We all enjoy the stories and the parables that are in the bible and one that has become something of a commonplace saying in our society is that of the "Good Samaritan". We even have groups that call themselves Samaritans who do good works. So when we say someone is a 'good Samaritan' we automatically think back to Christ's parable in Luke's Gospel (10:25-37). However, this story has no real impact in today's world as it's meaning is to a certain extent known and applied as a descriptive to people in society. Attempts have been made to re-cast the story so that it has made more of an impact, such that in the modern world we might substitute 'LGBTQIA+ person' or 'Refugee' or 'Russian soldier' to try and make an impact depending on the audience. Yet, we know the story so the impact is often lessened irrespective of how we choose the protagonist. The shock factor is gone from the edgy story that Christ tells in his community. So what does the story and the other readings tell us for the modern day?
When we walk through the community or when we engage with the community it is always a specific group that we interact with either friends or else others that we know through some means or another. It is not often that we interact with strangers to and within the community. That is simply because we are often unaware of their presence or else we like everyone else in the community shun them. They are often thought to be beneath us or are tolerated within the community because they are doing an essential job. In some instances it is because they are doing the jobs that no one else wishes to do. They are those that pass unnoticed, for whatever reason, through the community and society in general. It is also of note to suggest that many of these will also profess 'no religion' but certainly not all. In a manner of speaking these are often the outcast of society those that are untouchable. It is not those that are within the system, so to speak, that are the ones that are demonstrating the presence of God. In reality it is often those that are on the inside who have lapsed into inattention and require a shock to the system to enable them to participate with God.
I pause to note an article by Rev Sempell referring to the conservatism in Sydney and suggest that this ultimately reveals the loss that we have when we neglect the outsider that Christ uses to illustrate the point in the Samaritan story. It is clear that we often do not take note of that outsider and are more often prone to look only at the priest or the scribe as they make their journey past the wounded man, more importantly we should change the gender of the wounded person to make this point. Even when Christ tells the story we are left to wonder the ethnicity of the wounded man (sic). Is it indeed a case of like looking after like or as we seem to have surmised is it the other looking after the other and opening themselves up to that love. By committing ourselves to our own self portraits of what it means to help the other or even listen to the other we seem to limit our ability to reach out. What is fascinating about this is our loss of 'bums on seats' and the increased number of 'nones' (who used to be 'none of the above' meaning the normal list of religious affiliations) who almost see this as another 'religion'. The disillusionment that has been increasing has increased the number of those on the outside who we should be listening to rather than disregarding whilst bemoaning their loss. Perhaps, it is our own laissez faire attitude to our faith that has allowed this to occur and demonstrate that we too are among those who pass by the opportunity to engage with the other to bring healing and love.
The plumb line that God (Amos 10:7-9) has taken out is the one that matters and we cannot disregard those who say otherwise. We cannot afford to be dismissing of the voices of the other (Amos 7:12-13) but rather we need desperately to listen to those who are not part of our little group in the world and try to find that open ground that allows us to listen as much as speaking about what God can do for the other. It may well be that we will find that each of us is travelling towards God in different ways but all of us still have Christ at the centre rather than the laws that we enact and that we formulate and that we control our lives by. God calls us out to the other to bring the Kingdom of God near to them by willingly ministering and showing God's love in our lives rather than preaching what we do not necessarily live.
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