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The
Man in the Ditch
July
10, 2004
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
10:25-37
Every
once in awhile it is valuable to take a parable and turn it
upside down. This is particularly true of today's parable
of the Good Samaritan, because the meaning of this parable
is so well known that it is almost a cliché: we are
to act like the Good Samaritan and help others who are in
need. The parable has even influenced the English Language.
If you were to stop and help someone fix a flat tire, that
person could likely call you a “Good Samaritan.” We have “Good
Samaritan laws” that penalize people who do not help others
in certain circumstances. Now there is nothing wrong with
reading this parable as an invitation for us to help those
in need. But if any parable needed a new twist or a different
perspective, it would be this one.
So
how can we read the parable differently? We can do so by changing
the character in the parable with whom we identify. Instead
of seeing ourselves as the character who gives (that is the
Samaritan) we can see ourselves as the character who receives
(the man who fell in with the robbers). This radically changes
the meaning of the parable. Instead of inviting us to give
to others, the parable shows us how God gives to us, how salvation
comes to us, how the kingdom enters our lives. We can even
change the name of the parable. Instead of calling it the
parable of “The Good Samaritan,” we can call it the parable
of “The Man in the Ditch.” We can ask how is that man saved?
How does life come to him?
It
comes as a surprise and as a gift. The parable is telling
us that often God comes into our life as a surprise. The man
in the ditch would have expected that the priest and the Levite,
good people that they were, would stop to help him. They did
not. But who could have thought that a Samaritan would have
pity on him? Remember Jews and Samaritans were enemies and
would not even greet one another on the street. So who could
have guessed that this Samaritan would stop and show him mercy?
No one. It was a surprise. In the same way, God surprises
us.
God's
coming is also a gift. The parable tells us that God sends
us life without our ability to earn or merit it. The man in
the ditch could have called out to the priest or the Levite,
reminding them of their obligation to help him as a fellow
Jew. But what claim could he make upon his enemy, the Samaritan?
The Samaritan could rightly say to him, “I owe you nothing,”
and he would be right. Therefore, his willingness to stop
and help was a total gift, a complete grace. That is how God
comes into our lives.
The
parable of The Man in the Ditch tells us that life comes to
us in ways we can never predict or ever deserve. Your own
experience of life confirms this. Look at the surprises in
your life: the way you met your spouse, the work your children
chose to do, the decisions that led you to where you live
and with whom you associate. Who could have predicted any
of these things? Look at how much in your life is unearned:
that you were born in this country, your health, the people
who love you. No one owes this to you. Yet it is your life.
It comes as a gift.
If
God comes to us as a surprise and as a gift, it is clear that
there is no way we can control God's presence. We can, however,
get ready for it. We can open ourselves to God's will. The
stance of the believer is a radical openness to whatever God
will do. We should never say to ourselves, “God can not do
this for me.” God is always surprising us. So we can find
someone to love us, we can fight this cancer or this addiction,
we can find the strength to understand and forgive. We should
never try to limit God's activity to only the things that
are due to us. God is always giving us more than our due.
Therefore, we should willingly seize whatever opportunity
is given, appreciate the relationships that are ours, and
be willing to accept help from another.
The
key to the kingdom of God is radical openness to God's will,
knowing that God will always surprise us and embarrass us
with generosity.
The
lawyer in the Gospel asks Jesus, “Teacher, what I must I do
to gain eternal life?” The Parable of the Man in the Ditch
has the answer. It tells us that each day we should wake up,
put our two feet on the floor and say, “Lord, here I am. Surprise
me with more than I deserve!”
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