Show Mercy and Act

There are a number of television shows featuring lawyers.  One that I enjoyed watching was “The Good Wife.” It was filled with interesting cases, conflicts among various lawyers, law firms and politicians, and many ethical dilemmas that left the viewer wondering whether justice would prevail.  As cases unfolded there were reactions made on the basis of the information at hand, but as more evidence was introduced especially during trial sessions reactions faded in favor of more informed and more ethical decisions.

Today’s gospel passage is about a lawyer who questioned Jesus.  When Jesus replied that he should love his neighbor as himself, the lawyer pressed him and asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  In reviewing some sources about this exchange, I came across a comment by Frederick Buechner, theologian and writer.  I was struck by his almost laughable legal discourse: The lawyer “wanted a legal definition he could refer to in case the question of loving one ever happened to come up.  He presumably wanted something on the order of: ‘A neighbor (hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than three statute miles from one's own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter to be referred to as the party of the second part) living closer to the party of the first part than one is oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever.’"

You can almost hear an actor playing the role of a lawyer on a television show debating this question of defining a neighbor.  Jesus however was not to be drawn into this debate.  Instead he told the story of the Good Samaritan, a story that points out that a neighbor is anyone in need.  After the lawyer heard this story the text does not record his response.  No doubt he was silenced.

After a priest and a Levite had passed by, Jesus' listeners did not expect that a Samaritan would come along and stop to care for the victim.  Samaritans were outcasts, essentially foreigners who were often subjected to ethnic jokes.  The word, "neighbor" did not apply to them.  Jesus cut through all this by suggesting that the outcast does in fact act as a neighbor.

Hospitality and being a neighbor is about action, not simply words.  It is about the ordinary act of caring for someone in obvious need, regardless of who that person is or where he or she comes from.   Jesus told the lawyer and others who heard him, "Go and do likewise" Take a chance, do what is needed.  It doesn’t matter who the person is, who people are, where they come from, or their  religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.  What matters is how we care for others in need, how we show mercy.   

The people who heard Jesus tell this story might have asked, had they been in the victim's place, whether they would receive help from a stranger, especially an outcast.  Jesus asked them if they would accept an act of kindness from a Samaritan.  Put yourself in the place of the person who was robbed.  Would you accept help from a stranger?  Again, whether from the perspective of the Good Samaritan or from the plight of the individual who was robbed and left half dead, Jesus challenged his hearers to recognize that all people are bound together in a common humanity.

There is a story told by the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta that speaks to our need today in knowing our neighbor and acting with mercy.  It is important because of the recent attacks by ISIS during this past month of Ramadan on Muslims and their sacred sites in Medina and elsewhere

“I had the most extraordinary experience of love of neighbor with a Hindu family. A gentleman came to our house and said: ‘Mother Teresa, there is a family who have not eaten for so long. Do something.’" Mother Teresa took some rice and went there immediately. She saw the children - their eyes shining with hunger.  She said, “I don't know if you have ever seen hunger, but I have seen it very often.  The mother of the family took the rice I gave her and went out.  When she came back, I asked her: ‘Where did you go? What did you do?’"  The mother gave a very simple answer: "They are hungry also."  And she knew they were a Muslim family.

Christians have many different attitudes, beliefs and opinions about what is right or wrong, what is a correct interpretation of biblical text, and what is needed for upholding respect and dignity for every human being.  Jesus, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, said, “What matters is returning to God with all your heart and soul, and going forth to do as the Samaritan did."  Prejudice, bigotry and stereotypes must be broken and ended.  Courage, imagination, risk-taking, caring and mercy are what is needed. Especially in the wake of gun violence in Minnesota, Louisiana, and Texas, we need God’s mercy and healing of our nation that all may live in peace and safety.

God asks us to be fully human, to treat others as neighbors, and to see every person as a sister or brother.  Who was a neighbor to the person who fell into the hands of the robbers?  “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do llkewise.”  Amen.