The parable of the good enemy

 

Luke 10: 25-37
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
July 10, 2022

Surrealist painting entitled "Mercy" by Lina Scarfi
A human figure all in red, with large breasts and legs bent at the knee that make a heart shape, is being ministered to by two angels, one white and one brown.  The red figure has a sewing needle threaded through the left shoulder, the red thread connects different objects and images: a crutch, a hand mirror, a four story building, a church, a figure wearing a coat and a cast on one leg. 

When I was in 5th grade I got into a fist fight with one of my best friends, John Angus McLeod. I give you his whole name because that’s what his family called him, what his mother yelled when she wanted him to come in the house, like it was all one name: Johnangus. I even remember addressing a birthday card to him and receiving a valentine from him signed that way.



We had known each other since preschool. We had been in Sunday School together. We went to each other’s birthday parties. We walked to and from school most days. But on this one day we were enemies. We were walking home from school as usual. I can’t remember what we were arguing about but at some point we started shoving each other. A small crowd of classmates gathered around us. I took a half-hearted swing at him, and he came back with a hard punch to my stomach. I doubled over, unable to hide the angry tears of pain and humiliation streaming down my cheeks. Johnangus looked surprised, then ran off toward home.



The small crowd broke up and ambled away. I couldn’t get my breath and started shaking. A quiet kind voice said, “Are you okay?” It was Kathy Odell, one of the girls in my class whose circle of friends didn’t hang out with a tomboy like me, and these were probably the first words she ever said to me. Before I could say anything, she said, “Come on” and gestured for me to follow her. We went to her house where she sat me down in the kitchen, gave me a tissue, and handed me a glass of water. Neither of us said a word as I sipped the water and thought “why is she helping me, why is she being nice to me”. When I had calmed down and felt like I could walk home, I gave an awkward “thank you” and left.



I used to think that this story was a decent parallel to the story of the Good Samaritan. Someone gets hurt, no one helps or shows any mercy except the unexpected person, someone who takes us by surprise with their compassion.

Poster by Andre Henry: Pink background with a yellow hand in the lower left corner holding a pill and a yellow hand in the upper right holding the pill bottle that reads "Hard pills to swallow", with these words in all red capital letters: "A society that can't grieve can't change."

But the story of the Good Samaritan goes much deeper than that. First, it begins with an expert in the law, the Torah, who serves much like the saˈtan or adversary who tested Jesus in the desert, but whose questions suggest they are attempting to make themself look good at Jesus’ expense. The expert addresses Jesus as Teacher when master or Lord would be more appropriate and asks about inheriting eternal life much like the son who asked for his share of the inheritance while his father was still alive.



Rather than do the work for this expert in the law, Jesus responds with a question: What is written and what do you read there? Jesus knows this person can read, but can they interpret, do they comprehend the meaning of what they are reading? The expert replies with a very good answer, one that was well-established in Jewish tradition and that Jesus uses himself as the Great Commandment: to love God and to love neighbor are the measure by which all other actions are tested.



But when Jesus says to go and do this, these are not just boxes to tick on a list. To do something and then you will live means to live that way. Yet the expert is not satisfied. They want validation and so goes on to ask, “Who is my neighbor?” which is a sneaky way of asking “Who isn’t my neighbor?” Who do I not have to share with, who do I not have to love, who can I ignore, which is a mudslide towards “Who can I hold a grudge for, who can I blame, who can I hate?”

Poster by Andre Henry: Red background with a screenshot of a tweet by Andre Henry and orange shadowing to make it look 3-D: "The liberation of one people can't mean annihilation for your people unless your group is fundamentally tied to the other's oppression."

Anyone who knows about Jesus knows that the answer to that is “no one”. This is the guy who said “love your enemy and pray for those who torment you. If you love those who love you, what’s the big deal? Even wicked people love those who love them.” The Hebrew words for “neighbor” and for “evil” have the same consonants but different vowels; remember that ancient Hebrew did not include the vowels in the text. To be an expert in the law, one needed to know which word was which, given the context but then that’s the point Jesus is making. To love one’s neighbor is to love one’s enemy. Since the expert didn’t understand this, Jesus puts them to the test with a parable, which in true biblical tradition usually doesn’t go well for the one receiving it. Jesus couldn’t have asked for a better opening pitch than “Who is my neighbor?” to hit one out of the park.

And so, a traveler going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, about an 18-mile trek, fell among robbers who beat him, stripped him of his clothing, and left him half dead. That’s all we know about him. As for the priest and the Levite who pass by and do not stop, it has nothing to do with purity laws. Because they were also traveling down from Jerusalem, away from their ritual duties, there was no need for ritual purity. Also, as ones who uphold the law of Moses they would be obligated to love their neighbor and the stranger, whether alive or dead.



The most likely reason they did not stop to help is that they were afraid; to stop to help would make them vulnerable to the same fate. Martin Luther King Jr. in one of his sermons reasoned that what these two men were worried about was what would happen to them if they stopped. It was the Samaritan who worried what would happen to the one half-dead if he did not stop.



Jesus hooks his listeners with the priest and the Levite because the next character they are expecting is an Israelite like themselves and that the Israelite will be the hero of the story. Like the two stepsisters who try the glass slipper first and fail, it’s the third time that is the charm. But instead of Cinderella, the righteous underdog, Jesus inserts Israel’s closest and most personal enemy, a Samaritan.

Poster by Andre Henry: White background with a ink drawing in the lower left corner of a hand holding a pill and an ink drawing in the upper right corner of a hand holding a pill bottle with the label "Hard Pills to Swallow", with these words in black bold print in the center: "U.S. prisons are modern day plantations". 

Jews and Samaritans are distant relatives, originally united but then separated by a long history of division and conquests by foreign powers, each building their own temple on different mountains, each claiming to be God’s people while harboring animosity against the other. To name the Samaritan, the rival, the enemy as the hero and not only that, but as an example to follow was like a whole humble pie made of crow. A hard pill to swallow indeed.



While the expert knew the right words, the Samaritan did the right thing, and not only that but was prepared to risk doing the right thing and lived that way. The Samaritan was merciful as God is merciful, loved unconditionally as God loves unconditionally. To be the Good Enemy would be like admitting to being the Good Racist, the Good White person, and not just good like White savior good but merciful, not only compassionate but profusely generous. Someone who goes out of their way not just to be kind but to break the cycle of violence and trauma.



We are not the hero in the story, we are the closest and most personal enemy: the enemy of the earth and the climate, the enemy of those who want to create a White Christian nation, the enemy of those who want to control people’s bodies, and those of us who are White, who benefit from centuries of systemic racism, we are enemies of non-White people; we live in the dominant culture of White supremacy. And so, we must be willing to be the Good Enemy, the one who binds up wounds rather than inflicts them, the one that stops rather than passes by, the one who gives up some of what they have so that others can be healed and restored.



We are also not the victim here. Sometimes we come looking to be justified. In the words of activist Andre Henry, it’s time we broke up with White Jesus. The Good Enemy is also the one who calls us out on our racism and to do the work of anti-racism. The Good Enemy is the one who shows us how we behave in ways that are hurtful to the unhoused, the impoverished, to those wounded and left half-dead by our society that robs them of their humanity. The Good Enemy is the one who gives us that hard pill to swallow about ourselves but with a tall glass of cool water. Indeed, Jesus is that Good Enemy, the one that shows us the truth with mercy undeserved and then instructs us to go and do likewise.

Photo of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking before a crowd with this quote:
"We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor - both black and white, both here and abroad."  - The Three Evils of Society, 1967

Benediction – True Colors by Cyndi Lauper

You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh, I realize
It's hard to take courage

In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Makes you feel so small

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors

True colors are beautiful

Like a rainbow