What a week to be preaching on the parable of the Good Samaritan! “What do we need to do to have eternal life?” Jesus is asked. Love God with everything we have: heart, soul, strength and mind, , and love our neighbor as ourselves. And then comes the follow-up question: “But who is my neighbor?”
Tuesday morning Alton Sterling was shot by police officers in Baton Rouge, LA outside the Triple S Food Mart. The FBI and Justice Department have been called in.
Who is my neighbor?
Wednesday night, during a routine traffic stop, Philando Castile, was shot by a police officer outside of St. Paul Minneapolis. The governor of Minnesota bemoans that had Philando been white, the incident would probably have never occurred.
Who is my neighbor?
Thursday night during a peaceful protest of the most recent police shootings (named above), a sniper shot 12 Dallas police officers, five fatally. He is supposed to have said he “wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” before he was killed.
Who is my neighbor?
This week the parable of the Good Samaritan seems to call us to action. We cannot walk by and think, “It’s not my problem.” We cannot boo and hiss at others and think it is enough. We cannot even console ourselves with “I help where I can.” We cannot pat ourselves on the back for the few times we have reached out to the injured.
This week, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and our response to it, seems starkly important. This isn’t about an accessory we are adding to our wardrobe; this is about what we are wearing. This is about who we are, as Christians, and as Americans. The set-up to the parable is the ultimate question. What do we need to do to be right with God, to “have eternal life?” And Jesus’ “simple” answer encompasses everything we can imagine. Love God. Love neighbor. Love Self.
It’s so expansive that the lawyer who has started this whole thing tries to make it more manageable. Who is my neighbor? Surely you mean the people around me, my kin, my friends, my colleagues. The people that it is easy to love (or easier). Surely that is who you mean, right, Jesus?
And Jesus tells a story. A story about a stranger, and a “contemptible” (by Jewish standards) hero. A story that expands neighbor past ethnicity, past religion, past any other marker of us versus them.
Who is my neighbor? Everyone is my neighbor. And what do we need to do? Love our neighbor.
But how? Seasons of the Spirit included an article by Jessie Palatucci, from the UCC Justice and Witness Ministries called “Changing Our Hearts to Change the World.” In it, she talks about what it takes to build a community, to change our hearts.
It takes recognizing that there is a problem.
It takes listening to someone else’s reality.
It takes the willingness to be uncomfortable.
And even if we do these things, she says, “Change is hard. Self-reflection takes work. Listening doesn’t always come naturally.”
Even in the face of new knowledge, even when we glimpse the problem, or see a new reality, it is a challenge to integrate that into ourselves. No one likes to feel discomfort or imbalance. Sometimes it is more comfortable (and a lot less work) to seek out others who validate what we want to believe, and counter what we have learned. This can happen easily if we listen to voices like ourselves. Sometimes we just reduce the importance of the new information. Changing our hearts, loving our neighbor requires so much more from us.
Isn’t that what we see in the Samaritan who stops along the way. He has to tend to the man’s wounds. He has to transport him to a place of safety. He has to pay for the experience. He has to put down a guarantee for his continuing care. That is time. That is money. That is hassle. That is involvement. That is love in action. That is what Jesus calls us to.
But how? Is still the question. How do we begin to heal the inequality, the prejudice, the divides? I am struggling with this myself. I can offer a few suggestions.
For those who like to read, “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson, gives a portrait of how broken our criminal justice system can be. We have picked this book as our late September book club selection. Cory Booker just had an almost hour long chat with Bryan Stevenson which you can see on Cory’s Facebook page. That is one way to become more informed about one part of the problem.
For those who like movies, and want a chance to be with our sister congregation, on Friday, July 22nd, EWest is showing portions of the movie Crash—and having a “Bible” Study conversation, here on this campus at 7pm. That is one way to listen to how others feel.
I invite us to share with one another other thoughts, ways of acting, that might help.
I know this issue has so many prongs and tentacles and that it is daunting to even try to understand it, much less know what to do. I also know that the church, that we, do not want to be the ones shielding our eyes, crossing the street, or otherwise ignoring the bleeding, mangled, left-for-dead on the side of the road. We don’t have to pretend to have a kumbaya moment. As the latest General Assembly has said, (albeit about another issue)—“We are called to deeper conversations…recognizing that our relationships as God’s children are not ultimately dependent upon agreement.”
For those who don’t know what to do, I would say, pray. Pray for our leaders. Pray for those who pledge to keep us safe. Pray for wisdom. Pray for a path forward to emerge. Pray for all of us. Pray that we might be able to do what Jesus commanded.
Love God.
Love Neighbor.
Love Self.
May it be so. Alleluia. Amen.
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