Sunday, March 23, 2014

Defining Neighbor: Luke 10:32-37

DEFINING NEIGHBOR !
Luke 10: 30-37
03/23/2014

Just a few years ago, an astonishing thing happened in New York City. A construction worker named Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform with his two young daughters waiting on a train. Suddenly another man on the platform, apparently suffering from a seizure, stumbled and fell off the platform down onto the subway tracks. Just at that moment the headlights of a rapidly approaching train appeared in the subway tunnel.

Acting quickly, and with no thought for himself, Wesley Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to rescue the stricken man by dragging him out of the way of the train. But he immediately realized that the train was coming too fast and there wasn’t time to pull the man off the tracks. So Wesley pressed the man into the hollowed-out space between the rails and spread his own body over him to protect him as the train passed over the two of them. The train cleared Wesley by mere inches, coming close enough to leave grease marks on his knit cap. When the train came to a halt, Wesley called up to the frightened onlookers on the platform. "There are two little girls up there. Let them know their Daddy is OK."

What Wesley had done was a remarkable deed of concern for another person. He had no obvious reason to help this stranger. He didn’t know the man. He had his young daughters to think about. What he did was at severe risk to his own life. But a human being was in desperate need, and Wesley saw it and, moved with compassion, did what he could to save him. "The Subway Superman"--that’s what the press called him, the "Harlem Hero." But the headline in one newspaper described Wesley Autrey in biblical terms. It read, "Good Samaritan Saves Man on Subway Tracks.

Whenever there is someone who acts selflessly and courageously and rescues someone who is in danger we call them “a Good Samaritan” The media applauds them and they become instant celebrities. But people like Wesley Autrey remain humble and say that, “they just did the right thing.” There are even “Good Samaritan Laws” to give legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are injured, ill, or in danger. Where did we get this Good Samaritan concept? Let’s look at where this story is found in the Bible. Luke 10:30-37
Background: During a debriefing time with his seventy disciples who had returned from an exciting ministry of signs and wonders a certain lawyer in the crowed wanted to test Jesus and probably show off his knowledge of the Law so he asked, “Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This was a good question. Jesus answered him with a question; what is written in the law and how do you read it? Just like any ardent student of the law he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and you your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus complemented him for his knowledge and said, “you have answered correctly do this and you will live.” That is to emphasize the fact that merely the knowledge of the law does not save anyone but believing it and even more so obeying it can save people. The theme of loving God’s people runs deep in the pages of the Bible. One of the ways we can express our love for God is by loving our neighbors. Isn’t that what the essence of the Gospel all about? Our entire Christian faith hinges on only two pillars and they are loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. In other words we put ourselves in the shoes of those who are in need and try to identify with their suffering and doing any and everything possible to help alleviate their pain and discomfort.

The lawyer thought he could outsmart Jesus so he asked, who is my neighbor? He secretly may have hoped that Jesus would show one of his kind as his neighbor. For the Jews loving their neighbors could only go as far as their own nation and religion. They never considered Gentiles as their neighbors. If they saw a gentile in danger of death, they thought themselves under no obligation to help to save his life. Jesus wanted to correct this wrong notion so he told a parable.

A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho has changed little since the first century. Accessible by foot or horseback, it is approximately eighteen to twenty miles distance. It is a rocky and rugged route and one can expect to make about three miles an hour. The decent is very rapid, nearly four thousand feet from the Mount of Olives to the Jordan valley below. There are many ascents as well along the way increasing the sharpness of the slope and additional hazards to the journey down the mountain.

About halfway there is a huge boulder affording a very convenient place for robbers to lie in wait. There are also many other places to hide along this lonely road earning its reputation as the "Way of Blood." Jesus knew this and somewhere on this narrow trail we are given the setting for the story of the Good Samaritan.
The scripture tell us “A certain Man” we do not know his ethnicity, and family background. All we know is that he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He must have been a Jewish man. Somewhere along the path, thieves waited in hiding. He had little to offer for all they took was his clothing. Two religious people a Priest and a Levite happened to pass by them. Extending no compassion toward the agony and the destitute condition of their fellowman, each crossed to the other side and continued on their way.

Why did the Priest and the Levite not stop to help the man? We could list several reasons why, Martin Luther King in one of his speeches gives a more plausible explanation in regards to why they did not stop to help the poor wounded man. “It’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure.
And so the first question that the Priest and the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ “But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”[1]

We all can be guilty of asking the first question out of fear for our own lives when it comes to helping someone in danger. I am for one missed a few such opportunities, thinking that I was married and have three children and what would happen to me and to them if I would stop to help someone who was in danger?
In our story the Samaritan seemed to have none of those concerns or fears. All he saw was a near to death Jewish man, and moved with compassion did what the Priest and the Levite had failed to do. For the lack of a better word he gave “First Aid” He bandaged the wounds with his own linen. He poured on oil and wine; wine to wash the wound and oil to sooth it and close it up. He put the man on his own donkey and brought him to the inn. He put his personal business away for a while and took care of that man that night as if he was one of his very own.

The next day he left some money with the landlord and undertook to repay what was spent beyond those two silver coins which shows that he was genuinely concerned over his full recovery and total well being. All this kindness and generosity one could have expected from a friend or a brother; and yet here it is done by a total stranger, that too a Samaritan. After listening to this story the so called expert in the law had nothing else to say or ask Jesus. So Jesus asked him this time another question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert replied; “the one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Interestingly Jesus emphasized “doing” two times to show where God lies his emphasis more. The Priest, and the Levite seemed to have religious appearance and have known the law in and out but whereas the Samaritan man put into action whatever little he has known which is to help those who are in need

What is the practical application of this story? Let’s consider we that we all in our un-regenerated life were like the man who fell in the hands of the robbers. Our sin infested lifestyle has robbed us of our joy, relationships, health, and our very life itself. We were struck by the devil and left half dead. But thankfully on that road walked Jesus the Good Samaritan; He saw our pitiful condition, came near to us; picked us up, washed our wounds, and healed our sin and left us in the care of the steward (the Holy Spirit) so that we will be fully healed and recovered.

Jesus is asking us today since you have received mercy now do likewise and give mercy to the undeserving. How do we do it? By reaching out in practical ways to our neighbors; (anyone who is in need of help), by being there for people when they need us. By being tender to those who are hurting. By being patient with those who are struggling. I pray that God will give us grace so that we will exemplify the attitude of the Good Samaritan toward those in need without respect for gender, race, ethnicity, wealth or standing in the community. Amen




[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/04/why-didnt-they-stop-martin-luther-king-jr-on-the-parable-of-the-good-samaritan/