A Good Samaritan in 2020?

 Love, and how to go about spreading it - whether genuinely or in mere appearance - seems to be a highly contested topic today. It deserves to be highly contested for it emphatically shapes the way we respond to the suffering we see in others, and ultimately how we live our lives each and every day. 

A recent sermon tackled this topic by citing the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke chapter 10, verses 25-37. To provide a brief orientation, a particular lawyer or scribe questioned Jesus on what he must do to acquire eternal life. Jesus responded by pointing him to the law, of which the lawyer knew well. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Being the good lawyer he was, he questioned further, seeking a definition of who exactly was defined as his neighbor. To which Jesus cited the familiar parable.

'Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among [i]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”'

• When asked about love, Jesus pointed straight to the law. We can not claim to embody love while remaining lawless. The law does not serve to highlight our own righteousness, but to point us towards love.

• Some use religion as a hiding place from loving their neighbors, some seek definitions not to strengthen their capacity to love but to limit it. Likely the lawyer was not seeking to find out who was his neighbor, but rather who was not his neighbor. Religion does not serve to excuse a lack of love.

• The Preist and the Levite specifically passed by the wounded man on the far side of the road. From afar the man may have looked dead, and if they passed at such a distance as to not reveal the expansion of his chest with each breath, they could remain guiltless. In order to love, we cannot run from suffering or pretend it doesn't exist. We have to look closer, we have to intentionally inspect. 

• When the Samaritan saw the wounded man and decided to help, he had a decision to make. He had to decide what use of his resources would actually be helpful to the man. Notice he did not decide to chase down the robbers responsible in order to enact some sort of justice, for justice would not bind the man's wounds. Eternal justice belongs to the Lord alone, and we are in no place to attempt to seize his authority. The Samaritan's love constituted soulely of assisting the one who was wounded and his specific needs, he concerned himself not with blame for those responsible. 

• Jesus does not give us permission to be indifferent to others' issues, problems, and sufferings. Taking an isolationist view is clearly not love. But in the parable, all parties were in agreement about what healthy looked like - it looked like cleaned wounds, and all parties were in agreement that being healthy is a more preferred state than being unhealthy. Today what we see, are parties who are not in agreement on what 'healthy' looks like or even if it is desirable. Many would prefer to remain on the side of the road, and would argue that loving them would mean enduring the same treatment they were subject to and lying by their side, having sustained similar wounds. This goes back to our culture's idea of empathy having more weight than sympathy. This causes us to lose grip of objective truth and rely on individuals' own subjective versions of the truth. The Samaritan knew the truth of what health looked like, and sought to bring the man back to it. To love clearly means in this text to bring others back to a level of health or truth. This becomes difficult when 'health' is not an agreed-upon desirable state.

• Love did not mean providing for the injured man indefinitely. The Samaritan nursed him back to health, returned him to his two feet, where he could sustain himself, and return to work, and then was on his way. The culture of the day necessitated that each man understand his responsibility to provide for himself. Love did not mean in this scenario tossing handouts to the man in order to make him dependent for the rest of his life, but to bring him back to a state of independence. 

• Love did not mean throwing money or bandages at the issue. Mere bandages do nothing to help a man so injured as to lack the physical ability to apply them. The Samaritan bloodied and dirtied his hands, and provided for the actual wounds, addressed the actual cuts and bruises specifically. Had he only given the man Neosporin it would have been of no use to him, had he only given him water and food it would have been no use to him. Again, love brought the man back to health and addressed the wounds keeping him from said level of health specifically.

• Love does not look like allowing people to continue on in their deprived states, nor agreeing with them that these deprived states are 'normal' or 'healthy'. Love does not seem to manifest itself in throwing items at police officers, or looting businesses for the sake of the wounded. It seems to look like specifically bringing the wounded back to health. Love also does not seem to look like pointing at rioters or political parties and demeaning them. The Samaritan did not declare the man's state to the masses, he simply rolled up his sleeves and began to help. 

So much of the current climate could be eased by clarifying definitions. Love especially. The only definition of love that carries any weight is found in the Bible. Ultimately we must understand that regardless the emphasis we place on loving our neighbors and healing their wounds, eternal wounds cannot be mended by mortal hands. Eternal death can only be conquered, and has been conquered by and through Jesus Christ. To some extent, we need to relinquish our perceived control of problems that only he has the authority over.