Driving home from church up Summit Avenue last week, I saw a woman laying by the side of the road. It seemed like a pretty serious bicycle accident, and there were a number of people on the scene helping so I didn’t stop. I knew that I was preaching the next week on the Parable of the Good Samaritan (about an injured guy in a ditch by the roadside) and I had to smile. Some times I think God messes with my head. (Or would I not have seen this in the same way had I NOT been focused on this story? Head messed with, I swear.)
I’ve been a preacher for a long time and was pretty sure I knew a whole lot about the popular parable (I’m already in deep trouble whenever I think this). But most of us have heard the story so often that we no longer even “hear” it.
Besides over-familiarity, I knew the sticking points: Jesus never calls the Samaritan “good;” the lawyer who asks the question “who is my neighbor” really means “who is NOT my neighbor” i.e. “Who can I rule out and make this easier?” The priest and the Levite who pass the Samaritan by were bad guys and didn’t care enough to help. Conclusion: we should also be good too, and help our neighbors.
I don’t know about you but I tend to tune out generic messages about being good. I KNOW I should help others; I KNOW that there are many who need help; I KNOW that Jesus calls us to be his Body in the world. But somehow I confess that, like the story of the GS, I don’t really “hear” it. Or if I do, I don’t change that much.
Given the demands of time (or having too much time) and numerous obligations (or the loneliness of NOT having obligations) I think the real question often is: What’s in it for me? What’s in it for me to act more charitably, to go out of my way to help those who need it? To actually change something about my own life to benefit others?
And who is this neighbor I am supposed to be helping? And how am I to help? What would I really do instead of just thinking about it?
As I said earlier here, I thought I knew a lot about this parable. However, there is always more and I discovered a new way to think about these questions that address “What’s in it for me?” Of course, the idea is not original with me (duh) but is from the brilliant theologian Sam
Wells (who was with us for a weekend at St. John’s a few years ago). Actually, Wells’ theory happened to me this week at Target in Midway (head-messing again!) I’ll tell you about it. Ironically, Target-Midway has almost become holy ground for me.
See you in church. (Yes it will be hot but you won’t be wearing vestments!)
Barbara
For some early tips about how to be a good neighbor, watch the master at work with the ultimate “other” – another species….
