July 27th, 2010
By Pastor Bill
Teach Us to Pray
Hosea 1: 2-10/ Colossians 6-19/Luke 11:1-13
9th Sunday of Pentecost/ Year C/ July 25, 2010
Teach us to pray the Disciples asked Jesus, after he himself had spent time in prayer. What immediately follows is Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray. He offers to them a model of prayer which has become so ingrained in people that it is the first prayer that automatically comes to mind when people pray. Even those who suffer from the terrible disease of Alzheimer’s and senility remember the prayer. It is simple in its message but so deeply profound in its theology; praise of God, requesting what we need, asking for forgiveness, seeking direction, and receiving deliverance. It spells out our human condition and our total dependence on God.
How do you pray?
Who taught you to pray?
What do you pray for?
When I reflect on my childhood, I remember that my family prayed. My mother prayed every night before going to bed. Each of us kids said our prayers asking Go to watch over us as we slept and blessing our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles and anyone else that came to mind, even the dogs and the cats. My dad prayed every day as he drove to school or work. When I stayed with my grandparents they prayed together every night before going to bed. It was a part of our everyday life. We prayed before every meal. We prayed at family reunions, and when I was ordained it was expected that I would offer the prayer at these events. From my family and the events of our lives I learned that God was a good God, someone to be trusted, someone we could turn to on a daily basis for help and comfort and sometimes direction. When I went off to seminary, I learned about the various disciplines of prayer that the church has created over the years; guided prayer, lectio devina, the labyrinth, meditation, breath prayers. All designed to help the individual connect with the divine presence. Anne Lamott, a Presbyterian pastor and writer says that prayer for her takes two forms; thank you, thank you, and thank you! And Help me! Help Me! Help Me! Prayer is the means of our communion with God and God’s freedom.
But today it seems as though we have lost the art of prayer. Walk into any bookstore, religious or secular, and look at the number of books published each year about prayer and ways of praying. It is astounding that there are so many different directions for praying. And we all have our own personal history. But today’s gospel takes us all the way back to the beginning of praying with and in Christ. It is more than a recounting of a pious moment in Jesus’ life. It is more than a story about how we got the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus prayed. It was an integral part of his life and his ministry. Time and again through out the gospel’s we are told that Jesus would retire to a quiet place to pray, or he would go to a mountain to pray. We are told that Jesus prayed in the wilderness and again before he chose his disciples. He prayed over the food when he fed the five thousand. He prayed over the bread and the cup in the meal that he shared with his disciples that last night of his life. He prayed mightily in Gethsemane the night before he died and he prayed from the cross when he died. Prayer was a major part of Jesus’ life even unto death.
So when Jesus responded to the request of his disciples to teach then how to pray and what he gave them was important to them – and it is still important to us today as well. He gave them- and us- the words to address God, first words to praise God, and then words to petition God. He said when you pray, say, “Our Father, Hallowed be your name. “Your kingdom come.” We are to approach God as Father, Mother, Abba, someone we relate to intimately, to see God as one who looks upon us as family, to whom we are as dear as if we were God’s own children. In a world where our existence is fragile at best, Jesus prayer reminds us that there is one who has power over all and who is near to us. The words he directs us to use, implore God to truly take charge of our life in this world, and to bring justice and peace in a world torn by hatred, war, prejudice and injustice.
Each of the remaining petitions regard our basic daily needs, food, “Give us this Day our daily bread,” forgiveness, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” bring to us fidelity “Do not bring us into the time of trial. These petitions name what is essential for the life of our individual bodies, the life of our communal body, whether it is the church, our society, our world. It sets before us the life-long relationship we are to have with God. These are the gifts of the kingdom, as one writer has said, which will not be refused, because they flow from our being united with the God who sustains, forgives and is faithful. Each petition invites us to enter into a relationship. That relationship is a conversation, and that conversation begins with a word of address to the one who creates, redeems and sustains our lives in this world. In order to be in conversation we have to muster the courage to speak back.
Once Jesus has laid the framework for our prayer life, he tells them a parable. It is on the surface a strange parable, but one of deep and adding importance to us who would enter into conversation with God. It involves our persevering in our seeking to be heard. We are even in the midst of chaos and despair, continue to seek God, to call on God to act, to call upon God as a friend to come and be with us.
Today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on the story of our prayer life and where it has taken us. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who put us on the path to prayer as an essential part of life. And even when we do not know how to pray Jesus gives us a prayer to use and so we continue to ask “Lord teach us to pray, help us in our weakness with sighs too deep for words. Amen
July 18th, 2010
By Pastor Bill
Summer Fruit
Amos 8: 1-12/ Colossians1: 15-28/ Luke 10: 38-42
8th Sunday of Pentecost/ Year C/ July 18, 2010
We have just celebrated Independence Day. July 4th is the day when we celebrate the gift of our country’s freedom, our national independence. Every year the celebration becomes grander and more elaborate, as we attempt to show the world we are the greatest nation on earth. And don’t get me wrong, we are a great nation, greatly blessed with land, resources, and a multitude of cultural and ethnic heritages that enrich our democracy and enhance our feelings of security and greatness. And it strikes a discordant note when we come to the texts for today, particularly the Old Testament text from Amos.
Amos has a different word to the nation of Israel, and through them to us today. It is not a word of independence, but a word of dependence on the words and judgments of a righteous God. When we celebrate our nation, we tend toward self-congratulation, patting ourselves on the back saying look at us, we are great, we have it all, and we can do as we please. We think of ourselves as good, free and righteous, but when we come up against Amos’ words of judgment we find ourselves smack in the middle of trouble with a Capital “T.” According to Amos, to be a person of faith is to be dependent upon and tethered to the righteousness of God. Our judgment of ourselves is quite different from God’s judgment. A truly good person recognizes God as the creator and giver of life, and is willing to give body, soul, strength and mind over to God, and to love the neighbor as the self.
Part of Israel’s greatness was that the people saw themselves a relationship with God, fully accountable to something higher, more substantive that their own opinions. Does that sound familiar to you? No for we have lost that sense of account ability to a power greater than ourselves. We as a people and a nation see ourselves accountable to no one. We have come to believe that we are free to do as we please, even if it means oppression and death to someone else.
In today’s text from Amos, we come up against some threatening and troublesome words for Israel and through Israel to us. The Lord has set a plumb line in the midst of the people and the nation has been found to be deeply wanting in their attitudes and behavior.
Almost every day we hear people lament “the moral decay of America.” Usually the lament concerns a perceived decline in personal relationships, sexual behavior, family values. But Amos is not so much concerned with these as he is with the economic behavior of the people of Israel. He seems to understand that a happy and righteous people, are a people who concerned with the treatment of the poor and the outcast, those who fall below the radar of society. He voice concern for a particular class of people. Amos singles out the merchants, the business people who cannot wait for the religious holidays to end so they can go back to fleecing the poor with their high prices for grain and goods.
God, through Amos, threatens fierce, dire consequences against and economically unrighteous society promising dark days ahead. Amos does not take injustice against the poor lightly. He tells his greatly contented society, made up of people who think they are secure in their prosperity and wealth- that they will disintegrate into dark, disruptive chaos. He proclaims in no uncertain terms that God is not happy with those who glibly transgress the righteous law of God.
We here in 21st century America have enjoyed a couple of decades of prosperity, but is not a prosperity that has been enjoyed by all. “An unfair tax code has literally enabled the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. It has been a couple of tough decades not only for the poor, but also those of us who live in what was once known as the middle class. We have seen our gains in salary and benefits fall away as many of us slipped below the income level that made us middle class. While the corporate giants of Banking and industry have made millions off the backs of hard working middle class families and in the process have desecrated and destroyed the good earth that God has given to us to care for.
We have spent billions in the most expensive war in history in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have borrowed money from those programs that were designed to help those who have retired, and those programs that were designed to help our children and our grandchildren to continue the American legacy of prosperity to pay for this war. The infrastructures that helped to build the strength of this nation, have been neglected to the point that now they are failing when natural disaster strikes and the elements play havoc with our roads and highways. We have politicians who are unwilling to raise taxes on the rich, because they are afraid of their economic clout when election time comes around. And so they borrow money to fund this unwanted and unnecessary war creating massive debt for those who will come after us. We have become like the business men that Amos spoke, who seek to work seven days a week, stealing money from the poor and the middle class, to make sure they live in luxury; unwilling to stop and listen for the word of God that brings life.
As in Amos’ time, the poor and the middle class are overtaxed, economically burdened with high interest rates, and we have no real advocates who are willing to tackle the problems we face. Our elected officials, tasked with leading, find themselves in a gridlock of competing groups and when creative and new ideas are spoken they are immediately silenced by the rich and the powerful. It has to stop.
Amos calls the people of God to account for their behavior, setting before them the judgment of God against those who thwart the will of God. Amos is the voice that calls humankind to judgment. He sets before us the call of God for human kind; “to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” If we do not the consequences are dire and formidable; the total loss of the presence of God.
Amos sets before us the truth of our existence in this world; that in life and death we belong to God and that God calls us to live lives of justice, right relationships with our neighbors as well as the stranger. Yes, we are to continue to worship God, but not to make a show of it. We are to worship God in everything that we do, whether it is on Sunday morning at 10:30 or on Monday at the office, or Tuesday at the Bridge club, or Wednesday at The Seniors Group, or Friday at the Ball game. God want not just our hearts or our soul. God wants all of us.
WE have been called as God’s people. We have been given a way of life that demands justice and righteousness that is rooted in love for the neighbor and the stranger as well as the self. Amos is a prophet not only of Israel, but of our world as well. He names our wrong doing and calls us to account. He calls us to be a people who are willing to call our world, our nation, our community and our church to account so that we can see the consequences of our actions, the destruction and collapse of the world that we live in. God had spoken. It is time for us to act.
July 14th, 2010
By Pastor Bill
Dear Friends;
Much has been written in the papers on said on the news about the actions of the PCUSA General Assembly meeting in Minneapolis last week. There is much misinformation and political rhetoric being spread across the internet and social networks. Some is true, some is skewed to a particular theological or ideological position. The General Assembly in helping congregations understand the actions taken have issued the following FAQ’s to answer the questions of members and others who are wondering what took place at the GA.
The church has been struggling for more than thirty years on the issues surrounding homosexuality, ordination, and marriage. This General Assembly spent hours of deliberation and discussion, always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer and study. The Assembly has sent various overtures for consideration to the Presbyteries to ratify.
It is time for the church to end the fighting and return to the essentials of the faith, and that is proclaiming Christ and his resurrection and its meaning for human life. I encourage you to read the FAQ’s, search for more information at the websites suggested and pray that God will lead this Church into a future where all are welcomed and treated as Children of God and that we can learn to live together in this world that God has given us as stewards, respecting the creation and human life, working for peace and justice for all people.
Pastor Bill
Ordination Standards
Questions and Answers
What did the Assembly do? What has changed?
The 219th General Assembly (2010) proposed a change to the PC(USA) Constitution regarding ordination standards by a
vote of 373‐323‐4. This action does not change the Constitution. It is a first step in the process. A majority of the 173 presbyteries would have to vote in the affirmative to approve the replacement by July 2010.
What does it mean?
G‐6.0106b is a provision in the PC(USA) Book of Order (Constitution) that provides the following standards for persons ordained as church leaders (deacon, elder or minister). The current version reads:
“Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelitywithin the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W‐4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons
refusing to repent of any self‐acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”
The 219th General Assembly (2010) recommends deleting the above provision and replacing it with the following language:
“Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G‐1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G‐14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W‐4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”
This proposed change would focus ordination examinations on the individual calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability of
candidates for the responsibilities of the office, in joyful submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.
What’s next?
Presbyteries will study this recommendation and vote over the course of the next year. If a majority of the 173 presbyteries approve the change, it will replace the previous provision in the Book of Order. The deadline for
presbyteries to vote is July 10, 2011.
Where can I get more information?
http://pc‐biz.org/Explorer.aspx?id=2309
Civil Union and Marriage Issues
Questions and Answers
What did the General Assembly do? What has changed?
The General Assembly approved both the Final Report and the Minority Report of the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage and ordered they be sent out for study by the wider church. The vote was 439 in favor, 208 against, with 6 abstentions.
By this action (sending both reports for study) the Assembly maintained the definition of marriage as “a man and a woman.” With the action to send the reports for study, no change has occurred, or is pending.
What does it mean?
The Special Committee Report provides descriptive material on the historical and theological aspects of marriage, as well as a look at current laws on same‐gender partnerships and their children, and the place of same‐gender covenanted relationships in the Christian community. They commend to the church their covenant, “Those Whom God Has Joined, Let No One Separate” as a guide for Presbyterians to come together to discuss difficult issues when there is
disagreement. The Minority Report, also approved for study by the Assembly, concludes that Scripture is clear thatmarriage is between a man and a woman only and does not support any kind of sexual behavior outside marriage. The minority report also contains a covenant for the wider church to use.
What next?
The Special Committee Report and the Minority Report will be prepared for distribution as one document to the wider church.
By sending both reports to the wider church, it is the hope of the Assembly that Presbyterians will find helpful background information on civil unions and marriage, as well as material to help individuals and groups remain together as they work through these difficult issues.
Where can you learn more?
Majority report: http://www.pc‐biz.org/Explorer.aspx?id=3333&promoID=168
Minority report: http://www.pc‐biz.org/Explorer.aspx?id=3335&promoID=169
New Form of Government
Questions and Answers
What happened? What changed?
The General Assembly voted to recommend a revised Form of Government to the presbyteries with a vote of 468 in
favor, 204 against, and 6 abstentions – a 70%‐30% margin. The new Form of Government includes:
• Foundations of Presbyterian Polity ‐‐ the principles that are foundational to government, worship, and discipline
for the PC(USA). Preserves the vast majority of the material in the first four chapters of the current Form of
Government.
• Form of Government ‐‐ in six chapters, which spells out the constitutional framework for government of the
PC(USA) as it seeks to respond to God’s call to life in mission.
• Advisory Handbook for Councils for the Development of Policies and Procedures Required by the Form of
Government ‐‐ an aid to councils (governing bodies) of the church for developing the policies and procedures to
carry out their mission.
Nothing has changed until a majority of presbyteries vote to approve this new Form of Government. Voting must be
completed by July 10, 2011, and if affirmative, the new Book of Order would take effect the next day.
What does it mean?
The current Form of Government has served the church ably over the past quarter century. The bedrock historic
principles of Presbyterian governance will continue to order our lives together today and into the future, just as they
have guided those who witnessed before us. At the same time, the world in which we as 21st‐century Presbyterians
proclaim the gospel is not the world of the 1950s, or even the 1980s. The proposed Foundations of Presbyterian Polity
and Form of Government are intended to help the church better meet the needs of mission in the 21st century.
The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity gathers together in three succinct chapters the historical and theological
provisions that have defined, and continue to define, our church life together. Placing this bedrock material into a
separate section of the Book of Order provides an excellent teaching tool to explain who and what we are.
The current Form of Government has evolved over the years from a Constitution into a regulatory manual that attempts
to provide a “one size fits all” answer to every situation faced by congregations and presbyteries. The problem with this
regulatory approach is that the diverse, multicultural environment in which we do mission no longer permits a “one size
fits all” approach if we are to do mission effectively. The proposed new Form of Government lifts up the constitutional
standards that are essential to our life together, while at the same time empowering councils (governing bodies) at all
levels to respond more effectively to the ministry and mission needs that each faces.
What’s next?
The revised Form of Government must now be considered, and approved by a majority of presbyteries, before July 10,
2011, in order to replace the existing Form of Government.
Where can I learn more?
The document, as amended by the Assembly, is available now at http://pc‐biz.org/Explorer.aspx?id=2263&promoID=99.
A formatted version will be developed and made available online and in hard copy.
The Middle Governing Body Commission
Questions and Answers
What did the Assembly do? What has changed?
The 219th General Assembly (2010) has created a Middle Governing Body Commission with the
power to act as the General Assembly, upon request of presbyteries and synods. Thecommission has the power “to organize new synods and to divide, unite, or otherwise combine
synods or portions of synods previously existing” (G‐13.0103m) and “to approve the
organization, division, uniting or combining of presbyteries or portions of presbyteries bysynods” (G‐13.0103n) — upon the request, by a majority vote, of the affected presbyteriesand/or synod.
What does it mean?
Presbyteries and synods wishing to realign their structures or boundaries may request suchactions from the commission and make those changes without having to wait until the 220th
General Assembly (2012) for approval. The commission will also supervise the work of the
Special Committee on Administrative Review of the Synod of Boriquen in Puerto Rico and itsconstituent presbyteries. That special committee has been seeking reconciliation among the
governing bodies in Puerto Rico, which have experienced struggles that threaten the
effectiveness of the PC(USA)’s mission and ministry in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The
219th General Assembly voted to continue the special committee for two more years.
What’s next?
The moderators of the 218th General Assembly (the Rev. Bruce Reyes‐Chow) and the 219th
General Assembly (Elder Cynthia Bolbach) will appoint the 21‐member commission. The
commission will serve until at least the 220th General Assembly (2012). It must include at least
one representative from each of the 16 synods.
Where can I learn more?
The Office of the General Assembly will provide information about the membership, meetings
and activities of the commission at www.pcusa.org/oga.
Actions regarding the Middle East
Questions and Answers
What did the Assembly do?
The General Assembly approved a comprehensive report on the Middle East – its first since 1997. The paper calls for:
• An immediate cessation of all violence, whether perpetrated by Israelis or Palestinians;
• The reaffirmation of Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation within secure and internationally recognized
borders;
• The end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories;
• An immediate freeze on the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and on the
Israeli acquisition of Palestinian land and buildings in East Jerusalem;
• And many other steps toward peace in the region.
The General Assembly also approved the report of the Mission Responsibility through Investment (MRTI) committee,
which:
• Provides an update on all corporations that MRTI has engaged as a result of the 2004, 2006 and 2008 General
Assemblies;
• Acknowledges that “Caterpillar has in many ways provided positive leadership to its community, its state, and
the nation. It has donated considerable resources and equipment in support of local development and disaster
relief at home and overseas. It has significantly improved workplace safety, acted aggressively to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, and pursued environmental conservation within its production processes. In
recognition of these accomplishments, Caterpillar has been listed for seven consecutive years in the Dow Jones
Sustainability World Index”;
• Strongly denounces Caterpillar’s continued profit‐making from non‐peaceful uses of a number of its products on
the basis of Christian principles and as a matter of social witness;
• Calls upon Caterpillar to carefully review its involvement in obstacles to a just and lasting peace in Israel‐
Palestine, and to take affirmative steps to end its complicity in the violation of human rights.
What does this mean?
Coming into the 219th General Assembly (2010), few thought that agreement on issues relating to the Middle East
would be possible. Diverse perspectives divided Presbyterians from each other, and from the Jewish community.
However, during the committee deliberations and again in the plenary session, through God’s grace, a place of broad
consensus was found ‐‐ common ground for continued peacemaking work in Israel/Palestine.
The General Assembly rejected immediate divestment from Caterpillar in favor of continued corporate engagement with
Caterpillar and other companies profiting from the sale and use of their products for non‐peaceful purposes and/or the
violation of human rights.
What’s next?
A Monitoring Group for the Middle East will be formed to assist the appropriate General Assembly Mission Council
offices and the Middle East staff team in monitoring progress and guiding actions to ensure adequate implementation of
policy directions approved by this General Assembly. MRTI will continue to engage Caterpillar, and other companies, in
relation to particular actions whereby the company profits from “non‐peaceful action” of their products.
Where can I find out more?
http://www.pcusa.org/middleeastpeace
http://www.pcusa.org/mrti
July 12th, 2010
By Pastor Bill
The Man in the Ditch
Amos 7:7-17/ Colossians 1: 1-14/ Luke 10: 25-37
6th Sunday of Pentecost/ Year C / July 11, 2010
I’ve heard, and told, this lectionary passage from the perspective of the Samaritan. I’ve heard, and told it, from the viewpoint of the priest and the Levite. I’ve heard, and told it, from the perspective of the crowd listening in on the conversation between Jesus and the lawyer. I’ve heard it, but never told it, from the perspective of the lawyer.
When I was 9 we heard this story during Bible School and we acted it out. Different people were chosen to play each part. I was chosen to play the part of the man left for dead on the side of the road. The robbers were played by several boys that I did not get along with very well in our group. They tended to be bullies and liked nothing better than to beat on kids who were smaller than they were. Type casting was alive and well in our church groups.
Those boys played their parts well, really beating and hitting me, one even tore my shirt and laughed about it. The teacher thought they were playing, when in reality they relished the idea of beating me up. I was left laying on the floor in the gym bruised and battered. Each character came along according to the story. When the person playing the Samaritan, the Funeral Home director’s daughter, came up to me she first looked at me with disdain, but then realized that I was really hurt. She kneeled down and helped me sit up. She then told the teacher what had happened. She went and got a wash cloth to clean the blood from the corner of my mouth where the boys had hit me and a bag of ice for the lump on my head where they had banged my head on the floor. I was almost in tears. She yelled at the boys and helped me get up and into a chair. She sat next me making sure that I was ok. The teacher then turned on the group of boys and made them apologize for hurting me.
Then she asked me how I felt being treated that way. At the age of 9 I wasn’t sure what to say other than I thought it was mean an terrible what the boys did to me. She then asked me how I thought the man in the ditch might have felt as each person came by, looked crossed to the other side of the road and went on. I said that I thought maybe he hoped at least someone would come and help and when they didn’t he probably just lay there wishing he were dead.
That experience still haunts me even to this day. This story
became real for me in how we build walls and barriers, use bullying tactics and behaviors to hurt people who are small, different, lost, alone. For me this story is a re-run of the old, disgraceful human story; all of us, even the rankest outsiders, feel better about ourselves if we can keep someone else further outside that we are. Whether it’s the last ethnic group kept out of the fire department, or police department; the it’s the woman who is harassed by the men in the office because she works hardest to prove herself, or the gay man who hides his true self in order to save his job, his home, his life. There is always someone we leave in the ditch as we make our way up the ladder the world sets before us.
But what still intrigues me is the traveler found half-dead in the ditch. Other than having the snot beat out of him, we aren’t told much about him, are we? He probably was a Jew, but he could just have easily been a Samaritan, a Roman, an Edomite, anybody. I doubt if the robbers back then were any more discriminating in choosing victims than they are today. Though he probably may have been wealthy, you can get mugged for 10 bucks as you can a thousand. Amy Jill Levine in her book The Misunderstood Jew, makes the case that this parable can only be understood by putting ourselves in the place of the man in the ditch and then ask ourselves the question: “Is there anyone, from any group, about whom we would rather die than acknowledge as someone capable of good? “She offered help.” Or he showed compassion.” Or is there any group who members might rather die than help us? If so then we know the modern day equivalent of the Samaritan. Was he good? (The title “good” is one that the church has added.) We are not told. We are only told he had compassion on the man, went to his aid, helped him to safety, provided for his care and left. Who then is the one who proved neighbor? Who is the one who loved God with heart and soul and mind and strength and so loved the neighbor as the self? The Lawyer in the story could not answer. For in answering the Samaritan, he convicted himself. (Samaritans were enemies of the Jews.) So who are our Samaritans?
Levine, a Jew, sees the Samaritan, as a member of Hamas. Someone who is an enemy, someone who is not like ourselves, someone on the outside looking in, someone with a different skin color, or ethnicity or religion, some whose sexuality is different . Who then is the Samaritan, the Samaritan is not the one who is different for our human labels have no place in the world God calls us to inhabit. God’s people are never to play “finders-keepers,” nor are they to see themselves as being more deserving or better than anyone else. When it comes to the kindness of strangers, we tend to get what we expect. If we’re kind and helpful to people we don’t know or who are in trouble, in every circumstance, then we’re more likely to see that kindness returned. Even if we don’t receive reciprocal care and help, we know that God has called us to love the stranger regardless. That’s what it means to be God’s people.
The real Samaitan is the one who puts God and humanity first, recognizing the worth and dignity of the individual as a God given gift that is to be cared for and respected. For in that is the fulfillment of the law. It by doing that, Jesus says, that one gains eternal life.
But what happened to the man in the ditch after he was all better, after he was back on his feet, after he went home and told the family and neighbors what had happened to him? Was he changed, was he transformed? Was he no longer prejudiced towards Samaritans, Romans, whoever? Did he become a better person, more generous, more holy? We don’t know, do we? Which is true with so many parables Jesus tells us, so many of the encounters he has with people. Go and do likewise, he says. Did anyone Jesus said that sort of thing really go and do?
One of my favorite illustrations from the marvelous TV show The West Wing had to do with young Josh Lyman dealing with the emotional/spiritual (?) aftereffects of being shot. His boss, Leo McGarry, wants to help him and so Leo tells Josh the following story:
A guy was walking along the street and fell into a hole. He tried climbing out but couldn’t get up the sides, the walls are so steep. A doctor walks by and the fellow yells up, “Hey, Doc. I’m down here in this hole. Can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription and throws it down to him. Later, a priest walks by and the fellow hollers, ‘Hey, Father, can you give me a hand?’ But the priest just writes out a prayer and tosses it down to him. Later, a friend walks by, and the guy hollers up, ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me; can you help me out?” The friend jumps in. The guy looks at him, “Are you crazy? Now, we’re both down here!” The friend says, “Yeah. But I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
More and more, I see this as a story, not about the generosity of the Samaritan, or how he was changed or transformed. And I don’t think it is a jab at the strict adherents to the Law. I think it is the story about the guy half-dead in the ditch. And the reason that this despised, rejected, hated Samaritan could help him is that he had been down in the ditch himself, and he knew the way out.
And because Jesus was willing to become despised and rejected for our sakes, because he was willing to be thrown into death’s ditch, only for God to provide a way out, then he is telling us that when the time comes, when we find ourselves lying in the ditch, when we are half-dead, when all the experts, the lawyers, the doctors, the priests can’t help us, then he will come along and show us the way out.
He will pick us up and carry us to the place where we can be mended and made well.
