This Sunday we’re going learn to tell a story that directly confronts racism, classism, and snobbery. In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells the story of the “Good Samaritan.” In this story, a priest and a Levite ignore a man in need, while a Samaritan stops and does whatever he can to help. The moral of the story: Jesus wants us to act more like the Samaritan than the priest and Levite.
Jesus makes it clear that he doesn’t want His followers to act like religious zealots. Time and time again, Jesus is seen associating with prostitutes, tax collectors, and Samaritans, and rebuking the religious leaders of His day. Christians are often pegged as people who don’t care about those with AIDS, single moms, the poor, the addicted or the downtrodden. Let’s break that mold. Let’s silence the critics with our great love and our good deeds. As followers of Jesus, let’s do what He would do if He were physically here.
Jesus told this story to help a lawyer understand God’s definition of neighbor. The lawyer knew the letter of God’s law—to love God and love your neighbor as yourself—but he tried to find the loophole by asking Jesus to define “neighbor.”
This story defines neighbor for us. We are called to love people who may be altogether different from us. This makes love a lot messier than we like. However, it’s impossible to truly love God while failing to truly love others. God wants us to love what He loves and hate what He hates. True religion always starts with a heart of mercy that results in acts of mercy both of which flow from an understanding of God’s great mercy to us.