More Than One Was A Good Neighbor!
Luke 10:25-37
In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the lawyer asks the same question that we often ask God: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This is also the same question that the rich ruler asks in Luke 18:18-30. The answer is the same: after you have kept and honored the laws of God, you must help one another and give what is needed. Like the lawyer and the rich ruler, we must ask who needs help and what we should give.
Today’s story of the Good Samaritan tells of four people who have an opportunity to be an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. In the parable, a traveler who was on his way to Jericho was attacked by robbers, beaten, stripped of clothing and left for dead by the side of the road.
First, a priest who came upon the unconscious man crossed the road to avoid him. Then, a Levite did the same thing. Both were hurrying to serve in their temple’s service rotation that day. The rule was that they would have been rendered ‘unclean’ to serve in the temple if they had touched the man who appeared to be dead.
The third man, a hated Samaritan, saw a human being in distress and felt the need to tend to the injured man, his neighbor. He was compassionate and used wine and oil to clean and bind the man’s wounds. He set the man on his mount and took him to the nearest inn to care for him. The Samaritan left money with the innkeeper to continue the man's care.
What lesson may we learn from this? Namely that we are all neighbors to each other. Even people whom we have not liked or trusted are still our neighbors. We have to be careful of excuses we make not to respond to help others; while the reasons may be justified, they are not charitable.
I want to return to the innkeeper, who had an inn full of people and an injured man to look after. This story could also be known as “the Good Innkeeper.”
We need to look at something else about this story. We could be the wounded person (either physically or emotionally). Jesus is the Good Samaritan who stops to heal and assist us and takes us to the inn, the Church. Thus, we are all innkeepers who can provide help and comfort to those who come to us in need.
In 2023, let us continue to make St. Martin’s the wonderful “inn’’ that it is and a beacon of light to all who come to join us.
Dear Lord, help us to be good neighbors to all those we know and are yet to meet. Amen.
