“Who is My Neighbor?”
8th Sun of Luke (10:25-37) Nov.14, 2021
Today we hear the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Fathers hold that the man wounded by robbers (the robbers represent the demons) is representative of broken and wounded humanity. That the good Samaritan represents Christ in this parable, the bandaging and re-clothing of the wounded man represents baptism where we receive our garment of light – our baptism robe, the oil – Chrismation, the wine – the life-giving Eucharist, and the Inn – represents the Church. Christ is telling us here all of humanity can find healing and restoration at the Inn – the Church.
Christ is asked by the Jewish lawyer “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This question should be at the forefront of our minds. Christ agrees with the lawyer’s answer. “You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.” “Do this and you will live” replies Christ. But it is easy to agree with principles. Living them out is where we struggle. As the old folk saying goes “The devil is in the details.”
“Who is my neighbour?” asks the lawyer. We are told that the man asked this question “wanting to justify himself.” He most certainly would not have had his closest physical neighbors, the enemies of the Jews the despised Samaritans in mind. The Samaritans were a Jewish heretical sect gone bad, worshiping God on Mount Gerasim rather than on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, and they held there had been no prophets since Moses.
The chief leaders of Israel, the Priest and Levite, refused to help this man. “Not my problem, I’m far too busy.” What they had planned for the day was very important. It simply couldn’t be interrupted by what God had planned for them for the day. Decides, “all that blood! It would certainly render me ceremonially unclean!” The actions of the good Samaritan demonstrate that he, rather than the Jewish Priest and Levite, had obeyed the law of love and demonstrated the answer to obtaining eternal life. The Samaritan man recognized this half-dead wounded man, to be his neighbour, and acted in a God-pleasing way loving his neighbor as himself. St. John tells us (1 John 4:20) “If someone says. ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” This parable clearly shows that all of mankind, every race, colour, and religion are our brothers.
This parable should give us in the Church, “the new Israel,” pause for some serious self examination. Remember the Samaritan woman at the well, the future St. Photini, to whom Christ offered “living water.” Christ explained to her that the Jews had the right theology and were truly considered to be the chosen people of God, and that the Samaritans were truly heretics, but now we are all called to worship together in “spirit and in truth.” We can’t coast on our privileged position as Baptized and Chrismated members of the “new Israel,” the Orthodox Church the true Church. No, our work is just starting once we come home to the Church. More is required of us now than before we came in. How many times did Christ lay out the principle that (Luke 12:47,48) “…for everyone to whom much is given, from him will much be required…”
To be in communion with the Church, with all the saints that have gone before us and with those that are now journeying with us here on earth, means joining with them in the work of bringing Christ to our suffering world. At the final judgement what we did and didn’t do to help the most vulnerable of our fellow humans will be what matters. Our actions show the truth or hypocrisy of our words. We ask ourselves; What is our calling? How can we participate in reaching out and sharing the wonder of Christ’s agape love to the suffering world around us? How and where can we give our time, treasure and talents to fulfilling our calling as Christ’s servants? How do our actions express our faith? But it really isn’t as complicated as we often make it out to be.
St. Theophan the Recluse wonderfully instructs us in how and when to minister as God-pleasing good Samaritans and servants of God.
“You ask, ‘Must one do something?’ Of course one must! And do whatever comes along – in your circle of friends and in your surroundings – and believe that this is and will be your real work. More will not be demanded of you. It is a great misconception to think, whether for the sake of heaven or, as the modernists put it, to ‘make one’s mark on humanity,’ that one must do great reverberating tasks. Not at all. It is necessary only to do everything according to the commandments of God. Just what exactly? Nothing in particular – only those things which present themselves to everyone in the circumstances of life. Those things which are required by the everyday happenings we all require. This is how God is. God arranges the fate of each man, and the whole course of one’s life is also the work of His most gracious foreknowledge, as is therefore, every minute and every encounter. Let’s take an example: a beggar comes up to you; it is God who has brought him. What should you do? You must help him. God has brought the beggar of course, desiring you to act towards this beggar in a manner pleasing to Him, and He watches to see what you will actually do. If you do what is pleasing to God, you will be taking a step towards the ultimate goal, the inheritance of heaven. Generalize this occurrence, and you will find in that in every situation and at every encounter one must do what God wants him to do. And we know truly what He wants from the commandments He has given us. If someone seeks help, then help him. If someone has offended you, forgive him. If you yourself have offended someone, then hasten to ask forgiveness and to make peace. (St. Theophan the Recluse. Letter to a young girl.)
In today’s gospel, Christ is telling us that we need to expand our understanding of whom our neighbour is. Christ has clearly taught that all of us humans are family, no matter how we struggle with each other. The good Samaritan showed through his actions he was following Christ’s teaching and acting in a manner such as we have just heard recommended by St. Theophan. He reacts in a God -pleasing manner to the situation he encounters unexpectedly. He stops and helps. Our faith grows to maturity when we start to recognize that God is in our everyday encounters, (Eph 2:10) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are joined together with Christ in our actions and responses to these seemingly mundane encounters each day. Christ tells us that… (Matt.25:40) “…Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it (fed, gave drink, clothed, visited, etc.) to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Today Christ gives the lawyer and us His final word on the subject. “Go and do likewise.”May God open our eyes to see the suffering, or just irritating neighbour God is sending into our lives to help us grow in Christ. What a gift they are, even if we don’t immediately like the wrapping paper containing the priceless present. He is asking us to love them as ourselves, to see them as our neighbors, to open our hearts to bind their wounds with oil and wine. To lead them to health in the Church. We are to love even those who espouse values or politics, or lifestyles different than ours. Increasingly we see our world becoming polarized between “them” and “us.” May God grant that we may be able to see the humanity and that ever-present flickering flame of God’s image in all those He brings into our lives. May we recognize and reject the temptation to succumb to the polarizing spirit of the age. May we call brothers even those who hate us, and forgive all through the resurrection! Joining with God in working towards bringing His kingdom here, “on earth as it is in heaven”…….Glory to Jesus Christ!