Today’s Scripture reading from
Luke is probably one of Jesus’ most well-known parables; the story of the Good
Samaritan. Unlike some of the more obscure parables that Jesus tends to tell,
this one seems to be fairly clear and straightforward. A lawyer asks Jesus,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” A question which Jesus does
not just answer; but rather empowers the lawyer to answer his own question
since he is a man of the law. The law
says that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul
and with all our mind; and to love our neighbour as our self. This, I think, is
probably one of the most well-known verses from the Bible. The lawyer is not
quite satisfied with his own answer however. He questions Jesus by asking “who
is my neighbour?”
When I first read through that
verse, I do not think that I would necessarily ask clarification on who my
neighbour is. My first thought would be that my neighbour is someone who lives
close to me, someone that I may see once in a while, but may perhaps not know
as well as a friend. Even the dictionary defines a neighbour first and foremost
as “one living or located near another.” But the closer we look at the lawyer’s
question, the more I see the wisdom behind it. What truly defines a neighbour?
As soon as Jesus starts telling his parable about a man who was robbed, beaten
and left for dead along a road already makes our contemporary definition of a
neighbour seem less than adequate. This gives cause for some re-thinking about
what a neighbour truly is.
We can also look at it from an
active perspective; what does being neighbourly really mean? I see being
neighbourly as being there for, and helping other people, not matter who they
are. Unfortunately this does not seem to come instinctively to everybody. It
depends on our own self-awareness and our own beliefs. This is one of the
twists of the story I think. The people in the parable that we would expect to
act neighbourly, because of the beliefs that they are defined by, turn out not
helping the poor, hurt man lying at the side of the road. Both the priest and the
Levite were Jewish clergy and so, knowing the religious texts to some degree,
should have known that God would have wanted them to help the poor man. Instead
it is a Samaritan, a foreigner who lends a hand to the poor man; brings him to
a safe place, clothes him, makes sure he’s fed. Now it is said that Jews and
Samaritans were not on very friendly terms with one another, yet it is a
Samaritan who ends up helping a Jew. So why didn’t the Priest or the Levite
stop to help the injured man? Did they think it was “beneath” them? Or were
they to busy? Or did they perhaps know the man, but because he had a
questionable past, they denied him their care? The story doesn’t say why those
two did not stop to help the hurt man but it does not leave us with a good impression
of them.
What I really like about Godly
Play stories, like the one we just heard, is that they tend to ask interesting
questions about the story. One of the questions that wasn’t asked at the end of
the story was… I wonder, what would happen if the characters in the story were
women and not men? Though women in the Bible were not really seen as persons,
there are still some really interesting stories about remarkable women. Women
had a different role in society. They listened to their husbands/brothers/fathers
and were dependent on them to survive, yet their role was generally to be
homemakers. If the people on the road had been women, would they have still
passed by a wounded person at the side of the road? Many stories in the Bible
talk about women giving water to total strangers; helping out men and their
flock. Would that be indicative of how they would treat the hurt stranger?
Would they help out of a sense of servitude, or out of a sense of caring for
others? Would it be harder, or perhaps just as easy for them to pass the
stranger by?
The second question is…What
would happen if it was a child who came upon the wounded traveler? Would the
child have just passed by? Or would a child have stopped and helped the man in
any way they could? Even children would be able to help someone out in one way
or another. I remember when a friend of mine told me the story and she and her
younger sister came upon a man who had been hit on his motorcycle. It was she
and her sister who ended up calling for help and tending to the hurt man
awaiting paramedics while the man who had hit him with a semi was on the phone
worrying about other business. The point is that even children can help those
in need. Though we can often dismiss children because they might not know
enough about something, they also often have a habit of proving people wrong.
Of showing how resilient and resourceful they can be in times of trouble.
Though it is hard to ask “what
if” questions because they often do not come with answers, it is still
important to see things from different perspectives. I find that the story of
the Good Samaritan shows that everyone has what it takes to help one another.
It does not have to be people who are of a so called “higher moral character.”
After all we are all human.
To bring in verses from Colossians, as Paul
reminds the people in Colossae, inside of all of us, the seed has already been
planted. God has shown us a way to live with one another, through the example
set by Jesus. It is up to us to let that wisdom and knowledge grow and bear
fruit. It is through the nurturing of the fruits of the Spirit that are inside
each and every one of us that we find we have what it takes to help those
around us. Take for example, how everyone came together to help out all of
those that were affected by the flooding in Southern Alberta. It didn’t matter
if they were literally our neighbours, it didn’t matter who they were. What
mattered was that they are people just like us, fallen on hard times by no
fault of their own.
So being a neighbour does not
constitute living in close proximity to one another, rather it is can be
defined as those people that need our care and support. And though we all have
different skills and strengths, we can help others in some way. As people of
change, not only do our surroundings change, but we do as well, along with our
beliefs. For me my clinical pastoral education course at the hospital has been
such a time of change. One major thing that I have learned is that everyone
needs help, in some form or another, no matter who they are or what they may
have done. It can be something big, like
taking in a stranger who has been robbed and beaten and caring for him until he
is well again like the traveler in the parable; Or is can be something as simple
as companioning with someone during a tough time. I have also found that during
these times of change it is important to re-examine yourself. To be in tune
again with ones beliefs, strengths and weaknesses.
So I would challenge you all
to think about two things: what fruits of the Spirit would you consider to be
your strengths/ your weaknesses? And what is your definition of neighbour?
Let us pray:
Creator God,
You have made us to be
amazing, yet such complex creations. You also created us for community with one
another. Help remind us of that communion so that we may be more mindful of
those around us and what they may need from us. Help us to be aware of the
gifts that we have to offer others. For we all have the ability to make a
difference in someone’s life, no matter how big or small.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
