The Good Samaritan

Whatever your belief system, chances are good you've heard the story of the Good Samaritan. Maybe you even aspire to be like this person. This commentary on the story has challenged me in many ways.

The Good Samaritan does the right thing independently of results, outcomes or effects. He helps someone in need because they have a need and he can help.

Being a Good Samaritan means doing the thing that is unfair to ourselves and puts us at a human disadvantage to others. This often means doing the good and right thing to people who openly oppose us and will likely do the bad and wrong thing against us. Again, it's doing the right thing because it's right, not because of what will happen if we do it.

This writer notes "Christ has shown that our neighbor does not mean merely one of the church or faith to which we belong. It has no reference to race, color, or class distinction. Our neighbor is every person who needs our help. ...Our neighbor is everyone who is the property of God."

Our command is to love and help our neighbors. Not change, convict or convert them. That is God's work. If we make this our responsibility we put ourselves above God.

In John 13:34 Jesus says "As I have loved you, love one another." How much do you love the most evil and awful person you can imagine? The person who most overtly opposes everything you believe in and stand for? The amount of love you show that person is a reflection of the amount of Christ's love you are allowing yourself to accept. Make no mistake Jesus loves that person with reckless abandon. He sacrificed his life to give that person the opportunity to reject Him, but with the knowledge that the full riches of Heaven were always an option. Jesus did the right thing because he couldn't imagine doing anything else for someone He loves so much. That "someone" wasn't just you. It was your very worse enemy.

"Many who profess His name have lost sight of the fact that Christians are to represent Christ. Unless there is practical self-sacrifice for the good of others, in the family circle, in the neighborhood, in the church, and wherever we may be, then whatever our profession, we are not Christians."

And if I claim to be a follower of Christ, if I aspire to be a Good Samaritan, that's the challenge I face. Impossible? Yes. But that's exactly the point. Each day I can remind myself of what God has done and continues to do for me, in spite of who and what I am. Then I can seek to freely extend God's goodness indiscriminately, because that is the very definition of God's goodness.

Listening

Today I had the chance to listen to one of our hospital chaplains speak to a clinical pastoral education class. This is a team of pastors and spiritual leaders who are learning specialized skills for serving patients and their families during health challenges. As it turns out the main focus of the work is not on how to solve a patient's problems or guide them to a spiritual enlightenment or awakening. No, what matters in these situations is being able to listen and empathize. It's about letting people articulate what matters to them and reveal their own spiritual truths.

I really appreciated what one of our chaplains shared during his remarks. It went something like this:

When we read the Bible, we put a lot of emphasis on letting the Bible interpret itself. We try to remove our bias, opinions and preconceived notions and instead allow the Word of God to reveal itself to us. It should be the same with others. We should allow people to articulate their experience and what's going on in their hearts and minds, without letting or our bias about who/what they are leading us to what we think they need or should want from us. 

This was such a good reminder for me. I often find myself living in a world of perceptions. It's important to really listen, and to ask the right questions, in order to truly understand people. Let them tell you what they need and why. Sometimes the act of listening is more valuable than anything else.

Here a couple of our chaplains share incredible stories about their work here.