(A Reflection on Luke 10v25-37: The Parable of the Good Samaritan)
There are days I ask the same question as that expert in the Law: Who is my neighbour? And what I am really asking is: Who is worthy to be given the dignity of being loved, respected, and advocated for?
The Good Samaritan isn’t of the same people group as the man left for dead on the road, but he chooses to get involved; he gets his hands dirty. It costs him time; it costs him comfort; it costs him resources; it costs him physical energy; it costs him extending a hand to a person he doesn’t fully understand, who is different from himself.
The Good Samaritan was not the one who directly caused harm to the man, but he also would not ignore the harm done to the man.
The religious men who don’t get involved are staying “clean” in order to not violate the Law that would keep them from daily presence and duties in the Temple…but in order to be justified by the Law they miss the spirit of the Law which reveals God’s heart to extend dignity to every human and to protect the especially vulnerable.
To get involved is not a brief drop of a hashtag or liking of a post. It is a commitment to saying that each life is worthy of dignity and respect.
But it will cost us.
It will cost us time; it will cost us comfort; it will cost us resources; it will cost us physical energy; it will cost us moving past our own life experience to extend a hand of vulnerable invitation and relationship to someone different from ourselves; it will cost us having to receive that hand of help from someone else.
Actually living that out daily can be intimidating.
There is risk of doing it wrong, being humbled, needing to learn, needing to ask for forgiveness, choosing to forgive others. There is a risk in realizing that we are weak and vulnerable and need to be advocated for. There is a risk in not making this “us” and “them,” where we have all the answers, but claiming others as brothers and sisters in solidarity of humanity where we rejoice together and grieve together and seek God together, learning from one another.
We will genuinely, desperately need to cling to grace rather than self-justification disguised as religion.
I don’t say this as one who has it mastered; I don’t even say this as one who is very far down the path. I say this as one who is convicted that Jesus died for all of humanity and that all of humanity is created in the image of God. I say this as someone still being humbled and still not completely knowing how to do this well. I say this as one who wants to try, even if I stumble and make mistakes, because I want to love all of my neighbours…not just the ones I understand.
What I do know is that Jesus was not the one who caused me harm but He would not ignore the harm done to me. He saved me: He entered the trenches and got His hands dirty when He left His place of comfort in the heavens and came to dwell with us on earth. And it cost Him everything. And by entering the mess, by living a life perfectly aligned with the spirit of the Law, He fulfilled the entirety of the Law.
I will make mistakes. I will be uncomfortable. But I don’t want to check out of the conversation, even though I could. Jesus became fully human in solidarity with all of us; He didn’t check out, even though He could. And I want to follow His example and truly live by faith in His grace…not just in the public sphere, but in my heart, in my home, in the prayer and study and conversations no one will ever know about.
I want to love you like Jesus loves you, whoever you are. Because we are neighbours.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
[Matthew 22:36-40]
This article was posted by Mandie on her blog which you can read here and was changed for spelling and grammar.
