A number of years ago, a good friend of mine was waiting for the N train to arrive on his commute home. As he stood on the platform he looked to the left and noticed that just as he could hear the train bearing down on the station a man who was dressed poorly, who looked dirty, began to have a seizure. As the man seized he hit his head on the bench he was sitting on and on the subway platform. As the man continued to seize, the train arrived and the people who were watching in horror, turned to the train and boarded. My friend leapt into action, quickly ascending the stairs going back through the turnstile he let the authorities know then quickly went back down stairs to wait with the man until EMT workers arrived.
My friend was a Good Samaritan to the man he helped, he got him help, he comforted him. The parable of the Good Samaritan is so well known in our lives that there are even laws written called Good Samaritan laws. So, is the lesson Jesus intended this parable to convey really just this simple, when you see someone in need, help them?
Just before this section in Luke’s account, Jesus welcomed home the 72 that he sent out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to The Father for the fine work they did, and He is in the midst of a private conversation with His disciples explaining to them how blessed they are to be seeing what prophets and kings had only dreamt of.
As Jesus is saying this to his disciples, a lawyer puts Our Lord to the test. The statement by the lawyer is sudden, it is unexpected, it is brash, it is jarring to Jesus and His disciples, and to the reader. Luke being a great biographer, captures the moment so well. “Teacher,” says the lawyer, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds to the question in typical Rabbinic fashion, with a question, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” The lawyer responds with a summary of several Old Testament texts saying, “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.” Jesus then affirms his answer. But the lawyer is not done, in order to justify himself he asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor?” To this question asked by the lawyer we receive the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Two of the main characters in the parable are the priest, and the Levite. The priest, in this story, probably is meant to reflect the lawyer who is asking the question. I say this because the role of a Priest outside the temple is that of a keeper of the law, so it is possible that this lawyer who has challenged Jesus is in fact also a temple priest. The priest in the story is traveling away from Jerusalem; we know this because Jesus says he was traveling down the road. Jerusalem has a much higher elevation than Jericho, because he is traveling in that direction we can safely assume that his week of service in the Temple has been completed and he is on his way home. The Levite who is traveling in the same direction, also has Temple responsibilities. They include being in charge of music and many administrative tasks in the Temple space. He too is probably heading home after completing his week of service in the temple. Also both the Priest and Levite attained their titles by birthright.
These two characters who pass by the injured man are in the story to make an important point. They are not bad. Not in the sense of good guy and bad guy. Their role in this parable is to show that people with good intentions often swing and miss when confronted with a situation they do not expect. We all can fall into the habit of walking around blinded by self-importance and miss the most obvious signs of those around us who need help. Sometimes, the practice of habitual holiness can even prevent us from acting holy at the right time. This is also the mindset of the lawyer who questions Jesus, and it is a mindset that is not at all in line with the love of God, or the love of neighbor.
Enter the Samaritan, our hero if you will, a man who is also born into his title. What is the difference between the Samaritan’s actions and the actions of the Priest, and Levite? It isn’t as simple as the Samaritan helped the injured man and the others did not. It is the catalyst for the Samaritan’s actions that we should focus on. The Priest and Levite saw the man, and they kept their distance. The Samaritan however, shows compassion, and the compassion of the Samaritan comes directly from his willingness to draw near to the injured man. This brings us to one of the important lessons in this parable, that in order to be a neighbor to someone, you first have to draw near to them. We cannot be neighbors without first entering into relationship with others. The Samaritan is willing to take that risk.
The Samaritan draws near to the injured man, and then he does the unspeakable, he touches him, he offers him hospitality, hospitality that makes what we call radical hospitality, pale in comparison. He sets the man on his animal, he transports him to an inn, he pays two days’ wages for the man to be taken care of, and then to put it in a modern context, leaves a credit card on file with the inn keeper and tells him to charge whatever he needs on it, to care for the injured man. The Samaritan will cover it. This kind of compassion and mercy is totally absurd! Yet this kind of compassion and mercy is the compassion and mercy God shows Israel, and is getting ready to reveal to the entire world in the life of the incarnation of God, Jesus Christ.
This parable says a great deal; and it says something we need to hear so much right now, when it redefines the understanding of neighbor, being a neighbor cannot be about who deserves to be our neighbor, but it is about who we are being neighborly to. Further, this parable destroys the boundaries one is born into. It is no mistake the characters chosen are all born into the roles they possess. The Priest and Levite are born into holiness, while the Samaritan is born into a combative relationship with Israel. The parable shows that those born holy can become unholy, and those born an enemy can become a loving neighbor. Finally, the Samaritan is a stand-in for Christ. The Samaritan’s limitless compassion for the injured man is a simple way of explaining the compassion God has on the world as revealed through the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The fact is we are all injured people, beaten down by sin and the powers of this world, our Good Samaritan, is God Himself, Jesus Christ, The Lord and Savior of all, who in his compassion picks us up and heals us, bringing us into everlasting life.
LET US PRAY
Lord strengthen us with all power, according to your glorious might, give us endurance and patience and joy, to be neighbors to all we encounter. Help us recognize that you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to your kingdom. Empower us through the Holy Spirit to share this message with the world especially with those with whom we are afraid to draw close to. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
8th Sunday after Pentecost
10 July 2016