Luke 10:25-37
When the learned man stood to test Jesus, his motive, as a lawyer, was to ply his trade and expose some contradiction in Jesus’ testimony and thereby discredit Him. I picture Jesus, totally at ease and unthreatened, standing, smiling, and saying “Thank you, I’m so glad you asked this.”
At this point the lawyer may have even thought he had lulled this country boy to sleep with a pretended deference to Him as “Teacher”.
Jesus replied with words this man had known since he was a child; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind…” At this point the lawyer may have been disarmed himself by these familiar words and Jesus’ authentic deference and respect for Him. Then Jesus plies His trade (exposing our heart’s contradictions) and adding…, “(and by the way), you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Being perhaps caught off guard, yet still nimble of mind, the lawyer, rationalizing, managed, “(Yes, but) Who is my neighbor?”
The story is familiar to us. A man is waylaid by a band of robbers and left alone to die. Both a priest and a Levite “passed by on the other side” leaving the victim as they had encountered him – mostly dead. But a Samaritan (probably one with less in common with the victim than the first two passers-by) slowed down and observed the dying man’s condition and he felt compassion. From there it is a story of the Samaritan, taking ownership of the man’s situation and making what resources he had available to help return the half-dead man to full health.
I could picture a tribal man from some remote jungle village being brought to America and being given the opportunity to observe us for a while. When he returns home and is asked what he saw, he might say, “they are a people who pass by on the other side. He might then add. “at high speed!”
Perhaps our speed (and the pace of our lives) is handy in the sense that we never really slow down enough to observe and discover the needs of those bleeding souls in proximity to us. Perhaps our compassion remains untapped because we are really passing each other by in our technological, production oriented culture. This way we can keep our(?) resources for ourselves.
The lawyer may have attempted to test Him but Jesus turns things around and tests the lawyer (and, I think us). Who is our neighbor? According to Jesus, it is anyone we encounter who has a need or a burden we can relieve by sharing our resources. Maybe as important as sharing what we have is, is the act itself of assuming ownership of another’s well-being until they are whole.
I am thinking that our culture is not going to slow down. We will have to exit the freeway of our own accord and downshift from over drive into a more efficient gear. At this new pace, we can begin to truly discover the persons we are passing by on the other side. Instead, we will turn to them and ask, with sincere interest, “how are you doing?” Perhaps, as we do this, our compassion will be awakened. By really listening, we can create safe spaces for others to reveal who they are and discover what has been robbed or is being robbed from their souls.
Perhaps communities (safe spaces) of newly connected people can even prevent the isolation that gave the robbers opportunity in the first place. If we are to pass Jesus’ test we will discover that we are each called to be the Samaritan and each other’s keeper. As agents of His kingdom we are to take ownership of the space around us for the sake of His kingdom.
Father, may Your love triumph. May we discover the nature of our oneness. May we learn to defer to one another and consider the needs of others above our wants. Give us the courage to slow down and really look at those around us. Awaken our compassions and transform them into those many deeds which you have prepared beforehand that we might walk in them. Amen.