Sermon / ADVICE FROM THE CLERGY : On Becoming a Modern Samaritan
Many of us know the parable of the Good Samaritan. Recorded in Luke 10:26-37, it tells about a man who, going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, falls among thieves who beat him and leave him for dead. A priest and a Levite later pass by and see the fallen man. They don’t help him. They merely walk by on the other side of the road. Ultimately, another traveler, a Samaritan, ministers to the victim’s needs.
More than a biblical story about compassion to pass from one generation to the next, the parable offers examples that we can cull from today as we rebuild Los Angeles. In essence it illustrates different philosophies of relationships--those of exploitation, non-involvement, or comprehensive altruism. You and I must ask ourselves individually, “Just which one of these philosophies represents the way that I treat the unfortunate?”
Am I like the thieves and robbers? Remember: They beat the traveler. They didn’t see him as a man who might have had a family or significance to others. They didn’t consider his goals, plans that certainly didn’t include being attacked on some perilous road. All they saw was his potential for satisfying their needs. Their actions said, “What is yours is mine and I will get it if I can.” When this philosophy exists among us, we will only see others as objects to be exploited. A wholesome, benevolent environment then becomes an impossibility.
Am I like the priest and the Levite? Religious men, they knew the law well, including the one that teaches us to “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” But knowledge of what is right didn’t influence their behavior, for when they came to where the fallen man was, they simply went around on the other side. Non-involvement was their philosophy. They did not kick or curse the man, but neither did they help him. Their actions said, “What is mine is mine and I will keep it for myself.”
This non-sharing philosophy ignores two important factors. One is that few of us have achieved what we have without the help of others, although sometimes we might not be able to pinpoint our benefactors. The other is that our destinies are connected by a common web to the extent that we cannot totally ignore the welfare of others around us. Poet John Donne said it well: “I am involved in mankind . . . say not for whom the bells toll; they toll for me.” In this context we don’t have an option of involvement or non-involvement. We may only determine when we will be involved and what our involvement will be.
Or am I like the Samaritan? His action was one of comprehensive altruism--a concern for goodwill to an unknown person who happened to need his help. It was aggressive in that when he saw the fallen man, the Samaritan went to him. It was universal in that the ethnicity of the victim was not a factor. It was dangerous, given the reputation of the Jericho Road. It was comprehensive, as illustrated by the Samaritan’s complete care--binding up the victim’s wounds, taking him to an inn, bearing the expense of the victim’s care, encouraging the host at the inn to take care of the victim (once the Samaritan himself had to leave for home) and offering to reimburse the host for any costs. The Samaritan’s philosophy was, “What is mine is yours and therefore I will share it.” And it’s exactly the philosophy each of us should strive for as we work together to rebuild L.A.
As we go about our lives and have the opportunity to aid the unfortunate, let us ask ourselves daily: “Did I beat them up? Did I pass them up? Or did I lift them up?”