us to be honest in admitting our questions, and encourage us to continue to seek to deepen our understandings of God’s word and God’s will for our lives.
Jesus is the second person mentioned in this story. Notice that Jesus answers the questions put to him by asking other questions. Jesus is asked about what is required to receive eternal life, and he responds by asking “What is your understanding of what the law says?” Jesus is asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and responds with a story and a question. Jesus manages to get the lawyer to answer his own questions and in so doing he transforms the questions into a deeper and more honest look into God’s Kingdom. Jesus helps to move the question from “how do I get to heaven?” to “how do I live with people and reflect God to them?” It’s a bit harder to see ourselves here perhaps…the Messiah complex must need some work…but on occasion we may engage in honest inquiry with someone and allow them to take themselves into a deeper understanding of God and God’s work in the world. If we see ourselves in the role that Jesus is in here, where someone comes to us with a question, then we might learn from this parable that we do not have to provide all of the answers. Sometimes, clarifying questions and some direction are all that are needed to help. We might be more inclined to want to give quick answers, but Jesus seems to model a comfort with joining in and taking time to explore and seek. Sometimes questions are as important as answers in the journey toward God.
The traveler or victim in the story is relatively unknown. He was just heading from Jerusalem to Jericho. But he ends up lying naked and beaten and bleeding beside the road, needing assistance. While it is fairly easy to see ourselves in this character, if we think of times where we have needed help, I know that I almost never want to view myself in that context. We are supposed to be self-sufficient and able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps! In our culture, this story would end with the victim dragging himself along after the attack, overcoming his assailants with some surprise move, and riding off with their donkeys! I’ve seen dozens of movies like that! But placing ourselves into this story as the victim highlights how much we rely on others to be God’s instruments of grace, healing and mercy. I can look at the man lying beaten by the roadside and say, “That’s me.” Can you? If we do, we can become more aware of the many times where someone reaches out to provide assistance to us, and we can express our thanks, to the good Samaritan who helps us, and to God for sending that sign of God’s loving mercy.
Perhaps a harder character, or group, to relate to is the gang of thieves. They are faceless in this story; a group of, I assume, men who hide along the road and ambush unsuspecting travelers. I have not jumped anyone recently and left them naked and bleeding, and I’ll assume you have not either. But as we talked about this in the youth group we were able to identify times where we have acted in ways that have left others hurt. It is significant that it is a group of people who attack the traveler. We often fall into a mob mentality and do things when we are with others that we would never do on our own. The youth identified that often bullying or excluding behavior is drawn out of people because they are in a group. Sometimes it is because we are a part of a larger system that we engage in practices that hurt others. How does the lifestyle we have impact others around the world? What does it mean to live in the empire of the United States and thus be complicit in the wars that this country is fighting? We may even feel powerless to stop this pattern of hurting others, sucked along by harmful practices of our group or of our country. Sometimes I am a part of the band of thieves, is that you as
well? Having that awareness can help us to step back from those situations where we are actively hurting others with our words or actions. Having that awareness can cause us to critically examine our consumption and investing to limit injustices. And having that awareness can lead us to confession and repentance. I see myself in that band of thieves, can you see yourself?
I’m going to roll the priest and the levite into one here. Both are people that you would expect to be holy. As religious people, you would expect them to stop and help out the victim. As far as we know they are “like” the victim in that they are, all there of them, Jews. Both choose to ignore the victim and walk on by. I can only understand this by thinking that they are afraid. They might be afraid that it is a trap and that they are at risk, or they might be afraid that the man is already dead and they will be considered unclean and unable to perform their duties as priest or Levite. The risk of 30 days without being able to work is formidable. So, most of us would find it very easy to see ourselves here. We don’t want to get involved in a situation, we don’t know what to do, we fear the possible repercussions, what will people think? And while in Luke the parable is neat and clean, life is seldom that way. Do we let ourselves be immobilized by fear, doubt, and uncertainty, maybe even crass self-interest? How do we respond when we are asked by someone on the street for some spare change? I know that Phil and Barbara and I struggle when someone arrives at church asking for assistance with rent or utilities, or is traveling through and needs gas money. Sometimes it is easier to try to avoid the hassle of dealing with those who are hurting or marginalized. Sometimes it is easier to judge them as “deserving” of what they are experiencing. Oh, I can definitely see myself in the shoes of the priest and the Levite. Can you? Again, this awareness can lead to confession and repentance, and a move toward active and creative engagement.
I’ll skip the good Samaritan to cover the last character, the innkeeper. Interestingly, a number of our youth identified with the innkeeper. They see themselves minding their own business and not being around trouble. But when someone comes to them and asks them to help out, to provide care or hospitality, they are quick to do so. It might be a more passive role in this story, but it is still a very important one. I can see myself in this role, I can see our congregation in this role, quick to respond when a need is presented, ready to offer care and hospitality when asked. Maybe this is simply an extension of the good Samaritan, a partner in the loving response to the victim. Can you see yourself in the innkeeper?
And that brings us to the good Samaritan. To him, the victim is an “other”. There is a traditional enmity and distrust between their two groups. We often make distinctions about others and allow that to divide us. Jesus references this tendency in Mark 9, this time in response to a question from John. You know the quote… “whoever isn’t for us is against us” right? President George W. Bush made that quote quite famous. I hasten to say that I don’t mean to be overly critical of President Bush, as his comment is only a reflection of much of the thinking in our society. But you will notice that he, like I just did, misquoted Jesus. In Mark 9:40, what Jesus says is, “…for whoever is not against us is for us.” It is a dramatic shift, just that slight change in the quote. One assumes an enemy, “whoever is not for us is against us”, the other assumes a friend, “whoever is not
against us if for us”. The good Samaritan sees with God’s eyes when he looks at the man lying naked and bleeding on the road, and steps in with compassion. He ignores the dangers to himself, he doesn’t worry about what others think, isn’t deterred by the financial cost. He isn’t just doing something to stop the bleeding, as it were, but he makes a long term commitment to bring healing. A friend shared with me about a time he intervened in a conflict. It worked out well. A woman was saved from a dangerous situation, and people commended him for his actions. But he had a young woman with him at the time, and he realized that by intervening he had put her at some risk. If she had been injured, would people have still commended him for acting? He said that he weighed this but the overwhelming need drove him to act. Sometimes I assess my actions and I feel good, knowing that I have acted selflessly on behalf of others. Corporately, an example that comes to my mind is our relationship with Christian Baptist Church in New Orleans, where we are walking alongside of them, helping them to rebuild their church and their community while learning to know them and being shaped by what they share with us. We became aware of their situation and stepped in to help. So the good Samaritan is also me, and you.
I think it is helpful to look closely at the characters who populate Jesus’ stories. We can learn about ourselves, learn to shift who we are as we study them. I want us to shift more and more to be like the good Samaritan in how we think about neighbor. That means pushing ourselves to see with God’s eyes those around us. It means entering into relationship with people not at all like us. And it may mean pushing to extract ourselves from systems that cause us to be a part of a band of thieves. That is a harder task. Martin Luther King in “A time to break silence” develops the call of Christ to society at large:
“On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring”.
Perhaps we can all move further along in our attempts to see this world through God’s eyes, as the good Samaritan did, and truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and as we love God. There is a song in Sing the Journey, # 62, that encourages us in this manner. Christ’s is the world in which we move, Christ’s are the folks we’re summoned to love, Christ’s is the voice which calls us to care, and Christ is the one who meets us here. To the lost Christ shows his face; to the un-loved he gives his embrace; to those who cry in pain or disgrace, Christ makes, with his friends (with us) a touching place. Let us sing together # 62 in Sing the Journey.
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