[Lk. 10:25-37]
Peace to all of you who are in Christ. Amen.
So the warriors left the captives and the booty before the officials and all the assembly. 15 Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the booty they clothed all that were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kindred at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria. (ii Chron. 28:14-15)
It’s very likely that Jesus’ audience was familiar with this passage in ii Chronicles: long ago, when Israel and Judah were bitterly divided in a war between North and South, the soldiers from the North showed kindness to their captives and escorted them back to Jericho. These soldiers from the North were the ancestors of the Samaritans.
So, when Jesus tells his parable he incorporates this historical reference.
To some of his listeners that must’ve really stung.
Saint Augustine, a Teacher of the Church, and other clever people like him have written about the figure of the Samaritan in this parable as representing Christ, caring for a lost soul.
While this is a valid interpretation, Jesus might very well not have been thinking of himself when telling this story, maybe he wasn’t even thinking about God the Father.
Jesus wanted his audience to think about their own reactions in a real life situation like the one we’ve read this morning.
We know that the relationship between Samaritans and Jews was one of mistrust, it was strained, violent even. It wasn’t an allegory, it wasn’t symbolic, it was very real.
That’s what Jesus wanted people to realise: there are many ways to be in relationship with each other, which way will you choose when confronted with a situation whereby a member of the other camp, the other tribe is suffering immensely? Especially, when history shows you that the other camp, the other tribe has been very kind to your group in the past.
That does bring it close to home, doesn’t it? That stings, doesn’t it?
Jesus is asking to show kindness, compassion, interest.
The problem with the priest’s and Levite’s reaction isn’t necessarily that they did nothing
-although that’s certainly an issue- but that they deliberately went out of their way so they didn’t have to do anything.
They didn’t ignore the situation, they physically separated themselves from it and from the human being in need.
They crossed the road.
The Australian poet Henry Lawson wrote:
(And so ‘by chance there came that way,’
It reads not like romance-
The truest friends on earth to-day,
They mostly come by chance.)
He saw a stranger left by thieves
Sore hurt and like to die-
He also saw (my heart believes)
The others pass him by.
Lawson -who struggled with his own demons throughout his life- imagined that the Good Samaritan from a distance had noticed the priest and the Levite crossing the road. Perhaps that made him slow down and pay more attention.
The evasive act of the two other men was an incentive to take a closer look and find out what was going on.
He was no Christian, understand,
For Christ had not been born-
He journeyed later through the land
To hold the priests to scorn;
And tell the world of ‘certain men’
Like that Samaritan,
And preach the simple creed again-
Man’s duty! Man to man!
That priest and that Levite were part of the elite of their people and they were fortunate enough to want for nothing.
They led respectable, rich lives, what we might call grace-filled and blessed lives.
Very likely they thanked God every day for their status in society, devoutly, prayerfully.
Many if not most of us are probably like them, average Christians, churchly folk, with some money in the bank, a house, a job, loved ones, and so on.
Many if not most of us would probably agree that we lead grace-filled, blessed lives.
So, how about sharing the grace, sharing the blessings?
But, those people in our streets, begging, sleeping rough, they don’t look well, they smell, often they’re on drugs or drunk or both!
And those strangers, coming here, fleeing for their lives, there are so many of them!
Or people seeking for help, crying out for help, against abuse, with mental health issues, caught in modern slavery, in severe debt.
It’s all so scary, all so overwhelming!
We want to close our eyes and cover our ears.
The Good Samaritan brought the wounded man to a place where he was safe, where he could be taken care of. He even made a donation to contribute in the man’s needs.
He must have known them at the inn,
They must have known him too-
Perhaps on that same track he’d seen
Some other sick mate through;
For ‘Whatsoe’er thou spendest more’
(The parable is plain)
‘I will repay,’ he told the host,
‘When I return again.’
We’re not expected to look after every single beggar, or to give money to all who ask for it.
We’re not expected to take in every asylum seeker into our own homes.
We’re not expected to solve all these problem by ourselves.
There are organisations staffed with professionals and volunteers who are involved in street work, the welcoming of refugees, shelters, soup kitchens, etc.
You can donate, pray for them, volunteer yourself.
It’s a group effort.
But don’t ignore the situation.
Don’t go out of your way to avoid the situation, to deliberately separate yourself from the issue.
Circling back to Saint Augustine who thought that the Good Samaritan represented Christ.
What if Christ was actually the man who had been attacked and who lay bleeding and dying in the ditch?
What if you recognised him by his crucifixion wounds or perhaps by a halo?
Would you cross the road then?
If we can make the effort to distance ourselves from someone, surely, we can make the effort to come closer, to see what’s going on, to not do what others are doing, and to do what they aren’t.
The priest and the Levite are still crossing the road today.
‘Once on a time there lived a man,’
But he has lived always,
And that gaunt, good Samaritan
Is with us here to-day
He passes through the city streets
Unnoticed and unknown,
He helps the sinner that he meets-
His sorrows are his on.
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Amen.