Don't Ask the Question Unless You Know the Answer

Luke 10:25-37

 

        I have watched enough TV to know that if you are a lawyer you never ask a question unless you are certain what the answer will be. Obviously the lawyer in our text never watched Perry Mason. Can you imagine Perry Mason getting tripped up by not knowing exactly how his witness was going to respond? Certainly not. 

        The encounter between the lawyer and Jesus began quite innocently. It seems the lawyer wants to make sure Jesus is the real deal.  “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Maybe the lawyer thought Jesus was some off- the-wall charlatan selling magic beads and “Love Potion Number 9”. Jesus responded with his own question. “What is written in the law?” The lawyer, joyfully recited a verse he had learned as a child. “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

        Jesus responded. “Good for you. Your parents taught you well. If you follow this law you will live.” The trap had been set and the lawyer, forgetting the first rule of his profession, took the bait. “Jesus, just one more question. Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with the best known and perhaps most misunderstood parable he ever told.

        If I should  ask the average person on the street to tell me what comes to mind when they hear the phrase Good Samaritan the most popular answer would be, “Someone who helps someone else.” Some might raise a question concerning “The Good Samaritan Law.” This is a piece of legislature stating if you stop on the road to assist someone and are injured, the insurance company does not have to compensate you.  In other words, if you consider yourself a Good Samaritan, you bear a risk. Actually this goes a long way in with keeping with the intention of the original story.

        Through the years we have lost our understanding of how radical this story actually was. Among law abiding, synagogue attending Jews in the time of Jesus, the phrase Good Samaritan was an oxymoron.  Samaritans were believed to be obnoxious half-breed heathens. Everyone knew they were thieves waiting for the chance steal from the rich, rape unsuspecting women, and sell their children off to the highest bidder.

        Since none of us share this kind of venom toward Samaritans, perhaps it would help if I told a modern version of the story. Once there was a man name John. He was a good man who had spent his entire life as a bricklayer. By the time John was 45 his body was beginning to break down. His back was an absolute mess. It was getting hard to even straighten up. John went to his local doctor and was prescribed pain pills. Well you can see where this is going. In less time than you might imagine John was addicted to various forms of opioids. No longer able to receive prescriptions, John tried buying them on the street.  A favorite place for drug dealers was across from the local hospital. John gathered all the money he could find and agreed to meet a couple guys after dark. Unfortunately the dealers had no intention of selling anything to John. They beat him up, took his money, and left him for dead.

        The first person who noticed John was a young intern. He had just pulled a twelve hour shift and was beyond exhaustion. His first instinct when he saw the man was to make sure he was OK. But then common sense took over. The intern rationalized the man was just another drunk. If he was still there in the morning, the intern would notify the hospital security.

        Later two nurses walked by. They heard John groaning and wanted to help but they were afraid that it might be some kind of trap. Fearing for their safety they decided to report the incident once they got to the hospital but then they had more urgent tasks which needed their attention.

        A third man walked by. He had recently been hired by the hospital to work on the maintenance crew. Luis was an undocumented refugee from El Salvador. The hospital was over- budget and understaffed so few questions were asked. Luis worked this part-time job at night and held a construction job during the day. When Luis noticed the man in the ally, he hesitated. To offer help would mean Luis would have to expose himself. The police might be brought in. Luis would risk not only losing his job but possibly be deported. He started to walk away on by and then stopped. He remembered his priest in San Salvador who never stopped asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The response was always. “The one who shows kindness.”

        Luis went back into the ally. He picked up John and took him into the emergency room. Immediately questions were asked. Luis got nervous. When the opportunity presented itself he slipped through the back door. He knew he could never come back to the hospital.  It was too risky. John never met the man who had saved his life.

        Kurt Vonnegutt captured the essence of this story when once asked what the future held in store for young folks. Vonnegutt responded, “Welcome to earth. It’s hot in the summer, cold in the winter. It is round, wet, and crowded. You might live to be 100 if you are unlucky. There is only one rule that really matters; you have got to be kind.”

        How often is kindness our primary motivation? The world of that young lawyer was probably just like our world today, a place driven by greed, competition, and what is best for me. Even our most ethically driven folk seem more concerned with rights more than forgiveness, with justice more than mercy, with equality more than compassion. Kindness is seen as a weakness, a character flaw. Oh I have no doubt we are kind to grandmothers and babies but about the babies and grandmothers who aren’t branches on our family tree?

        Now it was Jesus’ time to ask a question. The story is told, the lawyer wishes he had kept his mouth shut but the lesson was far from over. Jesus asked, “Know you tell me. Who was the neighbor?

        Our Presidential election is 500 days away. I will commit to the man or woman who pledges to Make America Kind Again.  I am patiently waiting for that candidate to throw their hat or purse into the ring.             TGBTG   Amen.