Friday 16 March 2007

More from the parable about being a neighbor.

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" (Luke 10:25-26) He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this , and you will live." (Luke 10:27-28) But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:29-32) But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. (Luke 10:33)

I know it is only one new verse and what can one verse add, right!?! At this point in the story any person going down that road is not going to have a good picture of who is lying there - naked and beaten to the point of death. But now we see something that vital to this story and vital to all that it means to be the children of God. The Samaritan "came near him." We are created to be relational people. We cannot be relational from a distance or by simply passing by with a glance. The Samaritan "came near him." We have no idea what this traveler was thinking. We simply know that he "came near him." The only way that we overcome our prejudices and fears and hatred and bias and rules used to keep us separated (and in sin) is when we cross over the road and come near to one another. When we come near, we see our humanity. We see how fragile we all are. We see our mortality. We see that the tales told and the stories whipped up to divide and the fingers pointed at others - do nothing to help us see that we are all children of God. When we do not give ourselves the opportunity to "come near" we lose our ability to act like the humans we have been created to be. Instead we settle for manufactured worlds that never bring peace - never bring healing - never bring deliverance - never extend a hand to help - never accept the aid of another... In coming near, the Samaritan is like Jesus who guts were stirred up when he saw all the people running along the seashore as he was in the boat. Compassion pulls us out of our self-indulgent and self-possessed adventures and allows us to face how connected we are and to act as though the connection is vital to who we are.

Connection: We never know when it is time to come near to another person. It is by guess that the time is always at hand...when we let ourselves look up and around...we are being handed opportunities to live as the children of God.

As you come so near to us in the incarnation, O God, you draw us near to one another. We give you thanks for in the many ways you come near and never leave us behind, we are given a new way to walk through this day. Open our hearts that your love may be our love for neighbor. Amen.