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Filled With Compassion
9.25.22 [Luke 10:25-37] River of Life (16th Sunday after Pentecost)
(2 Jn. 1:3) Grace, mercy, & peace are yours from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, who is with us now and forevermore in truth and love.
Amen.
It’s hard to imagine that a man like David Lee Witherspoon Jr. could be surprised by much of anything.
His full-time job was at the Phoenix VA.
He also volunteered as the president of a downtown food bank.
But on June day, five years ago, David saw something even he thought was strange: a man crawling on his hands & knees across the sun-scorched blacktop near 7th Avenue.
Without even pulling his car over to the side of the road, David stopped to see what was going on.
He found a man in great distress.
Socks on his hands.
His bare feet tucked in the bottom hem of his pants to try to shield him from burning his feet any more than he already had.
David did what he could.
He grabbed a bottle of water and washed the man’s feet.
He grabbed a pair of his own shoes from his trunk and gave them to the man.
When local news outlets caught wind of what David had done, they hailed him a living, breathing Good Samaritan.
Unsurprisingly, David was more modest, describing what he had done as a “simple, kind act.”
Stories like this are heartwarming.
We wish the evening news had more of these reports.
More Good Samaritans and less samurai sword wielding lunatics, fewer home invasions and fentanyl busts.
But these stories aren’t just heartwarming.
They also get the wheels turning in our heads.
When we hear these things, we think about whether or not we would have done the same thing.
First, we wonder if we would have even seen the man crawling on the blacktop.
Then we hem and haw over whether or not we would have gotten involved.
Our minds race with all the possible reasons why a man would crawl on hot blacktop.
Not all of those scenarios are safe for us to insert ourselves into.
But, if we knew we’d be safe, if we knew we had the resources—just a bottle of water and an extra pair of shoes in the trunk of our car—we would help, right?
We would, right?
That’s often the effect of Good Samaritan stories.
Our hearts are warmed.
Our wheels turn.
And we walk away pretty sure—if we had the same opportunity—we would do the same thing.
The right thing.
But we miss Jesus’ point if we treat this story like a spiritual film session, breaking down who dropped the ball and who made the right play.
The mistakes of the priest and the Levite jump off the page.
They both (Lk 10:31-32) saw the man who is nearly dead—but they do nothing.
Their sins of omission are glaring and obvious.
Who could say either of them (Lk 10:27) loved their neighbor?
At the same time, the Samaritan is the hero this half-dead Jewish man desperately needed.
We’re glad he stepped up and did something.
And we determine that, if we were in that situation, we would do the same.
Our desire feels sincere, but we are easily misled.
We’re like movie-goers shouting at the main character Don’t go in there!
Or sports fans yelling What are you thinking?
It all looks easy & simple from our comfy seats.
It’s totally different when you’re thrown into the fire.
6 years ago, I took a class called Community Emergency Response Training.
First responders and emergency personnel can’t respond to every issue when disaster strikes.
So they took time to train lay people to learn how to respond to a whole array of different disaster scenarios.
We spent 8 weeks learning about, preparing for, and discussing how to respond to emergencies.
Our final exam was a simulation: an earthquake in the city municipal building.
It was our job to triage victims, administer basic first aid, get them out of the building, and deal with frightened family and media members.
Even though it was fake—and we knew it—it was still stressful.
We all made a ton of mistakes.
Each of us walked away knowing we could’ve done better.
Even though we wanted to help, it still wasn’t so easy.
It seemed simple enough when we were studying, but helping people is messy.
It’s easy to underestimate that reality.
The half-dead man on the side of the road was a naked, bloody mess.
The Samaritan who came to him got his hands dirty as he (Lk 10:34) bandaged the man’s wounds.
He used his own valuable resources: oil & wine, donkey & denarii.
He risked his own life by even going to where the man was.
Of course, there was the chance that (Lk 10:30) the robbers were still there and using this man as bait.
Ask any nurse and they’ll tell you the patients they try to help often become abusive—especially when they’re suffering.
But, the risk was greater for the Samaritan than the priest or the Levite.
What would a Jew from Jerusalem think if they saw their fellow-countryman naked and bloodied and some Samaritan over by him?
He’d be the first suspect and wouldn’t be assumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
But none of that dissuades him.
He put the man on his own donkey and pays his medical bills and promises to return and take care of the balance.
Who would do that?
That would be like seeing someone on the side of the road, with their car engulfed in flames, you pull them from the wreckage, put them in your car, drive them to the hospital, pay for their care and then replace their car.
This Samaritan truly went above and beyond the call of duty.
His love for his neighbor put us to shame.
Maybe hearing this story, or David Lee Witherspoon’s, compels us to be more proactive in helping people in need.
To be a better neighbor.
Even still, we cannot love every neighbor like that.
Not just because we don’t have the material resources.
We don’t have the mental and emotional fortitude.
We don’t have compassion on every hurting stranger we see.
Some of us know this about ourselves.
Compassion isn’t your first instinct.
But others of us are very tender hearted.
Hallmark movies and those Sarah McLachlan commercials leave you a blubbering mess.
You have to be talked out of adopting every three legged dog or one-eyed cat.
If anyone truly loves their neighbor, it’s you.
Not so fast, my friend.
You love the neighbors you see as hurting.
Your have pity on those who are suffering and victimized.
What about the passers-by who didn’t step up?
You disdain them, don’t you?
What about those evil perpetrators?
You hate them, don’t you?
Do you know what (Mt.
5:48) your perfect heavenly Father demands?
(Mt.
5:44) Love your enemies.
Pray for those who persecute you.
Who can do that?
Only the One telling this story.
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