by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v25A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?” v26Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?” v27The man answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”
(Read: Luke 10.25 to 37)
“We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving…” So goes the lyrics of the song “We are the World” (USA for Africa) which raised millions of dollars for the dying because of hunger in Africa. The song sang by superstars all over the world several years ago led by Michael Jackson pricked the human heart and sent millions of tons of food in that continent. Millions of people all over the world have identified with these dying children and people. COMPASSION, this is the single word that I can remember to describe the phenomenal outpouring of help during the concert and thereafter for those dying because of hunger in Africa.
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The context of the Gospel reading is about Jesus being quizzed by a law scholar regarding eternal life and about neighbors. Then Jesus told him and those around the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I am sure that all of us have heard this parable before either in simple or elaborate presentation. And most of us would always remember that the center of the story is the Good Samaritan that helped the robber victim on that road – and the villains are always the priest and the Levite who ‘pass on the other side’. And sermons always moralize on the act of the Good Samaritan. This time let us identify ourselves with the victim.
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Reverend King Duncan in his sermon put it this way: “Why me, Lord? What did I ever do to deserve such treatment? My head’s hurting so bad. They even took my clothes. And look at the blood. God, if somebody doesn’t come soon, I could bleed to death . . . Is that it, Lord? Is this how my life is going to end? Beaten and bloody, lying naked by the side of the road? What about my family? Who will look after them? What about my wife? I may not deserve to live, but surely she doesn’t deserve to be a widow. I have no brothers to look after her. How will she eat? Oh, God, why doesn’t someone come? How long can I hold on? I move my lips but no sound comes out. Will anyone even see me? And even if they see me, will they care? “Wait someone’s coming. Oh, thank you, Lord. It’s a priest. A man of God. Surely he will help me. At least he can bind up my wounds so they will stop bleeding. And give me some water to drink. My mouth is so dry. Thank you God for sending this holy man. He’ll know what to do. What . . . what’s happening? He’s turning his head. He’s acting like he doesn’t even see me. I want to shout to him: Please help me! Please help me! But the words stick in my throat. Oh, no, please no, he’s not stopping. He’s leaving me here bleeding. Oh, God, how much longer can I hold on? “Wait, Lord, someone else is coming. It’s a Levite. Oh, God, will he stop? I’ll understand if he doesn’t. He doesn’t know who I am.. Perhaps he will think it’s a trap. If I could only call out to him. I could recite the Shema to him. `The Lord our God is one God . . . ˜ Then he would know that I love the Law even as he does. Then he would know that I am worthy of his help. “What’s he doing? He’s looking the other way, too. Oh, God, why have you forsaken me? Why can’t I even cry for help? Please let someone stop to help me. Someone, anyone. “Who’s this coming now? Certainly not a holy man. A merchant, perhaps. He’s stopping. Thank God, he’s stopping. I’m losing consciousness now. Who is this man who is stopping to help me? Who is this man who may be saving my life? Who is he?”
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A man lies in an inn located by the side of the desolate and rocky road that leads from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Sunlight streams into his room as he begins to stir. “Where am I? How did I get here? Now I remember. I was lying beside the road, battered and bleeding, nearly dead. The last thing I remember was a man with a kindly face who approached me. Evidently he bound up my wounds and brought me to this inn. But who paid for my stay? Was it he? Why? Why did he do it? What was it that caused him to show such kindness? Was he of my class? My religion? My nationality? It doesn’t matter. He saved my life. He saved my life. Oh, God, have mercy upon me. Let me never forget that once I lay in a ditch and somebody cared. Let me never forget that I received such self-giving love and give me the opportunity some time, some place, to pass that love on to another.
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The parable of the Good Samaritan. Who was it who proved neighbor to the man who had been beaten and robbed and left by the road to die? In the story of the Good Samaritan we see the plight of ALL humanity. This is not simply a story about one man lying in a ditch. It is about you and me and everyone we know. We are all needy people. Some of us are needy in terms of material possessions, but all of us are needy in terms of the spirit. We are all in need. All of us have a part of us that is bruised and battered and bleeding. Who could help us? Who could be the Good Samaritan for us?
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The Good Samaritan represents Jesus Christ who, reaching out in love, came to the rescue of the human race in its pitiful condition and healed our wounds by dying on the cross of Calvary. The act of love cost him his life. He expects us to stop and help those in need even though it will cost us time, trouble and expense. The gospel is at pains to emphasize that there is no love of God without love of our neighbor who is in distress.
36″Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
The message goes to us all today: GO AND DO LIKEWISE!
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In this parable Jesus was showing the social dimension of religion. Jesus is saying that praying goes with doing something for those who are in need. This reminds me of a story about a homeless woman who wrote a poem for her pastor. A homeless woman once approached a preacher for help, but because he was busy and helpless, he turned her away and offered to pray for her instead. The homeless woman, it is said, wrote this poem as a response to that insensitive minister:” I was hungry, and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger. I was imprisoned, and you crept off quietly to my chapel and prayed for my release. I was naked, and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick, and you knelt and thanked God for your health. I was homeless, and you preached to me the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely, and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy, so close to God but I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.”
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In the parable, Jesus is not only saying that His followers should only be more loving. Let us learn more about loving in the parable as précised by John Hargreaves:
1. Love those human beings who are in need. This means that we are not to show love only to those who belong to our own family or clan or town or nation or race. In these days there are many divisions among peoples of this planet, and this teaching is especially needed. We cannot also just show love to those who are good. A story comes to my mind: Years ago on a seminary campus a New Testament professor was lecturing on the parables. This professor was known for his strictness. He often penalized students even if they were tardy! After spending a fair amount of time on the parable of the Good Samaritan, he posted a notice on the board telling the students that the days’ class was being moved to the other side of the campus. On the only route to the new class room, he staged a drunk lying on the ground asking for help. To the professor’s amazement, not one of the students stopped to help this man—they all were in too big of a hurry to get to class lest they be penalized for being late.
2. You cannot love God unless you love people. Even though people believe in God they are sometimes tempted to think that they can love and serve God without loving and serving people on earth. Amos told the Jews of his days that they spent much time worshipping God but forgot to treat poor people with justice. (Amos 5:21-24). 3. You know a truth when you do it. The lawyer in the story learned from Jesus that the way to have eternal life is by loving. Then Jesus added, “That is the right answer. Now do that and you will live” (v.28). According to Jesus, we do not know it until we live by it and act upon it. 4. We are judged by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. The priest and the Levite did not think they had done any wrong. And it is true that they did not steal from the wounded man or harm him more in any way. But they failed to take care of him, and this was as bad as crime. Sometimes we examine ourselves and say, “What wrong have I done today?”, and this is a good practice. But we must also ask, “Were there people whom I could have helped today, but failed to help?” Was there a word of encouragement which I could have spoken but did not?” The sin of omission.
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The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for
brother, sister for sister. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints. And then there is the love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world. And to us humans it should and must be compassionate love.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, open our hearts to receive your mercy and compassion. Give us the grace to recognize Christ in all who suffer and are downtrodden and identify ourselves with their struggle and suffering. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen**
