Good Samaritan Story

I am preaching on the Good Samaritan Story tomorrow and and wrestling with it a bit; trying to find some way of approaching it that hasn't been heard time and time again...let's see...

Good Samaritan Story

Gospel of Luke, chapter 10 verses 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 fell into the hands of 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, took him to an inn in Jericho and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins 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." New International Version

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi

Central Park Zoo, Quote by Rumi

I love this quote from the Sufi Mystic Rumi...."Let the beauty we love be what we do." Reminds me of the all too often quoted (and too little practiced!) quote attributed to St. Francis, "Preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary use words." It also resonates with me today after yesterday's reading from the Gospel on the Good Samaritan, for it was that he "showed mercy" and DID SOMETHING to help that was of vital importance.

The term "Good Samaritan" used by Jesus was probably nearly a distasteful joke and at least a gross example for some of the listenters when he told the story. His audience probably could not believe that a Samaritan could be "Good" in the way that God and the People of the Covenant were Good. Perhaps we would hear this incongruity in a "Good Terrorist?," "Good Enemy?," or even, (do I dare say it,...) "Good Al Quaeda?" Jesus was making it plain that it was the action of love that is of the vital importance. Jesus points out that our savior would perhaps be the last person we could ever dream of our savior being. In the case of the parable, the savior is the Good Samaritan, and Jesus calls us to "Go and Do Likewise," but He also lays out the Christ-Like nature of the Good Samaritan, who was willing to cross ethnic and cultural boundaries to help a person in need. Also, Jesus paints in the margins of this image of the Good Samaritan that HE is the Good Samaritan, the one who comes to save, yet is the unexpected one, and who comes in a way and a manner and in a mode that is not what the religious authorities and protectors of doctrine in his day would expect.

When Jesus calls us to "go and do likewise," he calls us to act lovingly, to even, "let the beauty we love be what we do."