Sermon: The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan is probably the best known and loved parable of Jesus. It is interesting to notice that some of the parables, such as the parable of the sower for example, are explained by Jesus in order for the disciples to understand the “heavenly meaning” of the earthly story. The Good Samaritan, on the other hand, needs no explanation - it speaks for itself, its meaning is clear. However, when we know something so well it can tend to lose some of its impact. So for this morning, try to imagine that you are listening to the parable for the first time.

There used to be a TV series on 25 years ago called Tales of the Unexpected - short stories written by Roald Dahl that used a great deal of irony and often had a twist in the tale as their ending. I think that the Good Samaritan could be described very well as a tale of the unexpected.  The people who you would expect to come to the aid of the poor injured man lying in the road would be the upstanding members of the community - the Priest and the Levite (equivalent of Vicar and Churchwarden), who for whatever reason - fear, pressure of time, reluctance to get involved, codes of ritual cleanliness or simply a lack of compassion - passed by on the other side. The one person you would never expect to help a Jew would be the Samaritan, knowing the animosity which existed between those two peoples (in modern usage perhaps we could think of him as a Palestinian! Can you imagine a potential suicide bomber coming to the aid of a beaten-up Jew?) 

On this level the story is one of compassion. We are called by Jesus to treat people equally - they are all of equal value in God’s sight. We are called to love each other as God loves us. Jesus ends the parable by instructing us to go and do likewise. Faith is something which is to be put into practice and not something that we merely pay lip service to. It is plain that our priority is to love God and each other - these over-rule any religious laws and codes - they are matters of personal conscience and spirituality. 

But there is also another level to this tale of the unexpected. Tales of the unexpected on TV often did not end on a satisfactory note - you were left wondering. There is always a deeper level to the parables of Jesus - it was his intention to make us wonder.

This parable originated from a question posed by a lawyer - “who is my neighbour?”

The Samaritan was a quite unbelievable neighbour: 

A Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where the man was: and when he saw him he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.” (Luke 10:33-35). 

One thing that stands out here is the unlimited character of the Samaritan’s service. Jesus emphasises dramatically that there is apparently no limit to the expenditure that he is willing to make. He pours oil and wine on the man’s wounds, stays with him all night, and even accepts responsibility for all future expenses. The story stresses this aspect of the Samaritan’s conduct. In that final acceptance of all later expenses, Jesus makes clear that the charity of this man embraces even the future.

The trouble with knowing the story so well is that we forget exactly what the Samaritan did, how unlimited was his service, far beyond what would be reasonably expected or indeed actually possible in human terms. We fail to appreciate how unstinted and generous his compassion actually is. In fact, we more or less take for granted his abnormality!

We picture him instead as acting in a normal and decent manner. We liken his good deeds to the way in which we might write a cheque to Christian Aid, give a pint of blood or engage in some kind of voluntary charity work. But these are all things we can afford. Worthy as all these things are - we are giving to others what is not crucial for ourselves  - a few pounds, a surplus pint of blood or a little of our time. Our life is not deprived by offering any of these things. In all of this charity we are being shrewd and cautious about our own needs. And because we think of the Good Samaritan’s charity in the same way, we do not understand the Priest and Levite at all. They seem abnormal and monstrous. 

But this “normal” way of giving is precisely what we do not find in the Good Samaritan. At each point of the story Jesus carefully emphasises the excessiveness of what the Samaritan does. This man is not acting with sensible caution. “Whatever more you spend I will repay you when you return”, he says. Do many of us have such surplus resources to be able to make that statement? Certainly a member of the dispossessed and persecuted Samaritan nation did not. 

And that is the point that Jesus drives home. This Samaritan does not love in comfortable accord with his own self-interest. He does not balance his service to the wounded man with a reasonable concern for himself. He seems strangely oblivious about his own needs. If we remember this, we will not be so hard on the priest and Levite. After all, in failing to act like the Good Samaritan, they were simply being normal. Is it possible for any of us to truly be a neighbour to others in a way which lives up to the example of the Good Samaritan? 

This is where we come to the twist in the tale of the story. We readily associate ourselves with the Good Samaritan and take on board the message that we should show compassion to others whatever their race or creed. Yes, of course, at one level this is quite correct. But I wonder if any of us associate ourselves with the poor injured man in need? If we go back to the question posed by the lawyer - “who is my neighbour?” it is a little ambiguous because it also carries the sense “who is a neighbour to me?”

Put yourself into the place of the injured man now - who would be the Good Samaritan to you? Remembering how he was quite extraordinary - to the point of being beyond belief - in the compassion he showed. 

At a deeper level this is a parable about God’s unrealistic love for us - Jesus is the Good Samaritan as he is the Good Shepherd - he comes to heal and to bind up our wounds. Jesus is the only one who can truly be our neighbour because he is the only one who promises to care for us today, tomorrow and for all eternity. Jesus is the only one able to meet us at our point of need (whatever that particular need may be) to the very depths of our being. Just for a moment close your eyes and rest in the compassion of Jesus - allow him to relieve you of all your pain and fear... How wonderful this is. 

Because we are people who have experienced this compassion of Jesus in our own lives it is the very thing which enables us to “go and do likewise” because as the “Body of Christ” we are called to minister to others - to bring God’s healing love to those in need.  

So this parable, like all the parables of Jesus is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning containing a human moral value and a deep spiritual significance. The message for us today is yes, we are called to be Good Samaritans - but we can only be so if we have experienced the compassion of the true Good Samaritan - Jesus Christ - meeting us at our point of need - enabling us to go and do likewise in his name.

Preached by: Reverend Huw Butler at Llanbedr Church on Sunday, 15th July 2007