7th August Trinity
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| Good Samaritan, Corinne Vonaesch |
Luke 10:25-37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in
the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and,
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered
correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And
who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said:
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by
robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him
half dead. A priest happened to be going
down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other
side. So too, a Levite, when he came to
the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where
the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to
an inn and took care of him. The next
day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’
he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may
have.’
“Which of these three
do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on
him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
7th August Trinity
September 6, 2015
Luke 10:25-37
Someone well-read in scripture asks Christ how to attain
eternal life.The man’s answers that to love God with one’s whole being and to
love one’s fellow human beings as well as oneself is to attain eternal life. And Christ affirms
this; love directed outward, beyond oneself, overcomes the deadening effects of
mere self- love. Yet there comes the man’s somewhat defensive next question:
which of my fellow human beings am I supposed to love? Christ’s answer in story
form is: Not just my family, not just my own tribe or those with whom I can
identify. Any fellow human being whom I happen upon along the way can be the
recipient of a love that expresses itself in concrete action. For it is our
deeds, not our feelings, that live beyond the boundaries of this life. The key
here is to regard others with an attitude of mercy, of loving kindness. And
then we give and do what we can.
It may be that the priest and the Levite felt that they
could touch the unclean man because they were on their way to a work that
required their ritual cleanliness. The Samaritan, though despised by the Jews,
was truly free to help (or not). He helps a stranger, in both a personal,
hands-on way, and also by deputizing and paying the innkeeper to complete the
work of healing. He is thereby encouraging others to help. And he thus also
maintains his own freedom to help the next victim he finds, to further practice
his love for his fellow human beings. Christ is saying that our neighbor is not
necessarily one whom we know, the one who lives next door. It is the stranger
whom we meet along the way. It is we who are to act neighborly. A poet
expresses the universality of this:
Some fishermen pulled a bottle
from the deep. It held a piece of paper,
with these words: "Somebody
save me! I'm here. The ocean cast
me on this desert island.
I am standing on the shore
waiting for help. Hurry! I'm here!"
"There's no date. I bet
it's already too late anyway.
It could have been floating for
years," the first fisherman said.
"And he doesn't say where.
It's not even clear which ocean," the second fisherman said.
"It's not too late, or too
far. The island Here is
everywhere," the third fisherman said.
They all felt awkward. No one
spoke. That's how it goes with universal truths.*
*Wislawa Szymborska,
“ Parable” Poems New and Collected
1957-1997, trans. S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)
