(Daily Christian)
July 15, 2001
Amos 7:1-17; Colossians 1: 1-14; Luke 10:25-37
Pastor Hannah Chong Will
Church of the Incarnation UMC
In Alexian Brother’s Hospital in Elk Grove Village, there is a large wooden statue. It depicts a person carrying another one on his shoulder. The one being carried looks like he is ill or injured, and doesn’t have any energy to walk by himself. It is a beautifully carved piece. It caught my eyes immediately not just because of its huge size, nor its beauty, but because the person being carried looked at least as large as the person who carried him. I guess I was used to seeing a baby or a child being carried—not a fully-grown man. In fact, however, regardless of our size, or age, or who we are, we may all need to be carried from time to time. The description of the statue at the hospital reads that the one carrying the other is Jesus the Healer. Somewhere in our hearts, we know that when we are exhausted, when our world is so heavy for us--so heavy that we can’t even maintain ourselves, Jesus carries us, lifts up our burdens, and lets us collapse on him—if we ever need to collapse. Such statue reminds us of the scripture: "All you who have heavy burden, come to me!" Such is our God in Jesus Christ, ever compassionate, loving, and caring.
The gospel reading from Luke this morning points to our God who carries us and calls us to carry one another in love and care. The parable of the Good Samaritan is well-known, and some of us heard it and read it countless times, yet it touches our heart deeply each time we encounter it again, doesn’t it? It seems that each time we discover yet another dimension of the meaning of this parable. Luke challenges us to struggle with important faith questions such as the ones the lawyer asks: "How do we inherit the eternal life?" "What is the greatest commandment?" "Who is our neighbor?"
The ironic twist of this text for the original hearers and for us is that the genuine help for the afflicted man came from neither the priest nor the Levite, but from the Samaritan, whom now we call the Good Samaritan. For the Jews in Jesus’ time, the word the Good Samaritan didn’t even make sense. The Samaritans were considered half-breeds, who abandoned the "authentic" Jewish ways centuries ago. They opposed the building of the temple in Jerusalem, and built their own temple in the mountain. How can the Samaritan be good? Jesus’ point is that the one, regardless of his or her religious heritage, who practices love and shows mercy is the one who loves God and neighbors. Different theology, different place of worship, different tradition—all did not matter for Jesus. The Samaritan, who was regarded so foreign and alien, became the expression of God’s love.
This Good Samaritan took really good care of the robbery-stricken man: He felt pity, and his feelings were followed by actions as he gave emergency, on the road treatment. Then he put him on his animal, which meant that he himself had to walk, took him to the inn, and took care of him –perhaps all night. The following day, he gave money to the innkeeper so that the injured man could stay until he was recovered. The Good Samaritan didn’t just pass out a 20-dollar Jewel food certificate to a homeless. He didn’t just write a check to a charitable organization. He did not just feel pity after reading a newspaper article on children in poverty. He might have done so in other times, but not this time. He indeed "carried" the afflicted.
Sometimes it takes more than one night to really care for someone. Mstislav Rostropovich, the Russian Cellist and Conductor, became the Good Samaritan who carried his neighbor severely afflicted by political oppression, when in 1969, he opened up his country home to give refuge to Alexander Solzhenitsyn who had already undergone imprisonment, labor camp, and ban on publication. Rostropovich then wrote an open letter to Brezhnev supporting cultural freedom. His act of hospitality cost him much, for subsequently he too was prohibited from performing or recording in the Soviet Union. For musicians, not being able to perform is like being deprived of your expression of life. He and his family had to leave the country in 1974. The Soviet government officially exiled him in 1978. His citizenship was restored more than a decade later when he played solo at the site of the Berlin Wall, 2 days after its destruction began.
The Good Samaritan can sometimes be more than one individual, too.
The good news is that there is a Good Samaritan in each of us. Jesus’ primary point was not to criticize the priest or the Levite who passed by. His point was not to idealize the Samaritans either. He simply shows us that it is really possible to genuinely love God and love our neighbors. That is something that any of us can do. The work of love and hospitality is not just for the so called "professional" helpers (like priest, Levite), but for all of us, ordinary and common, whom I would like to call "daily Christians," who follow Christ everyday, who is willing and ready to carry someone in need, not just once a week or once a month, but everyday. That is the invitation to eternal life. The eternal life is not what we get after we die, but is in the daily loving of God, neighbor, and self.
Living as daily Christian may mean doing something as simple as writing a note to a friend who is sad, saying a prayer for a shut-in, reading newspaper with compassionate heart, or saving some money for others in need. Chinese letter meaning human beings—two persons leaning against each other. You cannot stand alone! Faith journey involves recognizing our weakness/wound and to be the Good Samaritan to help the afflicted in various ways, physically, politically, economically, emotionally, and spiritually. Day by day, we are carried by the love of God! And God counts on us to carry one another. Thanks be to God who carries us and challenges us to carry those in need! Amen.