The first two people who don’t want to get involved are not really hard to understand, even if we know we should be like the guy from out of town. We all suspect that if we were in such a situation, we could go either way with our reaction.
There is something subtle going on in the conversation around the familiar parable. The lawyer correctly quoted, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself,” then asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” That’s when Jesus tells the story. But at the end, Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” Not, “Might he be my neighbor,” but “Do I act like his neighbor?” That’s a very different question. It turns the relationship from passive to active; it turns the question from who exists as a disconnected person who lives in proximity to how do followers of Christ act as neighbors to people in need. Not only is the first twist that it is a Samaritan— by definition a disliked stranger to Jews— the one who cares for the victim of violence, but Jesus’ big twist is that it comes down to acting like a neighbor, not just “being a neighbor.” The address on your driver’s license has nothing to do with it. “Did you help?” is everything. Do you act the way the Bible asks?
This week, like most weeks, there have been horrible things that happen, including the airplane crash in San Francisco and the last procession bringing home the 19 firefighters who died in the Colorado wildfire. But the closest to Luke 10:30-36 were the Maine fire and rescue responders who went to the aid of the Canadian town where a train derailed and exploded. Borders mean nothing to such souls. And there are people coming from all over to help after the storms and floods in Binghamton and Herkimer. That’s acting like neighbors; that’s putting mercy into action. That’s what we all should do.
The guy who stopped to help, bind up the wounds, get the hurt man to shelter and aid, who not only provided monetary resources but physically lifted him and got him the help he needed answers the question, “Who was the neighbor to the man?” It is how we help the least of our sisters and brothers, no matter the proximity. That’s how the lesson ends: Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
But this Sunday I’m not going to preach about that.
You will just have to go out and do it.
In Christ,
David
Texts for Sunday
From the Epistles Colossians 1:1-14
From the Gospel Luke 10:25-37
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