they only counted the first five books of the Pentateuch as Scripture. Samaria versus Jerusalem, and read the wrong stuff, or not enough, i.e. The Samaritan's were written off as mutts of society, they were the offspring of Jewish folk who married foreigners, taboo according to their history and law. Who knows why the Samaritan was in Jericho, but given their reputation, if a priest and Levite from Israel are unwilling to rescue this victim of abuse, there is no way the Samaritan will be willing. Yet he was also unwilling to risk his elite status and enter into the suffering of this man.īut then comes another passerby. Surely someone who knows the religious law, blesses the religious law, and is even a descendant of Aaron, present when the law was first given, would offer compassion and concern. This would risk his ability to perform his sacred duties in the house of God.īut what about the next passerby, a Levite. But alas, he is unwilling to jeopardize his religious status to help someone he does not know, who may or may not be dead. Surely someone who deals with sacred rituals of the temple will care for this victim. But his religious attire gives him hope- a priest.
The man in the ditch, with blurred vision from being nearly knocked unconscious, can barely make out the first passerby. Who will offer this victim of violence in the space between Samaria and Jerusalem? An anonymous man mugged in Jericho, left for dead in a ditch, becomes a prophetic platform for Jesus' interaction with an inquisitive lawyer looking for a loophole to eternal life. I recently shared this story with a group of teenagers at the Philadelphia Project, as we reflected on the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. And he never returned to our youth group or church. Just slowly distanced ourselves from him. We were unwilling to be friends with him anymore, choosing our religious and social reputations over Jesus' call to love neighbor. But I know we did not respond as he hoped, certainly prayed for, and definitely not how Jesus would have invited us to extend love and grace. I am not sure he knew how we would respond.
#GOOD SAMARITAN WE ARE THE INNKEEPERS HOW TO#
This was almost 14 years ago and our youth group did not know how to respond. After all, we were friends and fellow travelers on the Christian Way. He thought he could let us in on something that made up a bit about who he was, nothing extravagant or flamboyant, just a part of his identity he wanted us to know.
As many of us had earned his trust and friendship, also being blessed by his wisdom and generosity, Arthur shared with us that he was gay. Arthur even came to know Jesus and committed his life to follow Christ. He came and over time developed into one of the more active members in the youth ministry. We had our fun, a sort of Penn and Teller high school friendship.Īs the year went on, I mustered up an invitation for Arthur to join us on a youth retreat. Bobbit's conspiracy laden rants about the U.S. We had many good laughs in class, I usually getting the blame for disrupting discussions or yet another of Ms. Bobbit's sociology class (yep, that was her real name). I became rather good friends with Arthur, one of the most introverted kids I have ever met, who sat next to me in Ms.
When I was in high school I really messed up an opportunity to love thy neighbor.