Articles
Knowing the Right Thing to Do
* * * * * * * * * * *
“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Lk. 10:36-37)
* * * * * * * * * * *
The parable of the Good Samaritan was prompted by a lawyerly question about The Second Greatest Law, namely, the duty to "love your neighbor as yourself" (v. 27-29). The man's question (“Who is my neighbor?”) was not designed to identify the proper candidates for compassion, but to find a loophole that would limit the obligation.
In the end, of course, the lawyer understood perfectly well who his neighbor was. His own response to the parable ("He who showed mercy on him") revealed the simple truth behind the command: Our "neighbor" is anyone who needs the help that we are in a position to provide.
In most cases, moral quandaries are not as problematic as we make them out to be, and knowing the right thing to do is really not that hard to figure out. The complication stems from the price we know we’ll have pay to do it. Doing the right thing often involves sacrifice, inconvenience, or even social awkwardness. It certainly imposed a cost on the Samaritan in this parable.
But when faced with an opportunity to serve others in our own lives, we allow these background considerations to twist our minds into knots. The priest and the Levite in this parable no doubt had their reasons for not getting involved in the injured man's plight. So do we--or at least that's what we try to convince ourselves.
The genius of this parable is that it strips away all those extraneous deliberations and exposes the key issue in every humanitarian decision: Will I step up and offer my services to help this person in need, or will I not? We have no problem identifying the hero and villains in this story; so why do we struggle to see our own opportunities to do good in the same light?
"Go and do likewise" is Jesus' challenge to each one of us to practice our faith. When the Lord places a genuine humanitarian crisis in your path, don't agonize over the decision about what to do. Just do it. Someone will appreciate your kindness; and you'll feel a lot better for having stepped out of your comfort zone.
--David
