Oct
8
Meeting the Man on Our Road to Jericho
October 8, 2007 |
In life, we come face to face on a daily basis with people who we can either choose to relate to or avoid. Some are those with whom we meaningfully interact . . . and there are probably more who we leave behind or pass by without a second thought. They may need our help, our patience, a simple connection. And we choose to pass them by and get on with our lives . . . with the people who matter to us.
Today’s gospel (Luke 10) is the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. The man laid injured on the road to Jericho . . . first the learned priest passed him by . . . then the holy Levite . . . next came the Good Samaritan. To give a little more weight to the power of this story, we need to know that the priests and Levites were held in the highest of esteem by the Jews of Jesus’ time . . . and the Samaritans were held with deep derision. Yet, it was the Samaritan that stopped to help - a point I’m sure was not missed by the scholars conversing with Jesus in Luke 10.
Let’s look at this story from the wounded man’s perspective. He’s been robbed and lies along the road, bloodied and broken. Assume he was a Jew on his way to Jericho. What do you think he thought when the priest passed him by? What do you think he thought when the Levite passed him by? What do you think he thought when he found out it was a Samaritan who was caring for him? Do you think he cared at that point? No, he wanted help and this Samaritan, who he had been taught to despise, was coming to his rescue . . . and treating him as finely as anyone probably ever treated him. And how about the impact of the actions of the Good Samaritan on the family to whom the man may have been returning home? Do you think they cared who cared for their husband, father or friend?
How about the Samaritan? When he came across the man, he didn’t know that the priest and Levite had passed him by (unless the man was able to tell him) and he may or may not have known the nationality of this man. Yet, he went over and beyond to help this man who was not supposed to matter to him.
Every day, we can either be the Samaritan, the Levite, the priest, or the man. I don’t believe in fate, coincidences or serendipity. I believe, that every day, there are people who come into our lives who are either placed in our lives to help us . . . or for us to help them. It is up to us to either accept their connection or reject it . . . to help them or to ignore them. In our times of need, God places people in our lives to help us. In other’s time of need, God may place us in their lives to help them. We never know and because we do not really know God’s plan for us, we must treat everyone as if they are placed directly in our lives by God who has a broader vision for each of us.
I always like to think about the people I have met through my life who came into my life through circumstances that could have easily turned out differently -whether for brief encounters or lifelong commitments. I shudder to think about the people who I have let pass me by and what they could have meant to my life and I to their lives.
Another example of how God uses each of us to execute his plan is in today’s first reading when we hear the first half of the story of Jonah. Everyone knows he gets swallowed by the whale . . . actually a “great fish” . . . but do we know why? He was instructed by God to go and preach in Ninevah . . . the New York City of his time. Jonah didn’t want to do this impossible task so he fled. He boarded a boat which was met by a fierce tempest and was on the verge of going under. He ended up getting thrown overboard by his shipmates when they found out he was fleeing from God. Jonah was saved when God sent the whale. He landed back on shore without a scratch, got the message, and off to Ninevah he went.
Jonah was fleeing from God when God wanted to use him to reach the people of Ninevah. God then used his shipmates to finally get through to him. As a result, he went to Ninevah and did his preaching . . . the people of Ninevah repented and were saved.
Whenever I have gotten off of Jesus’ path and decided to walk my own way (essentially fleeing from God), God has sent people into my life to bring me back. When I am in the midst of a life storm, God has sent people into my life to help see me through. And I believe he has sent me into other people’s lives to help them back to the path and through the storms. What if any of these people had said “no” to me or I had said “no” to them? What happens when any of us refuse to be used according to God’s plan?
Let’s resolve to look at everyone we come into contact with this week as someone who God may intentionally be bringing into our lives . . . because we really just don’t know.
Do we?
Painting: “The Good Samaritan” - Giovanni Battista Langetti (1635-1676)
