By The Revd. Linda LaGroix
On Sunday, July 10, we read in the Gospel according to Luke the familiar parable, or teaching story, that Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan.
He responds to a question asked of him by a learned lawyer — “Who is my neighbour?” — when Jesus explains that we are called to our neighbour as to ourselves.
In telling this story, Jesus is calling on these early listeners, and us, to dramatically change our outlook on the world around us and the culture in which we find ourselves. In the story, a Jewish (or another culture) man was robbed and beaten, then left to die on the side of the road.
A priest of the Jewish faith saw him but quickly passed by. A Levite or high priest in the temple also hurried by, not wanting to become “unclean”.
The person who did stop to help was not a Jewish person but a foreigner, a Samaritan, a person hated by the Jews for their different understanding of honouring God. He did stop, though, helping the injured Jew and providing for his care until he was well again.
Why did he do that? He saw beyond all boundaries to the person who had been hurt. He was able to provide help and, without worrying about himself, he helped.
Looking through the window of a 2022 lens, we see a society where many walk by a person in need as well. Society has become so consumed with “I did it my way” or “It’s all about me” that we have forgotten that we as a community are called to care for one another.
Much of what we have has been produced by others, and we are blessed with gifts that have allowed us to achieve what we have. It is out of the abundance of what we have, that we are to care for others.
When we are called to love our neighbours, Jesus wants us to see that our neighbours are all those around us, those near and those far away.
We are to help as we can to ensure that all people are treated with respect, and live in a just and fair society with adequate housing, food, and care.
We cannot walk by and hope that the situation will go away. We need to get a little dirty and go out of our way to show the love that God has for all people, through the love that we show.
May we shake up the status quo by stepping forward and offering to help in small ways to change the world around us.
The Revd. Linda LaGroix is the priest at St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Ashcroft.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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