Kahu's Manao

Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika

“Caring Neighbors”
Amos 7:7-17 & Luke 10:25-37

The parable of the man who fell into the hands of robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away and the Samaritan man who came to his aid is familiar to many as the parable of the “Good Samaritan.” We are inclined to say of the Samaritan that what he did was good – bandaging the man’s wounds; pouring oil and wine on them; putting him on his own animal; bringing him to an inn; and taking care of him.

He did even more the next day – giving two denarii to the innkeeper asking that he take care of the man; letting the innkeeper know that he would return to repay whatever more is spent on the man’s care. All of that was good.

The lesson of the parable seems to be that we ought to do good to others. Lesson pau! Done. Finished. But we know there is much more to the story.

Our reading begins with Jesus’ response to a lawyer who asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25) They both agree that the correct response, according to God’s law in the Hebrew Scriptures, is to love God wholeheartedly and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. (Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life/Pentecost,Wood Lake Publishing Inc., Kelowna, BC, Canada, 2009, page 64) But the lawyer asks another question: “Who is my neighbor?”

It is then that Jesus tells him the familiar parable of the “Good Samaritan.” Some have called this story, the parable - not of the Good Samaritan - but the parable of the Merciful Samaritan. When Jesus tells the story and asks the lawyer, “Which of these three – the Pharisee, the Levite or the Samaritan – was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” the lawyer doesn’t say, “the Samaritan.”

Instead he answers, “The one who showed him mercy.” (Luke 10:37) The lawyer is not able to say, “the Samaritan” and therein lies the heart of the story.

If we were to look at the wider narrative of stories around this parable and the setting in which the attack took place, it is very likely that the injured man was a Jew. For the lawyer the idea that a Samaritan would come to the aid of a Jew was impossible.

The longstanding rift between the Samaritans and the Jews gives the lawyer every reason to assume that the Samaritan in the parable and the injured man would have nothing to do with each other. The historical roots of the conflict are unclear although some see the forced migration of foreigners into what had been the northern kingdom, after the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century BCE, as a source of the animosity. During Jesus’ time Samaritans and Jews claimed to worship the God of the ancient Hebrews, but each group had its own Scriptures, temple and religious practices.

Jesus does not explain why the priest and the Levite neglect to come to the aid of one of their own people. The fact that they stay across the road and do everything to avoid him comes as a shocking moment in the story. But even more shocking is the fact that the one who comes to his aid is a Samaritan.

Several weeks ago I saw a documentary on the Sundance Channel. In some ways the film was very subdued but it was also very shocking. The film focused on the boy of a Palestinian family who was killed as result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The Palestinian family decided to donate their son’s organs to those in need. They are Muslims.

The Palestinian father is shown visiting other Muslim families and meeting the children who were the recipients of one of the organs. At each stop prayers and words of appreciation are offered, refreshments are served, and gifts are given.

The last visit is to an Israeli family. They are Orthodox Jews. Their daughter was one of the recipients. The Palestinian father travels with an interpreter who is himself Palestinian but an Israeli by citizenship.

The Palestinian father is first introduced to the Israeli father of the little girl and after that to the girl’s mother and then to the little girl. He offers to give the little girl a hug but she steps away.

Several awkward moments of silence occur. Both men stumble over their words as they attempt to speak. They each struggle to be gracious and hospitable to one another. It is clear that decades of mistrust and resentment between Palestinians and Israelis are weighing heavily upon both of them.

Eventually they part company. Although we know decades of mistrust and resentment will not go away overnight, we are aware that the tragic death of a Palestinian child meant that an Israeli child will live. The story for me was not about being good but about being merciful.

It was not about how grand and glorious it was for a Palestinian father to donate his son’s organs the daughter of an Israeli father. It was not about a Muslim being good to a Jew but about how for a moment they were able to grasp the answer to eternal life – “show mercy.”

“Mercy is different from goodness. The Samaritan who acted with mercy is an example of mercy.” (Reflections on the Lectionary, Jennifer L. Lord, Christian Century, June 29, 2010, page 19) The Palestinian father who acted with mercy is an example of mercy.

The Greek word that is used for mercy is eleos. It means much more than simply being good. It means even more than forgiving a debt or an offense.

Eleos suggests blessing and compassion. It is about pardon, kindness, strength, rescue and generosity and much, much more.

The Samaritan saw the man who had been beaten and left along the roadside and was moved with compassion. It is probable that the Samaritan man could have said that his decision to do what was the right and merciful thing to do was not based on his religious beliefs like the Levite and the priest who may have thought the injured man to be unclean.

The Samaritan man could have said that his action was not based on any political or social aspirations like the Levites whose social status fell into disfavor over time. He could have said that the basis for his decision or action had nothing to do with his personal opinion about Jews.

But he didn’t. Instead he showed mercy.

Perhaps the priest would have taken great pleasure in denouncing the Samaritan man as a lost soul. Perhaps the Levite would have looked upon the Samaritan man as a political and social liability and therefore want nothing to do with him.

The depth of emotion felt by either the Levite or the priest should have been enough to convince the Samaritan man that he ought to leave well enough alone. Most everyone else would have done the same. The majority would have walked away.

Most would have said that that would have been the just thing to do. But the Samaritan man chose to do what was more than just what others would have done. He showed mercy and in showing mercy, he showed justice.

Too often the well-meaning among us will declare decisions made to their way of thinking and liking are just. “We like things just the way they are.” “We like our way of life just the way it is.”

The parable that Jesus taught of the Jewish man beaten by robbers and aided by a Samaritan man makes it very clear that there is a difference between doing good and showing mercy. There is a difference between those who want things “just” the way they are for themselves and those seeking what is “just” not for most but for all.

What must any of us do to inherit eternal life? Show mercy.

Jennifer Lord is an Associate Professor of Homiletics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She offers the following thought:

“Standing alongside family and friends and strangers petitioning God and calling down God’s mercy, we begin to see ourselves linked as the mercy-needing ones. All of us in our hard lives. All of us with sins and regrets. All of us in need of strength and blessing and rescue. All of us at the hand of robbers and as the robbers. All of us on the road. All of us who have had wine and oil poured on our wounds. All of us made neighbors in Jesus Christ.” (Op. cit.)

Let us pray: Have mercy on us, O God. Make us merciful indeed. Make us mercy bearers. Make us bear the fruit of mercy.

Make us more than good, make us merciful. Beyond Jews and Samaritans; beyond Ethiopian eunuchs and Syrophoenician women; beyond Syrian lepers and Roman soldiers; beyond country and creed, beyond gender and age. Make us mercy to all we meet. Amen.

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