2016C 8 Pentecost The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

10 July 2016 Christ Episcopal Church

The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

If youve read any of Platos dialogues, you know that his teacher Socrates, engaged his
students in critical thinking by answering their questions with more questions. By doing so,
Socrates guided them to use their own faculties in their search for the truth. Thus, the Socratic
Method was born and since then has struck fear and exasperation in law students
everywhere. Believe me, I know!
Our gospel reading today features the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You may notice that
Jesus never really answers the lawyers questions in a straightforward way. Instead, he answers
with another question or by relating a story that requires the lawyer to think critically and to
form his own conclusions.
"Teacher," the lawyer asks Jesus, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answers him
with another question, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" And the lawyer,
a religious expert in Mosaic law, answers correctly, quoting key passages from Deuteronomy
and Leviticus that echo the formula Jesus uses with his disciples: which of the laws of Moses are
the greatest? Love God with all of you: heart, soul, strength, mind; love your neighbor as
yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? I wondered what
the lawyer meant by that, so I looked up the passage in several other Bible translations. In The
Message, the translation we use at Camp Living Waters for the young people, it reads:
Looking for a loophole, he asked, And just how would you define neighbor? Aha! Even back
then, lawyers were looking for loopholes!
Like most if not all societies, first-century Judaism was ordered by boundaries regarding social
conduct. Strict rules governed how Jews should treat Gentiles, how priests should relate to
Israelites, how men should treat women, etc. Maintaining these boundaries was vital to the
social order and was a religious duty. So, Jesus, the lawyer is asking, if you will just make it
easy for me to know how you define neighbor, Ill know exactly who I need to love as myself.
Jesus again answers his question in an indirect way, but this time through the story of the Good
Samaritan. A man was beaten and left by the side of a road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho.
First a priest and then a Levite walked right past him without stopping to help. But it was a
Samaritan who took care of him. Jesus does not offer information about the mans ethnicity or
cultural background. Was he a Jew? Was he a Gentile? He only identifies him by what was done
to him. He was beaten. He needed help. A Samaritan helped him.
At the end of the parable, Jesus asks, Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to
the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" By asking this question, he is encouraging the
lawyer to use his own mind and heart to seek the truth. The lawyer answers, "The one who
showed him mercy." Right answer! Jesus confirms his answer by telling the lawyer to "Go and
do likewise."
The story must have caused his hearers some discomfort, as it appears that social boundaries

2016C 8 Pentecost The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

10 July 2016 Christ Episcopal Church
The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

arent important here. Luke does this a lot: In his gospel account, Jesus is always turning social
norms upside down especially when injustice is involved. He teaches the way of Gods kingdom.
Its easy for us to see that the right thing to do was what the Samaritan did to help the man.
Would any of us not stop to help a seriously injured person by the side of the road? Well, it
depends
In her book The Preaching Life, Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, reflects on certain
well-known parables of Jesus like this one. She had been preparing all week for her sermon
about the Good Samaritan. She read commentaries and talked to her friends and colleagues
about it. Then on her way to the church one drizzly morning she came across a stalled car on
the side of the road with its hood up, and out stepped a tall black man with jumper cables in his
hands. He looked right at her. Several hundred pieces of information went through my mind
in about three seconds, she recounts. The man needs help I am a single woman alone in a
car the man needs help never open the door to a stranger the man needs help go to
the nearest service station and send a mechanic the man needs help what if he cant afford
a mechanic? Im sorry I cannot help maybe the next person will. And then, she says, I
drove on to work, to complete my research on the Good Samaritan.
Oh, can any of you identify with this?
Many of us would stop to help a stranger if we were merely running errands, if it was daylight
in a busy part of town, if there was no apparent danger, and if we could actually help the
person. But would you stop on a lonely road in a part of town known for its drug-dealing and
violence? Would you stop if it was pouring rain and you had just worked a 12 hour day and
couldnt wait to get home? Would you stop if you were late for an interview that would
determine whether or not you would get your dream job?
Its easy to see that circumstances will determine what we can and will do to help someone in
need. And that is where critical thinking must come in.
A couple years ago, when I was traveling to Iowa to visit my mother, I had the opportunity to
give up my seat on the short flight from Chicago to the local airport in Moline, IL across the river
from where my mother lived. I had taken the red eye from San Francisco to Chicago, and after a
couple hour layover, was scheduled to take off at 8:30 am to arrive in Moline less than an hour
later. Shortly before boarding, the gate attendant asked if anyone would give up his or her seat.
No doubt someone needed the ticket to get to an important meeting on time and would be late
with a later flight. The next flight to Moline was only an hour later and she offered $400 toward
a future flight. An hour delay would make little difference to me as I had no set plans. So why
not? It was win-win. I was helping the person who needed the seat; but really, I was going for
the $400 and the minor inconvenience.
So consider this scenario: Suppose I am flying home after a week of contentious business
meetings. Its Friday late afternoon, the flight from Chicago to San Francisco is delayed, its
overbooked, the gate area is filled with cranky, anxious people and Im exhausted. I have eight

2016C 8 Pentecost The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

10 July 2016 Christ Episcopal Church
The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

hours of flying and layover time ahead of me before arriving in Arcata at midnight. A request
comes over the loud speaker: will anyone give up his or her seat for a man who is traveling to
his daughters wedding the next day? So I start thinking through it: It is the last flight to the
West Coast that evening. I would have to spend the night in the airport or pay for a hotel and
transportation, as the airlines dont cover this anymore. He should have planned better. And on
and on. What will I do? What would you do?
In our own community there is so much need, it is easy to become paralyzed and take no action
at all. I cringe whenever I have to wait at a street corner for the light to change or to turn out of
Costcos parking lot and have to look straight into the weather-beaten face and red-rimmed
eyes of a person holding a cardboard sign that says, Please help me!
Who is my neighbor? Should I give him $20? A sandwich? Drive him to Dennys and buy him
breakfast? Smile and wave and say Have a nice day? We are told by experts like Betty Chinn
not to give cash to people on the streets, but to give money to the agencies that can help them.
Im sure this is good advice: practical, safe, neat and tidy. And I do give plenty to charities. So
why does it unsettle me so to drive right by a person so obviously in need, whatever the reason
he got there?
Last week at the Sunday forum at St. Albans we reflected together on the story of the Good
Samaritan in anticipation of todays gospel. Each of us spoke of the helplessness we feel
regarding the mental health and drug-related homelessness in Humboldt County. But in that
discussion, we found solace in the small things we can and are doing to help. Heres one
example: For several years now, St. Albans has carried on a ministry called Street Meals. Every
Friday, a dedicated group prepares bag lunches with sandwiches and fruit for the hungry and
hands them out on Saturday at the Food Pantry of the Nazarene Church in Arcata. Recently,
they started offering coffee for those lined up outside the church waiting for the Pantry to
open. It has given them the opportunity not only to offer a hot beverage, but to share in
conversation and to show their compassion more directly. It may not seem like much in the
context of the overwhelming need. But connecting with another in love is truly the essence
what it means to follow Christ.
As Christians, we want to do big important things, we want to make a difference, we want to be
able to look back and say we made great strides in helping to bring about the kingdom. But as
Barbara Brown Taylor says in her book: God comes to us daily in unexpected people, and if we
are on the ball, we will not ignore them. Offering a cup of coffee and sharing a smile can be
enough for the moment. Our transformation into Christ starts with small things like this.
Who is my neighbor? The one who shows mercy. Go and do likewise.