The Good Samaritan and You

The Good Samaritan and You
Luk 10:33-37 NLT - [33] "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. [34] Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. [35] The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. `If his bill runs higher than that,' he said, `I'll pay the difference the next time I am here.' [36] "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. [37] The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."

Christian charity is one of Jesus' central teachings. The love of God which flows out of us ought to flow out into the world. Throughout history, charity has certainly been manifested. Many organizations today, such as the YMCA, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and literally an entire directory(http://bit.ly/a6m0xU) exist in the world. This is not to say there are not Muslim charities or Hindi charities. Indeed, there are even charities by those who do not even believe in God. But there is a crucial difference between the Christian and the "good man." The difference is somewhat hidden in allegory here in Luke 10. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we are told that "a despised Samaritan came along" and "felt deep pity" for the beaten man on the side of the road. The Samaritan shows enough care to "[soothe] his wounds with medicine and [bandage] them." He "put[s] the man on his own donkey and [takes] him to an inn, where he [takes] care of him." Not only does the Samaritan, but he does a much more interesting and crucial thing. We are told that the Samaritan "hand[s] the innkeeper two pieces of silver and [tells] him to take care of the man." The Samaritan explains to the innkeeper that "if his bill runs higher than that, [he will] pay the difference." It is the debt that is the direct object of this allegory. The paid debt is a reflection of not only Christ's healing of us, but of His salvation of us. The teacher of the religious law to whom this story is directed remarks that the neighbor was "the one who showed [the beaten man] mercy." Mercy, then, is the chief cornerstone of our salvation. It is mercy by which Christ saved us, and it is mercy that He calls us to give to others.

Mercy is manifested not only in meeting physical and psychological needs, but in spiritual needs most importantly. A man can feed another man a thousand times over, and yet his soul is still starved. Physical needs only buy time for the lost. It is the condition of the soul, therefore, in which we are most interested. This, then, is the distinction between the Christian man and the good man. The good man shows mercy because it is the right thing to do, and that is how we should treat those we love. The Christian man does so for the same reason, but he adds the spiritual needs to the equation. Now, we must not misunderstand one another here. The Christian man does not use healing as a mere means to an end. I once heard a preacher say that the goal of the church was to "get [sinners] saved, baptized, and registered to vote." But healing is not a means to an end. We are not concerned with getting one more church attender because it will score us points or make us feel morally satisfied for the day; we are concerned with making the man a part of God's Church because he is our brother in Christ. We are concerned that he will need counseling and love to grow from a tiny plant into a mighty oak for the Lord. We, then, are called to be Good Samaritans who not only heal a broken man, but who pay that man's tuition, fill his shelves with books, and go and get him a job.

Many among us are doing such things in unique ways that I'd have never thought of. The Internet, once likely deemed a tool of Satan, has been used as a tool to reach the lost. There are even people dedicated to Internet ministries. Teachers and coaches are able to plant the seed of the Gospel into the lives of kids in broken homes. Missionaries travel far and wide to feed the desolate and starving, then feed them spiritually. All of these are ministries which Christ uses daily. People often ask if one is "going into the ministry." Every Christian ought to say yes. The ministry is not a single entity, but an array of tools used to reach the lost. We are Samaritans loaded with spiritual first aid kits. The Lord is calling us to go out and heal. Will we go out and heal? Amen.

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich