The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

South Africa has just hosted a most successful World Cup, perhaps against the odds, and,
all the unconstructive observations and general negativity of the media, both locally and
abroad. The world’s biggest sporting event in point of fact, ends today, making this day the
culmination of all the preparation as well as the actual running of the event; and what a
grand affair has it not turned out to be, vuvuzelas and all? The eyes of the world have
certainly been on us. And we have had rather considerable obstacles to overcome. Not only
with infrastructure and things pertaining to logistics, with many a labour union threatening to
go on strike or even disrupt the event and/or the lead up to it, but also in issues of internal
stability. Recall the horrible uncertainty that came with the death of right-wing leader Eugene
Terre’banche mere weeks before the World Cup? Our country’s checkered history was again
thrust to the fore, but now, looking back, I think we can safely say: We have triumphed
indeed.

But this, while being called, in certain sectors, our ‘crowning glory’, is far from the end of the
road. Terrifying rumours have recently been doing the rounds regarding foreigners who are
living here in our country. Now that the World Cup is over, and the eyes of the world are
elsewhere, it is said that the xenophobic violence that broke out last year is again going to
raise its ugly head. Directed primarily against the poor, foreigners living in the townships
were set upon, attacked and killed for being different. The sight of human beings being
dowsed in petrol and set alight that filled the covers of our country’s leading newspapers still
sickens the mind.

People who were travelling along the N1 this past week told me of the hundreds of families
who were sitting in the cold alongside the road near Bloekombos (which is a township in
Kraaifontein) looking for a way home to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and beyond. And they were
leaving for they believed the rumours. They were leaving for they feared dying. They were
leaving for it was deemed better to suffer at home, than to die in a foreign place, unloved,
unwelcomed, and literally hated.

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So the question then is, has the euphoria and excitement of the World Cup, the glitz and
glamour, the hoards of fans, visitors and tourists, the revenue, the ‘beautiful’ game self, and
basically being the centre attraction, blinded us to the harsh reality and plight of the
impoverished who dwell within our borders, but are not residents by birth?

Now I understand that harsh reality of having large and increasing amounts of foreign
nationals from other African countries causes a great deal of tension and pressure by
increasing the strain on already sparse and meagre resources including that of food,
housing and employment. The local populace complain that foreigners undercut them in the
job market and are willing to do the same amounts of work for half the pay! They also tend to
blame foreigners (especially the Nigerians) for the ever increasing crime statistics and many
of the other social ills that beset our country.

I think however, that into this forlorn situation, we, as the Church, made up of Christian
believers, need to bring in the wisdom and love of Jesus Christ. ‘Who is your neighbour?”

Today in our Gospel lesson, we have Jesus engaging a lawyer, or scribe, one considered to
be an expert on the law of God. And the question has been posed, as a test, ‘Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ (Lk 10:25). Jesus throws it back, ‘What is written in the law?
What do you read there?’ (Lk 10:26), in other words, ‘you’re the expert’. To which the man
answers: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and will
all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself’ (Lk 10:27).
Now, that was about as good a summary of the requirements of the law (Lev 19:18; Dt 6:5)
as you will find, and Jesus tells Him as much. In fact, even Jesus Himself used it on
occasion (Matt 22:37-40). But the lawyer, ‘desiring to justify himself’ perhaps in the face of
the general audience, has yet another question: ‘And who is my neighbour’?

Well the stage is set for the parable that you and I know so well. If there was one thing that
Jesus detested amongst man, then it was self-righteousness, as was so often put on display
by the Pharisees and other religious, legal and political leaders of the day. Jesus being
Jesus, naturally wanted to get to the heart of the matter, and so He tells the story of the
Good Samaritan as a response. See, those same leaders had the notion that their
neighbours were the righteous; people like them, religious with status, class, Jews. The
sinners however, like tax collectors, prostitutes, the non-religious and foreigners, Gentiles,
were resented and essentially, loathed. They were not even fit to be seen as, or deemed,
people of God. They were hated, and treated as such. The second Great Commandment, to
love one’s neighbour, was nullified as a result.

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If there is one clear mandate that flies out from this parable, then it is that each and every
one of us has a responsibility towards our neighbours, particularly, those who are in need.
That person may not look like we do, they may not live where we live, they may not act or
behave like we do, they may not come from where we come, work where we work, or live
like we do. But ultimately, we have a responsibility to extend towards them the great
compassion, mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

Go down to the local mall car park. Did you know that the car guards inevitably are
foreigners and are of the friendliest, kindest and most helpful people you will meet? We have
such a person sitting at the gate of the property here. Have you ever even bothered to
inquire of him? Or ask him how he is, or take the time to explain why you are here? I’ve
come into the habit of stopping as I leave, pausing, thanking him – the person is often
different each week – inviting him to listen to the sermon if he can and scratching in the ash
tray for a R 2 or R 5 to spare him - after all, he watches our cars too. I do so because I once
saw a wet piece of paper lying on the floor of the wooden hut that he sits in when it rains,
and saw scribbled on it the train times, and realised that he takes public transport no matter
the weather just to get here to do an honest day’s work, and probably earns next to nothing.
I do so, because I take seriously Christ’s answer to the lawyer in the form of a parable that
was read today. And I do so, because the second Great Commandment says that if I love
God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind, then I will love my neighbour as I do myself.

See the question today should not be have been, ‘who is my neighbour’? Rather, ‘how can I
be a neighbour’? Culturally, it would have been totally unacceptable to for a Samaritan to
help a Jew. Yet he did. He ministers in the face of injustice, evil and suffering. We should
too.

Perhaps it would be wise to look deep within ourselves and ask, ‘Who then is my
neighbour’? We need to stop loving at a distance. To stop drawing distinctions based on
race, gender, class, ethnicity, that which is external. To see others, as too, made in the
image and likeness of God - the God that you and I profess to serve and follow. And to help.

How many of you have seen District 9, the science fiction thriller film released last year.
Made in South Africa, it tells the story of a Afrikaner bureaucrat who is tasked with relocating
a township of ‘prawns’, a stranded race of extraterrestrial creatures in Johannesburg, and
that by forced eviction, to a camp outside the city. They have become a bit of a nuisance
and a menace you see.

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The theme is exactly that of xenophobia, racial and social segregation. It is only when Wikus
Van de Merwe, a manager at the MNU Department of Alien Affairs, becomes one of the
‘prawns’ that he begins to understand what it is like to be hated, hunted and treated with
absolute with cruelty. Inhumanity turns into humanity and compassion as he becomes more
and more aware of their situation and plight and eventually he himself helps them to escape
back to their planet, which is all they really wish to do.

If only we, too, would be that way. To be proactive in being a neighbour and actually started
listening to and caring for others; putting oneself in their shoe, so to speak. The Good
Samaritan presents that face to us. No, scowl, sarcastic or insulting comment and then,
quickly moving on. No, he does something. He goes to the victim; he pours on oil and wine
and bandages the man. He puts him on his own animal and takes him to an inn to be cared
for and all at his own cost. And Jesus, in telling us this story, wills for us to genuinely care for
and love others, especially, those who are in need. Look out for those...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.,

Amen.

15th Sunday of the Year

Year C

11 July 2010

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