She backed this up with the story of Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan who, in July of 2018, were killed in an act of violence as they biked with other travelers along the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.
They were cycling and blogging about their many experiences with the people they were meeting in other countries and their life-affirming human interactions. They lived their lives without fear of the other and, in doing so, they left behind a legacy of love, kindness, exploration, and adventure.
Centered in that story Pastor Donna led me on a surprising take on this parable that had started when I read this Gospel text earlier in the week. I found new wisdom in a familiar story.. I have learned that in the time of Jesus, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as the "Way of Blood". Earlier I had searched for our modern equivalent to what the Samaritan people meant to Jesus' audience.
For this Sunday, to delve deeper into this wisdom, I will call this the Parable of the Good Iranian. Temporarily re-titling the parable opens me to new ways of incorporating the takeaways of this story into my life. For instance I am less likely to set my mind on becoming a "good Iranian", and I believe that is for the best. The specific actions of mercy detailed in Luke can distract from a true definition of being a neighbor to this man between cities.
Pastor Donna observed that the questioning lawyer seeks to understand who Jesus believes that scripture considers as a neighbor in order to better follow the law. Jesus asks "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The lawyer answers "The one who showed him mercy". Jesus said "Go and do likewise".
What Pastor Donna emphasized in her sermon is that we are all likely to fall short of the standard of mercy set by the Samaritan in the parable. We are all capable of being more merciful in what we do as we follow what our beliefs. Does that mean, however, that we are not neighbors to the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho unless we act like the Samaritan? The priest and the Levite are bound by a certain understanding prevalent in their world. At that moment they were unable to help the man yet I don't think Jesus would have thought they were not the man's neighbors as a result.
By letting the lawyer answer who he thinks the neighbor is - Jesus can show a deeper level of compassion than those who cannot show their deepest levels of mercy at a particular moment. Jesus asks "Which of these three were the neighbor to the man?' Yet there are more than three characters in his parable.
There are the thieves. Does robbing the man mean there may no longer be a way for robbers to ever show mercy to this man again and become a neighbor? May they be thought of as, at least, potential neighbors? There is also the innkeeper. Since the Samaritan paid the innkeeper, does that mean that the innkeeper is not showing mercy to a man he is caring for? Is the innkeeper's care only transactional because he was paid?
Jesus tells this parable to answer the lawyer's question. Considering the lawyer's answer Jesus poses the question so the lawyer's transactional perspective is satisfied but the parable does not limit the idea or possibility of being a neighbor to that perspective only.
'I could die doing what I love, but I could also die never having really lived. To me, that would have been a far greater tragedy.'
Jay Austin
Danger encountered and, perhaps, averted or better understood.
Interesting blog entry. You make me wonder who our "neighbors" are. But, actually, it's hard to think about answering a legal or theolgical question after hearing such a sad story about the bikers being killed.
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