The Good Samaritan
What starts out as a verbal wrestling match between a lawyer and Jesus unfolds into one of the best known stories in the New Testament, the story of the Good Samaritan.
This is a story in which Luke takes a favorite story line of the Jews and twists it to get their attention.
This is a story of a carefully built and protected social pecking order, of the disdain of one people for another, and of what it means to love despite such human liabilities.
This is a story of four unnamed, unknown characters. No details are offered; we don't know why each is traveling. We know only the importance two have in society, the priest and the Levite. The priest is a highly regarded expert in the intricate laws and practices of purity and sacrifice. An authority. Important in society. And the Levite: If the Levite were an Episcopalian, he would be a member of the altar guild, acolytes, ushers, Eucharistic Ministers, vergers, musicians and singers: that is, expert and active in an extensive array of roles and responsibilities and essential in observance. In a land where religious life, law, and behavior are tightly interwoven, priests and Levites are distinguished men, important men. Men of status.
What of the Samaritan? I learned something that surprised me. The name Samaritan does not originate from the area called Samaria but from the Hebrew word Shamerim – meaning "the keepers of the law", "the observant ones". Torah is as essential to the Samaritans as to the Jews.
These three then, have a common respect for Torah. The lawyer questioning Jesus would be at home with all three, They and he are experts in the law as written and should be experts in the law as lived. Should be.
There's a problem that makes living the law more difficult. Despite their shared respect for the law, antipathy boils between the Samaritan and the two Jewish religious leaders. Why? Samaritans married Assyrians with whom they shared land. They married Assyrians! They married gentiles! The Priest and Levite would never equate the Samaritan with themselves, and Jesus' listeners would agree.
Including a Samaritan in the story would grab the listeners attention, too. We're all familiar with the many jokes that begin with "There was a priest, a rabbi, and a minister in a rowboat…" Luke's audience would be equally familiar with stories about a priest, a Levite, and a faithful, simple Jew. The listeners would anticipate a story in which the faithful Jew triumphs to the shame of the lofty priest and Levite and to the delight of the audience.
With the skill of O. Henry, Luke replaces the faithful Jew with a Levite to signal that something new is coming, and it's going to rock the social boat one more time.
And what of the victim? The fourth man is a complete unknown to us. Stripped of his clothing and possessions, his rank or importance are mysteries. All we know is that he has been robbed and beaten to the edge of death on a dangerous mountain road. He is desperately in need of help.
The first two men ignore him, moving to the far side of the path to avoid him.
Enter the surprising Samaritan, not a faithful Jew, who is the hero of the story
and saves the man's life. It is the Samaritan who crosses not only the path
but a culture line to live as the law has taught him:
to love God with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to demonstrate it by loving this enemy as himself.
Our reading this morning from Deuteronomy says, "the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe". (Deut 30:14) Like the lawyer, the priest, and the Levite, we know in our cores what we are to do. Knowing is not the hard part.
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Yesterday afternoon I saw "The Elephant Man" at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. This powerful drama by Bernard Pomerance is as familiar to many of us as the story of the Good Samaritan. Joseph Merrick is a man terribly deformed by a congenital condition, dehumanized and abused from childhood -- a freak show act, robbed, and repeatedly beaten. He is befriended at last by Dr. Frederick Treves, a young, gifted surgeon at London Hospital.
Treves seems to have genuine concern for Merrick. Treves rescues him from the streets and provides a safe haven, if an imprisoning one. A long line of celebrities – a princess, bishop, duchess, and other prominent and wealthy people take interest in him. He is quite the buzz among the social elite. Each visits Merrick – once. They can all say they have seen him. They can congratulate themselves for their grace and generosity, for giving him gifts, for almost but not quite looking at him. Each expansively identifies characteristics in Merrick they have themselves. It's amazing, they think, how like a human he is. Even Treves, who sincerely wants what is right, calls Merrick John for years although his name is Joseph and never understands him as a person. None but one visitor will look him in the eye or take his hand. When he dies, the orderly cries out, "The Elephant Man is dead!" His name is not voiced. This neighbor is never truly loved.
Like the characters in the Good Samaritan story, we all know that we are to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. We all know that we are to love our neighbors; that we are to love ourselves. Such love has no strings.
We have the temptation of loving another only to congratulate ourselves. "Just look how good I am, connecting with that poor unfortunate." "One of my best friend is _______." Underneath it all, we know the truth about ourselves.
And that is what makes our Christian faith so important and so valuable. It guides us back to God when we strike out on our own path, when we love ourselves with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. When our time is too valuable to share. When we are superficial in our relationships. When we don't want to get our hands dirty.
Our faith redeems us from ourselves. We know what God wants. With God's help, let us now go and do likewise.