Who Is Your Neighbor?

THU EP Reflection 102220 (Luke 10:25-37)

My best experience with the passage of the Good Samaritan came when I was living in my home country. A young American was CEO of a company I worked for at the time. He was preaching at our early morning devotion in Luke 10: 25-37. The most striking of it was, how he presented it to us. He explained how there was serious difficulties that existed between the Jews and Samaritans: They never mixed, they hated each other. Jesus was in the midst of that when someone asked him the question: who is my neighbor. His answer was the parable of the Good Samaritan. Since the Jews and Samaritans look the same to an untrained eye, especially if in Jesus story the victim of the robbery had no clothes and no speech, so an unconscious naked person could be either Jew or Samaritan. None could tell.

From the perspective of a Jew, those from whom we expected help, didn’t help: A Priest, a Levite all passed by and didn’t help. Perhaps, they had valid reasons since by law, they couldn't touch a corpse. Even so, the victim was still breathing! To the surprise of Jesus’ Jewish hearers, a Samaritan of all people, was the one who showed up and did the unexpected: “He was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” The Good Samaritan did help big time, and he spent his fortune doing so. Jesus point was that the Samaritan loved God and his neighbor, by the way he loved and helped this poor soul that he didn’t know. [Let’s be clear about one thing: The victim could have been a Jew, but the Samaritan didn’t care about that, he knew the possibility of him being a Jew was there!]

Now let’s rewind a little bit to the audience of a young American CEO. We were all attentive, listening to his remarks. Both Hutus and Tutsis, whom by the way, know each other well: who is who and what tribe one belongs to. To an American, we looked the same. Only we knew how different we were from each other. We are the same people and bleed all the same, just like Samaritans are the same people as the Jews. These non-visible differences could hide an intense hatred and deep divisions of which, I am sure the Jews knew were already present at the time. Jesus knows what our hearts struggle with the most. He knows that deep down we don’t want to call them our neighbor. Jesus’ parable is actually saying the contrary of that. They are indeed your neighbor! They may be different than you, they may not share your beliefs, they may even not speak your language, but they are your neighbor. The implications are huge.

I can only speak for myself: that message did penetrate. The young CEO was living the message of Jesus Christ, by the way he treated everyone, he did not treat his fellow expatriates better than the locals. He understood the stakes of living in a society that can easily conforms to superficiality because it is easy to say the right things even when we don’t want to subscribe to them. I was stunned at myself/ my reactions because I looked inside my heart and realized I had allowed my heart to entertain ideas that are incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The goal of a Christian transformation is to allow a changed life to thrive in a troubled world with power from an invisible one. One of the examples of that is to endure injustices and still live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot hate our persecutors and still subscribe to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That would be incompatible. My heart leaps as I say that because I know how hard it is. Our natural tendencies of course, is to hate our persecutors; to take revenge but Jesus’ way is to love our enemies, which is hard for those whose lives are still under the influence of the world of the flesh and the devil.

We need the power from on high, the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us so we can see clearly the Kingdom of God. This would allow us to go beyond our emotions and feelings and be like Jesus who at the cross, was already praying for his persecutors: “Father, Forgive them, for they know not, what they do” Empower us O Lord to listen to you, to be transformed every day, to be free from the world of the flesh and the Devil, so we can serve you freely in life eternal.

Thank you, Jesus,

Amen.