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Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 15, 2007 Sermon by The Rev. Bill Van Oss, Rector
Readings       

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story that evokes a lot of “whys?”. Why did a lawyer question Jesus about the law? Why was the victim traveling the dangerous route from Jerusalem to Jericho alone? Why was that road so violent? Why did the priest and the Levite pass the beaten man by? Why did a Samaritan help him? Why did he pour oil and wine on the victim’s wounds?

Our minds might immediately go to these “why” questions upon hearing this story – why, why, why? And we can find answers and make educated guesses if we do a bit of studying.

We’d learn that traveling that road is like descending a steep mountain – Jerusalem is 2,300 feet above sea level, Jericho, near the Dead Sea, is at 1,300 feet below sea level. It’s a 3,600 foot drop in less than 17 miles. The road is narrow and has many sudden turns and rocky cliffs. It was nicknamed “The Bloody Way” – a favorite of the bandits, so many places to hide.

The man’s business in Jericho must have been important, very important, for him to travel this dangerous road alone. Bandits had so many places to hide. The world is so violent. The priest passed by, most likely, because he was worried that touching a dead man would make him unclean for 7 days – that was written in the law – he could not perform his temple duties if he touched the man.

The Levite may have been concerned that it was a trap. Perhaps the man was a robber who was just playing dead, who would attack the Levite when he stopped to help.

That it was a Samaritan who stops is the height of irony. Faithful Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. Samaritans were an ethnic group of Israelites that intermarried with foreigners after the Assyrians captured and deported the leading Israelites in 722 BC. Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. They were impure, unclean, despised.

That a Samaritan assists a Jew, who would most likely have hated and rejected him, is the height of irony. And the Samaritan doesn’t just quickly lend a hand and run off. He pours oil and wine on the man’s wounds. Oil and wine were seen as antiseptic and healing agents in Jesus’ day, but they were also used in temple worship. The Samaritan was not just providing minimal care, but his care reached the level of worship. The needy man was like an altar for the Samaritan.

Answering the “whys” of the story of the Good Samaritan sheds some light on the depth of the Samaritan’s Compassion. But to get caught up in the “whys” is to miss the point.

The question is: “which man, the priest, the Levite or the Samaritan was neighbor to the man in need? And the answer is: “the one who showed mercy.” Mercy is the answer. Mercy is the point. Mercy is how love is shown, how love is put into practice.

Mercy does not ask “why?”. Mercy simply responds, generously, selflessly. Mercy treats the other as holy, even if the other is an enemy. Mercy is not what happens after all the whys get answered: “Why were you on that dangerous road alone in the first place? Why didn’t the others – the clergy – help? Why is the world so dangerous? Why was the Samaritan so compassionate?”

Mercy does not need the answers to the “whys?” Mercy is not the response after the questions have been answered. Mercy is the first response. It has no need of answers. It springs from the heart and offers compassion and healing without ever asking “why?”.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most powerful in all the Gospels because it is so very real. This is real life. This is the world in which we live. People are beaten and bloody and lying in the ditch – people come to us with their hand out, in our church office, in Walgreen’s parking lot and downtown. And we so want to ask “why?”.

We didn’t want to be taken advantage of. We don’t want to be laughed at. We want to be certain the misery is genuine and not fake.

But mercy does not ask why. It sees at face value and does what needs to be done to relieve the suffering. Our best insights can miss Christ in the needs of others. Mercy springs from a heart filled with love and gratitude and treats each person as Christ. And practicing mercy makes our heart more loving and grateful.

We can speculate on the answers to the “whys?” of the Parable of the Good Samaritan all day long, but these answers do nothing for the guy lying in the ditch, or the battered mother and her children, or the mentally ill homeless man, or the hurting member of our own family.

The only answer that means anything is mercy. Mercy is the answer without any “why” ever being asked.

And Jesus says to us: “Go and do likewise.” Be merciful.


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