Today's Gospel story is one of the most familiar of all the Gospel stories. On its face, its message is very simple. A lawyer approaches Jesus, and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. But Jesus, characteristically, answers the question with a question. He returns the serve by asking "What does the law say?" The lawyer, well versed in Scripture, is able to recite the summary of the law, and Jesus commends him for his theological acumen. But the lawyer is still troubled (as lawyers are wont to be). He is willing to love his neighbor, but wants to know who his neighbor is. His question is not quite as nit-picking as Mr. Clinton's confusion over what "is" is, but it is important to the lawyer. Maybe he doesn't want to dispense any more love than he has to. Anyhow, in responding, Jesus uses another of his other famous techniques. He tells a story, in this case the parable we have come to know and love as The Good Samaritan. So famous is this story that the expression has entered the lexicon as a synonym for a person who renders service to another with no expectation of reward. Just think, too, of all the hospitals which, were it not for this parable, would have had to find a different name!
The plot is simple. A man is mugged and left for dead, a scenario not unfamiliar to us in twenty-first century urban America. Two passersby, a priest and a Levite, come upon him but choose to do nothing --- to ignore the man's plight. Then a Samaritan comes along, binds his wounds, takes him to an inn and tells the innkeeper to put all the charges on his American Express card. When Jesus asks the lawyer which of these is acting neighborly, he comes to the unstartling conclusion that it was the one who showed mercy on the victim. End of story?
Not quite. With your indulgence (or without it) I would like to try to explain the significance of this story by mentioning briefly two other stories. One, in the 17th chapter of Luke, is about the healing of the ten lepers. You remember the story. Ten lepers come to Jesus. They suffer from a dread disease and because of it are shunned and ostracized by society. (The word "leper" has also entered the lexicon with this very meaning. These two stories remind me of the chapter on religion in the original edition of Emily Post, where the great arbiter of manners opines that children should go to Sunday school to learn Biblical stories, not necessarily for religious instruction per se, but so that when they read about a Good Samaritan or leper or a prodigal son in the newspaper they will understand the reference ---- but I digress!) Back to the lepers. Jesus heals them, and only one comes back to thank Jesus. Some people conclude that the moral of this story is that nine in ten people are ingrates --- which may be true, but it is not the lesson Jesus tried to impart. Luke tells us that the healed leper "fell down on his feet, giving thanks," and then the evangelist adds, parenthetically, "And he was a Samaritan."
The other story is in the fourth chapter of St. John's Gospel. It has the distinction of containing the longest dialogue in all of Scripture --- the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well. You remember the story --- the disreputable woman --- she has had five husbands and is now shacking up with a sixth man without, as we used to say, the benefit of clergy --- comes to draw water at high noon to avoid the tongues of wagging gossips. She is surprised to find Jesus at the well, and asks early in the conversation, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" And then she adds, "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."
So who are these Samaritans, anyhow? An historical note: Samaria had been the capital of Israel's northern kingdom. When Assyria conquered Samaria, they shipped out the aristocrats, and forcibly settled other conquered people in Samaria to lessen the chance of uprisings. Intermarriage and theological differences led to a widening gap between Samaritans and Jews in the South. Samaritans were excluded from worship in Jerusalem, Jews regarded Samaritans as mongrels, half-breeds, just a half a rung higher on the social totem pole than the despised Gentiles. They were publicly cursed in the synagogue. Jews would not eat with Samaritans, use their drinking vessels or believe their testimony in court. (Apart from all that, they were perfectly fine!) This is a very roundabout way of saying that to Jesus' hearers, there was no such thing as a Good Samaritan! This is why the disciples were shocked when they found Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. When Jesus said of the grateful Samaritan leper, "No greater faith have I seen is Israel than the faith demonstrated by this foreigner," his hearers were insulted. And when the lawyer has to admit to Jesus that it was the Samaritan who is his neighbor, it must have galled him!
Are we getting the picture now? In each case, the Samaritans are looked upon as despised representatives of a social and religious class of people who should be shunned and ignored. History has shown repeatedly that the best recipe for conquering a people is to degrade, demonize and ultimately dehumanize them. It was easier, perhaps, for Allied soldiers to kill "Gooks" and for Germans to incinerate "Kikes" at Auschwitz. And in today's wars, "collateral damage" is an easier concept to swallow than "innocent civilians." But the Samaritans saw themselves as human beings --- in the case of the woman at the well, a human being who could be converted on the spot, drop her bucket and spread the Gospel; in the case of the leper, a man who having been made whole could take his rightful place in society; in the case of the man on the road to Jericho, he saw himself as a human being who instinctively wished to render service to another human being.
The priest and the Levite, on the other hand, were so caught up in their status that they used it to justify their inaction. The priest didn't know if the victim was dead, but if he were, the priest would defile himself by touching a corpse, so he plays it safe by keeping his distance. He quickly calculated, you see that defilement would mean that he could no longer offer sacrifices and would even be forbidden to touch the tithes that were contributed to the Temple for his support! Ultimately, he might even have to give up his office. The Levite (read senior warden) strictly speaking, only had to maintain ritual purity when on duty ---maintaining the treasury, singing in the choir, keeping the temple gates --- but he thought he'd play it safe too.
Jesus is teaching us in this parable that grace trumps law, compassion trumps professional obligations, and selflessness trumps selfishness. If we really want to learn something from the Good Samaritan, it's not simply that some people are nicer than others. The real lesson is the one learned by the lawyer, namely that everyone is our neighbor! That means that in the "recent unpleasantness" our neighbor is the Presiding Bishop, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Nigeria. Our neighbor is the moderate, the progressive, the conservative and the flaming liberal. It means our neighbor is the Protestant, the Orthodox (capital O, thank you very much) as well as the Roman Catholic (the Holy Father's recent statement of marginalization notwithstanding!) as well as the Jew and the Muslim. Our neighbors are straight, gay and transgendered, married, single, partnered.
Labels are all too convenient. Before leaving for Honduras, we purchased a labeling machine which we used to make labels to place on the bookshelves at Holy Trinity School. (I didn't even know that such a machine existed --- but there they were at Staple's for $99.99! Barrett Adams was Chief Labeler. How useful it would be if we made labels with our age, address, profession, sexual orientation, net worth, list of academic degrees, number of spouses, number of children, etc. Think of all the time we'd save at cocktail parties, where we deftly probe, digging out all kinds of information from people we meet for the first time, which in reality is an exercise designed to determine if a relationship with the individual is worth pursuing.
If today's parable teaches us nothing else,
it is that labels can inhibit the development of relationships
and prevent appreciating people for who they really are. The
baptismal vows sum it up, don't they? Let's see if we cannot live
into the promise of seeking and serving Christ in all persons,
loving our neighbors as ourselves. AMEN.