Look for the Helpers...

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        The parable of the Good Samaritan is one that has been told many times, so many times in fact that I think we sometimes miss the real impact of the story.  So I am going to tell it again so you might hear it like 1^st century Jews heard it...  

            A Christian fundamentalist asked Jesus, “Am I saved yet?”  In response, Jesus asked the man to recall the greatest commandment.  The fundamentalist Christian did (love God and neighbor) and wanting to make sure he was still saved the man asked, “Now, who is my neighbor exactly?”  Jesus then told the parable…

A white police officer was making his rounds in east Selma in the middle of the night.  He stopped because he saw some suspicious activity.  The police officer was ambushed by two members of a local gang and left for dead.

Now by chance a local doctor was going down that road; and when the doctor saw the man beaten for dead, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise the Priest Associate at St. Paul’s, when he came down to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a member of a rival gang came near (this can’t be good, right?); and when he saw the police officer, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having applied rubbing alcohol and Neosporin.  Then he put the police officer in his own car, brought him to the St. James, and took care of him.    

Simply put, the people who were supposed to take care of the fallen officer didn’t—the people in society whom we might assumed are ‘saved’ didn’t help.  But the last person in the world who we might think is ‘saved’ was moved with pity and helped the officer back to his feet. 

After the parable, Jesus the fundamentalist Christian, "Who is the neighbor to the fallen police officer?"  The fundamentalist replies, "the man who shows mercy"  Notice, it is not the good law abiding citizens who are supposed to follow the rules – the people we might assume are “saved” – but the gang member, the one who shows mercy is the neighbor. 

Jesus is shifting the focus of the question isn’t he?  Our salvation doesn’t depend on anything we do and if it did we’d all end up left for dead in a ditch.  Instead, our salvation depends on the capacity of another to show compassion and help us out of the ditch.  For this police officer, salvation depends on the last person in the world one might assume would help. 

Again, the boring old lectionary cycle that has the scripture readings mapped out years in advance, seems to be speaking directly to life today.  And after a week like we just had – one that was consumed by dirty politics, terrorist attacks, and racially induced gun violence and murder – the question that begs to be asked and answered is, “Who is my neighbor?”

As all this was going on in the news, I was reminded of the person who asked me and millions of children in my generation to be his neighbor.  I was reminded of something Fred Rogers mother used to say to him when he saw scary things on TV.  Mr. Rogers’ mother would say, “Look for the helpers.  There are always helpers.”

I read about something that happened a few days ago at a convenient store.  A young black woman walked into the store to buy a protein bar.  When she entered the store, she immediately noticed two white police officers staring her down.

As the young black woman walked toward the clerk, one of the officers approached her and asked, “How are you doing?”  She said, “Okay, how are you?”  The officer asked again, “How are you really doing?”  She replied, “I’m tired.”  The officer said, “Me too.  I guess it’s not easy being either of us right now.”  The police officer then reached out and gave the young woman a hug—they both cried.

These are the stories that we need to be telling.  These are the stories that point to the good news of Jesus.  This country needs a good news network, a news source where we are flooded with stories of reconciliation and hope and compassion.  But as I think about it, the Church is this good news network.  The Church, in her witness, is called to tell the stories that point to The Story.

Beloved, we have a story to tell in Jesus that changes everything.  The story of Jesus transforms a story of death and despair into a story of life and hope.  The story of Jesus is a story that our nation is yearning to hear. 

And this story doesn’t start with the question that the fundamentalist Christian asks, “Are you saved yet?”  Instead, the story begins when we start to look for the helpers.  Who is coming up alongside those left for dead and offering healing and wholeness? 

Ultimately, Jesus is the one who takes the biggest risk of all and puts himself in harm’s way to save a world that finds itself in a ditch left or dead.  Jesus is the one who shows ultimate compassion as he hangs from the cross praying, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.”  Jesus is the one who pulls us out of the trenches so that we may find healing and shelter and renewal in a world that is leaving us for dead. 

And the news gets better – the story of Jesus is being told through you, through this church, through this community. I know this story to be true because I see it alive in you, this church, this community, this world.  I know this to be true because the story of Jesus is the story of who God made all of humanity to be.

              Someone said, “the human spirit has an impulse to kindness.” The human spirit of kindness derives from the first born of all creation – Jesus Christ our Lord.  We grow, and the world grows in the human spirit of kindness when we grow in knowledge of Jesus’ love for us – the one who helps us out of the ditch – the one who is asking the whole world to be his neighbor -  the one who loves the neighbor in every sense of the word.

            As Henri Nouwen once said, Jesus is the wounded healer.  By his wounds we are healed the prayer goes.  The good news of Jesus Christ tells us that we become agents of healing in the world when we learn first-hand what it means to be receivers of this healing—healing made known in Christ -- healing made known in the despised and rejected Jesus who comes along and finds us at our worst and pulls us out of the ditch.

            Friends, during this week that can only be described as one from hell, I invite you to look for the helpers, look for Jesus.  Look for the one who descended to hell and on the third day rose again to the fullness of light and joy.  Look for the one who is turning a nightmare into a dream that surpasses human understanding.  Look for the one who through love and compassion reconciles the last people we think could be reconciled.  Look for the one who shows compassion and offers healing to a broken and tired world.  Now, go and do likewise.  Amen.

The following Solemn Collects were said following the sermon