Recently I heard about a Scotchman who was admitted to Oxford University. He moved into a dormitory. His clan was excited that one of their own made it into such an exclusive school. His mother worried, though, how he'd do with all those snobbish Brits in a strange land. She gave him a month to settle in, and then called him. "How do you find the English students, Donald?" she asked. "Oh Mother," he said, "they are strange and noisy people. The one on this side bangs his head against the wall all night and won't stop. The one on that side screams and curses until the sun comes up at dawn."
"Oh Donald," said his mother, "How do you put up with such rude, noisy, people?" "I ignore them, Mother," said Donald. "I just sit here quietly each night, playing my bagpipes." (1)
In the earlier years of this century many seminaries had professors who were known as "Professors of Practical Theology." That term "practical" is interesting. I wonder if any seminary had "Professors of IMPRACTICAL Theology." If theology cannot be practical then what benefit is it?
In his dialogue with a lawyer Jesus proves himself to be a professor of PRACTICAL theology. The lawyer asks him, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The lawyer knows the commandments. He knows he must love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind; as well as his neighbor as himself. Jesus tells him that if he keeps these commandments he shall live, which prompts another question from the lawyer, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29)
That question was not academic. In the time of Jesus the question of who should be treated in a loving, neighborly way was dynamite--as it still is today. Gentiles had entered Palestine. Should Greeks, Romans and Syrians be treated as neighbors? Some of the Pharisees excluded from the circle of neighbors those Jews who lived in rural areas because they could not keep the ceremonial law as vigorously as those in urban areas. Others considered any enemy as being unworthy of neighborly treatment. (2) The lawyer is implying, "I have no problem with loving God and loving myself, but figuring out who is my neighbor is difficult. How far do I carry this 'love your neighbor' stuff?" Do I include Scotsmen who play their bagpipes in the middle of the night?
Well, true to his form, Jesus does not give the lawyer a straight answer. Instead, he tells him a story. We know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus knows that effective learning doesn't occur through telling another what to believe. Effective learning occurs through allowing the other person to discover truth for himself.
This parable is part of our common lexicon. "Good Deed Doers" are known as "Good Samaritans." Some counseling centers are known as Samaritan Centers, and there is even a travel trailer club known as "The Good Sam Club," with their own logo of a cute, little guy with a wry smile wearing a halo around his head--"The Good Sam."
Our familiarity with "The Good Samaritan" may mask its shocking first century effect. Let us not forget that when Jesus reveals the story's hero to be a Samaritan, the lawyer is so taken aback that he cannot even voice the word Samaritan. To him a Samaritan was a vulgarity, and to speak of someone as a good Samaritan was the "oxyiest" (if there is such a word!) of oxymorons!
To grasp the story we need just a touch of a geography lesson. Jerusalem and Jericho are only 17 miles apart. They are both safe places: Jerusalem is the Holy City and Jericho a desert oasis, but to get from one to the other is to travel through the wilderness of Judea. This is a wilderness of ravines, wadis, and treeless mountains which sap one's strength and parch one's throat. Jerusalem is the City Set on a Hill, nearly 3,000 feet above sea level while Jericho at 840 feet below sea level, is the lowest city on Planet Earth. Nobody lingers on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Jesus begins his parable by saying, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho." (Luke 10:30a) No further identification is given. Jesus wants this man to be Every Man. Whoever stops to help him will do so not because of the man's status but because of his simple humanity.
There is a time-honored outline of this parable of the Good Samaritan--used by many great preachers--including the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This outline identifies three life philosophies in the way the man lying bleeding beside the road to Jericho is treated.
The first philosophy is exemplified by the robber. The robber's philosophy is WHAT IS YOURS IS MINE. He robs the man, beats him, and leaves him for dead.
None of us would be guilty of such an overt act of violence. But that doesn't mean that at times we do not live from a "what is yours is mine" philosophy. We may not fight and steal, but through insensitive actions and words, haven't there been times when we robbed others of their dignity and self-worth?
A few years ago, Christian singer Amy Grant wrote a song about child abuse based on the experiences of one of her friends. The song, "Ask Me," is about surviving abuse and looking for healing. When she played the song for her friend, the young woman sobbed in relief to know that someone understood her feelings, someone could relate to her pain. Amy Grant reports that whenever she sings "Ask Me" in concert, a strange thing happens. Throughout the auditorium, individuals both male and female will spontaneously rise to their feet and stand throughout the song. She's not sure why, but she guesses that many of them are standing in identification with the song. It is their way of saying, "That's my story" or "I'm Not Alone." (3)
Sexual abuse, spousal abuse, abuse of the employer-employee relationship--are all forms of the "what is yours is mine" philosophy. Whenever we abuse another human being in any way, are we not just as guilty as the robber on the road to Jericho? Aren't we treating them with a "what is yours is mine" philosophy? This philosophy comes under many guises. When we plunder the earth's resources for our generation's gain at the expense of generations yet to come, are we not the robbers in Jesus' parable?
The second philosophy, WHAT IS MINE IS MINE, is characterized by the priest and the Levite. They were religious leaders, but when they see a man lying by the road, apparently dead, they pass by for two reasons. The first is that they are "religious" men. If they were to get within six feet of a corpse, they would be ceremonially "unclean" and would need to return to Jerusalem for ritual cleansing. Do they want to spend any more time on this road than necessary? Of course not, so they avoid the injured man so they might continue to be "religious!" The second reason they avoid the man is because they were hypocrites. It's one thing to be considered a good and holy man in Jerusalem where all can admire your piety, but when no one is observing you except a few sheep and goats, then why bother being good? No one is going to see you on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho! The priest and the Levite walk by--what is mine is mine--they have no time for some half-dead, nobody lying by the road.
In the spring of 1998, there was a story in the news about a fifteen-year-old boy who bled to death just 35 feet outside the emergency room doors of a Chicago hospital. It seems that the teenager was an innocent bystander who was hit by a bullet when gang members started shooting at each other. After he was shot, friends of his managed to carry him to just outside the hospital, where they left him. But apparently the bleeding youth was left there unattended for 25 minutes because it was against hospital policy for doctors or nurses to go outside the building to treat anyone. Instead, they had to wait for an ambulance to arrive to transport him inside. By the time they finally got him into the hospital, the boy was dead. (4) They were more interested in not getting into trouble violating hospital policy than they were in saving a young man's life!
"What is yours is mine" is the first philosophy, the philosophy of the robber. "What is mine is mine" is the second philosophy, the philosophy of the priest and the Levite. But there is a third philosophy--a philosophy exemplified by the Samaritan.
Here's something we need to see before we get into his philosophy. Jesus told this story in the classic form of "Three." This is a teaching story, and his listeners knew that if the first two examples were negative, they could expect the third example to be positive. The priest and Levite are the negative examples, the people now await the hero of the story, fully expecting him to be someone like them . . . an Israelite! But Jesus blows them away. The hero of his story is a Samaritan.
The Samaritans were despised. They had intermarried with foreigners, mixed with heathen, lived apart from other Jews and kept their religion in a different way through worshiping not at the Temple in Jerusalem but at their own Temple on Mt. Gerizim. And, worst of all, sometime between the years 9 and 6 BC, very near the time of Jesus' birth, the Samaritans had gone to the Temple in Jerusalem and scattered human bones over it, defiling it, and making it impossible for the Jews that year to observe Passover. This is not a good way to promote ecumenical relations! And Jesus makes a Samaritan his hero? Doing that could get a person killed!
The philosophy of the good Samaritan is WHAT IS MINE IS YOURS. The Samaritan does the right thing. He cleanses the man's wounds with wine. He keeps them supple with oil and binds them with cloth, probably from his own clothing. He then takes him to an inn and pays for the man's continuing recuperation.
We begin to see the story from the perspective of the man in the ditch. He didn't care if the man who cared for him was a Samaritan, a Galilean, a Judean, a Pentecostal, a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran or a Methodist! He only knew that the one who provided care and concern was neighbor to him.
Jesus got his point across. Jesus asked the lawyer, "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" Though the lawyer could not say the despised word Samaritan he understood Jesus' point, for he answered, "The one who showed mercy." Jesus tells him, "Go and do likewise."
Thirty years ago, Tom Weller's car broke down as he was driving through Southern California. A stranger stopped to help Weller and would accept no payment in return for his kindness. Instead, the stranger asked Weller to return the favor by stopping to help some other stranger somewhere. Tom Weller took those words to heart. For the last thirty years, he has helped thousands of stranded people along Southern California's highways. He never asks for payment; instead, Tom Weller leaves behind a small business card asking each person to help someone else in need. It has become his mission in life to pass on the kindness that was once done for him. (5)
You and I are not the robber. Neither are we the priest and the Levite. And, no, we are not the Samaritan. You and I are the man lying in the ditch. And Christ has come to us and rescued us. And now we are charged with passing that act of grace and kindness on to others. When we understand that, then we will be ready to become the Good Samaritan. Then we will be ready to adopt the "what is mine is yours" philosophy.
This story tells us that there are no limits as to who is our neighbor. In the family of God, the human family, there are no fences, only friendly backyards where folks talk to each other and have barbecues on Sunday nights. This is the way we are supposed to live. To be compassionate persons who judge people not by their worldly status but by their human dignity is the good work we Christians are still called to do.
I've read that to be a Christian who doesn't practice forgiveness and compassion would be like a person who tried to "climb Mt Everest without oxygen, or played Wimbledon without a racquet." You just can't do it. Three philosophies of life: What is yours is mine, What is mine is mine, What is mine is yours. All three are still around today, but only one bears the character of Jesus Christ. Jesus asks us, "Which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robber?"
1. The Jokesmith.
2. Information gleaned from Neal Fisher's The Parables of Jesus, pp. 83-84.
3. Christopher L. Coppernoll. Soul 2 Soul (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998), pp. 125-127.
4. C. Edward Bowen, Emphasis, July/August 2000, p. 18.
5. Charles Kuralt with Peter Freundlich. American Moments (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), pp. 74-75.
Frank Lyman is pastor of the University United Methodist Church of East Lansing, MI.