July 22, 2004
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s a good question. What DO we have to do to inherit eternal life? It’s a question that has been in the news a lot lately. Our own Archbishop has stirred things up with his statements about politicians who vote for laws that violate the basic human right to life, and for you and me and who we vote for.
But, how did Jesus answer the question?
“He said in reply, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” That seems simple enough. But, it’s incredibly hard to do. Maybe TOO hard. Can any of us really say that we do it. I know I can’t.
He then goes on to tell the parable of the good Samaritan. It’s a story we’ve heard hundreds of times. The poor guy gets robbed, and beat up and left for dead . A priest comes by and crosses over to the opposite side of the road. You know how that works. When you see someone begging on the sidewalk, have you ever crossed the street to avoid them? If you have to walk by them, do you offer to help or desperately try to avoid making eye contact? When you see someone at the stop light holding up a hand-lettered cardboard sign, do you start reaching for your wallet or do you slow down hoping that the light turns green before you get there? C’mon, we’ve all done it.
Then a Levite comes by. Levites were descended from the tribe of Levi. Under Jewish law, only Levites could become priests. In today’s terms, we might call that person a deacon. Only, instead of being called, because they were descended from Levi, it was in their genes.
So the priest and the Levite walk on by. Who stops to help? A Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. I guess the closest comparison we would have today would be the Jews and the Palestinians, or maybe Cub fans and Cardinal fans. Does that mean that we should all love Cub’s fans as we love ourselves. I guess we should at least feel sorry for them.
Which brings us back to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Is it the guy who lives next door? I hope not. I really don’t like the guy who lives next door to me very much. I don’t hate him. And, I would stop to help him if I saw him on the side of the road. I just wouldn’t be too mad if he decided to move.
In the broader sense, is it everybody who lives in our neighborhood? The word is neighborhood. Jan and I still have friends from when we lived over here on Brilliant. We see them fairly often. We always refer to them as the “old neighbors”. It has nothing to do age, by the way.
A few month back, I was driving on 270 and saw a minivan stopped on the side of the road. There was smoke coming out of the back end and there was a lady, holding a baby, standing beside it. I stopped to see if I could help. She had already called the fire department so I stayed there with her until they came. It was no big deal for me. But, if that had been my wife, or my daughter, I would have wanted someone to stop and try to help.
But suppose it had been late at night. Suppose it had been a bad part of town. Suppose the minivan had been a beat-up old car and the lady with the baby had been a half dozen teenagers, maybe of another race. Remember, the Samaritans hated the Jews. Would I have stopped? No, probably not. Be honest, you probably wouldn’t either.
But, think about it. The teenagers could have been gang members or they could have been a bunch of Catholic kids on their way home from a youth group meeting. Who knows?
The twenty-first century is a lot different from the first. Most of us have cell phones. We can call someone to come and help without stopping ourselves. Is that enough? We don’t know. Jesus didn’t mention cell phones. As long as the person gets help, does it really matter if we stop and help or if we arrange for someone else to do it?
“Who is my neighbor?”
What about the people who live in your house? They’re certainly part of your neighborhood. Are we called to help the stranger by the side of the road and ignore our families?
Let’s go back to that Levite; the first century deacon. What was his deal? Why didn’t he stop to help? Maybe he was in a hurry. Maybe he was preoccupied and didn’t even see the poor guy in the ditch. Maybe he was on his way to help somebody else. Or maybe he just didn’t care. But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.
Let’s assume that the Levite was married, like most of today’s deacons. Maybe he was late for dinner. Maybe he had been late for dinner every night that week. Maybe he was on his way to a meeting, or a wedding rehearsal, or a wake. Maybe he had to get home to fix something, or to cut the grass, or rake the sand or whatever they did to their yards back then.
Most of you probably know that I’m a pastoral care minister at St. Joseph’s Hospital. I go there twice a week. In a good week, I may see twenty people. They always thank me for coming and tell me what a “good Samaritan” I am. But, I don’t go there five days a week. And the days I do go, I’m only there for a few hours. In almost three years, there have been literally hundreds of people I didn’t see. Doesn’t that make me more like the priest or the Levite than like the Samaritan?
But I have other responsibilities. I have responsibilities to you. I was your deacon before I became St. Joseph’s deacon. Sometimes you’re in the hospital and I may not have time to come and see you because I’m at St. Joe’s. Samaritan or Levite? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Most important, I was a husband and father long before I became anybody’s deacon. We all have to be Samaritans to our families before we become Samaritans to anyone else. Sometimes it’s harder to do that than it is to help someone on the side of the road.
Jesus doesn’t judge the priest or the Levite in the story. His point is to praise the Samaritan. After all, it’s not the story of the “bad priest and Levite”. It’s the story of the good Samaritan. He went out of his way to help someone who first century society said he should stay away from. He gave of his time and his treasure.
We all have to make our own choices about who is and isn’t our neighbor and what we should do to love them. It’s a high tech age. Cell phones make it easy to help without risking our own safety. We may not have time to volunteer at the homeless shelter, but we can certainly fill up a yellow bag with groceries once a month. It may not be possible for us to participate in the Pro-life march, but we can pray for an end to abortion, contribute to pro-life causes and make our feelings known to our elected officials.
In the end, we should “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Pray for the wisdom to know what that means for you.
But, how did Jesus answer the question?
“He said in reply, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” That seems simple enough. But, it’s incredibly hard to do. Maybe TOO hard. Can any of us really say that we do it. I know I can’t.
He then goes on to tell the parable of the good Samaritan. It’s a story we’ve heard hundreds of times. The poor guy gets robbed, and beat up and left for dead . A priest comes by and crosses over to the opposite side of the road. You know how that works. When you see someone begging on the sidewalk, have you ever crossed the street to avoid them? If you have to walk by them, do you offer to help or desperately try to avoid making eye contact? When you see someone at the stop light holding up a hand-lettered cardboard sign, do you start reaching for your wallet or do you slow down hoping that the light turns green before you get there? C’mon, we’ve all done it.
Then a Levite comes by. Levites were descended from the tribe of Levi. Under Jewish law, only Levites could become priests. In today’s terms, we might call that person a deacon. Only, instead of being called, because they were descended from Levi, it was in their genes.
So the priest and the Levite walk on by. Who stops to help? A Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. I guess the closest comparison we would have today would be the Jews and the Palestinians, or maybe Cub fans and Cardinal fans. Does that mean that we should all love Cub’s fans as we love ourselves. I guess we should at least feel sorry for them.
Which brings us back to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Is it the guy who lives next door? I hope not. I really don’t like the guy who lives next door to me very much. I don’t hate him. And, I would stop to help him if I saw him on the side of the road. I just wouldn’t be too mad if he decided to move.
In the broader sense, is it everybody who lives in our neighborhood? The word is neighborhood. Jan and I still have friends from when we lived over here on Brilliant. We see them fairly often. We always refer to them as the “old neighbors”. It has nothing to do age, by the way.
A few month back, I was driving on 270 and saw a minivan stopped on the side of the road. There was smoke coming out of the back end and there was a lady, holding a baby, standing beside it. I stopped to see if I could help. She had already called the fire department so I stayed there with her until they came. It was no big deal for me. But, if that had been my wife, or my daughter, I would have wanted someone to stop and try to help.
But suppose it had been late at night. Suppose it had been a bad part of town. Suppose the minivan had been a beat-up old car and the lady with the baby had been a half dozen teenagers, maybe of another race. Remember, the Samaritans hated the Jews. Would I have stopped? No, probably not. Be honest, you probably wouldn’t either.
But, think about it. The teenagers could have been gang members or they could have been a bunch of Catholic kids on their way home from a youth group meeting. Who knows?
The twenty-first century is a lot different from the first. Most of us have cell phones. We can call someone to come and help without stopping ourselves. Is that enough? We don’t know. Jesus didn’t mention cell phones. As long as the person gets help, does it really matter if we stop and help or if we arrange for someone else to do it?
“Who is my neighbor?”
What about the people who live in your house? They’re certainly part of your neighborhood. Are we called to help the stranger by the side of the road and ignore our families?
Let’s go back to that Levite; the first century deacon. What was his deal? Why didn’t he stop to help? Maybe he was in a hurry. Maybe he was preoccupied and didn’t even see the poor guy in the ditch. Maybe he was on his way to help somebody else. Or maybe he just didn’t care. But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.
Let’s assume that the Levite was married, like most of today’s deacons. Maybe he was late for dinner. Maybe he had been late for dinner every night that week. Maybe he was on his way to a meeting, or a wedding rehearsal, or a wake. Maybe he had to get home to fix something, or to cut the grass, or rake the sand or whatever they did to their yards back then.
Most of you probably know that I’m a pastoral care minister at St. Joseph’s Hospital. I go there twice a week. In a good week, I may see twenty people. They always thank me for coming and tell me what a “good Samaritan” I am. But, I don’t go there five days a week. And the days I do go, I’m only there for a few hours. In almost three years, there have been literally hundreds of people I didn’t see. Doesn’t that make me more like the priest or the Levite than like the Samaritan?
But I have other responsibilities. I have responsibilities to you. I was your deacon before I became St. Joseph’s deacon. Sometimes you’re in the hospital and I may not have time to come and see you because I’m at St. Joe’s. Samaritan or Levite? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Most important, I was a husband and father long before I became anybody’s deacon. We all have to be Samaritans to our families before we become Samaritans to anyone else. Sometimes it’s harder to do that than it is to help someone on the side of the road.
Jesus doesn’t judge the priest or the Levite in the story. His point is to praise the Samaritan. After all, it’s not the story of the “bad priest and Levite”. It’s the story of the good Samaritan. He went out of his way to help someone who first century society said he should stay away from. He gave of his time and his treasure.
We all have to make our own choices about who is and isn’t our neighbor and what we should do to love them. It’s a high tech age. Cell phones make it easy to help without risking our own safety. We may not have time to volunteer at the homeless shelter, but we can certainly fill up a yellow bag with groceries once a month. It may not be possible for us to participate in the Pro-life march, but we can pray for an end to abortion, contribute to pro-life causes and make our feelings known to our elected officials.
In the end, we should “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Pray for the wisdom to know what that means for you.
posted by Mike at 7:53 PM
2 comments
