Least Likely ...

Back in the time that High School yearbooks were a thing; there were often people voted for categories of “most likely …” to succeed, or star in a Hollywood movie, or get married and have 5 kids.  It was meant as a playful guess at the future of students who were indeed just starting out in life.  No one could really know anyone’s future, everyone understood that.  You simply took what you knew about a person at the time, and used it, to make a playful prognostication about where they mind wind up in 20 years or so.  It is that “playful” aspect that keeps the opposite idea from showing up in our yearbooks.  The idea of voting someone “least likely …” brings up negative connotations.  Seems as though whatever you attach to the end of that phrase “voted least likely to …” would not be so flattering.  So it is not in there.  But while it does not appear formally in any of our yearbooks, it does appear in our minds – back then, and even right now.  We can all remember some poor kid who we imagined would never succeed; or despite their interest in the arts, would never become famous.  Hint: if you can’t imagine that someone – it was probably you that others imagined – color me in this group.  Not sure if you could call my life any kind of success, and I am certainly not famous for any artistic gifts or talent I fancied myself as having.  If you looked at me back then and surmised; “least likely …” – you probably were not far from the truth.

But there is another way of looking at “least likely” that carries more surprise with it, and more weight.  Imagine being on the receiving end of love from someone you least imagined would ever be sharing it with you.  Most of us get used to the idea of familiarity with the people who show us love.  We know who they are, that list, such as it is, never seems to change much.  My mom loves me.  My dad loves me.  My wife and kids love me, etc.  But what I never imagine, is my enemy loving me.  And we all have someone like that in our lives.  Somebody we just never clicked with.  Maybe they bullied us in high school, or maybe they bully us right now at work.  Maybe they were a romantic interest at one time that ended badly, very badly, and now we use words like hate, when once we used words like love.  There are plenty of reasons why people seem to find their way on to an enemies list.  Some folks are just hard to love at all.  Ask yourself, do you really love Trump?  If you are part of his base the answer may be a quick yes, so substitute Nancy Pelosi’s name for his and then ask the same question.  Chances are if the politician is not part of your team, the best you do is to tolerate them.  More often is to dislike them.  And a few folks go so far as to hate them (most often without ever having met the person they claim to hate).  Now if you can picture that person in your mind; imagine having that person show you the most profound mercy and love.  That is what the parable of the Good Samaritan is supposed to illustrate.  But it has a deeper meaning for us as we give it a second look.

Luke sets the back story in chapter ten of his gospel letter to his friend Theophilus on what we believe and why we believe it.  It starts out as most sticky-wickets start out; with a lawyer. 😊  Luke picks up in verse 25 saying … “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  For context, Jesus was popular with the people.  He genuinely loved them, how could he not be popular.  He freed them from the pain of sins, as well as the pain of disease and deformity.  The people were beginning to return that love.  It was yet another reason why the Sanhedrin began to hate Jesus as much as the people loved Him.  The Sanhedrin, or ruling body, was made up of priests, scribes, and lawyers – essentially the educated class.  They thought themselves better than any of the common folks.  These were the ones who would have easily been voted “most likely to succeed” in their day.  Jesus would not have.  He was nothing like them.  So they go about to set a trap for Jesus, one of many they would attempt, to get Jesus to trip over His words or answers, in order to discredit Him with the people.  As if the people were only interested in words.  That is what the Sanhedrin cared about.  The people, not so much.  But nevertheless, if you are hammer, everything looks like a nail.  So the lawyer, asks Jesus his trick question.

Jesus responds in verse 26 saying … “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?”  And here we see the lawyer must have been a rookie.  Jesus answered His trick question with another question of His own.  First rule; don’t let the client ask the questions.  But note the subtlety of Jesus’s question, He asks the lawyer what the Law has to say on this topic.  The Law is a reflection of the love of God.  It is not a definitive list, but it is a starting point.  We were never meant to attempt to find loopholes in the Law, exceptions, or other ways to circumvent the Law.  Why would you attempt this if the Law itself, is only a beginning definition of what it means to love?  The problem most of us have (and a lot of lawyers have too) is that we want to see the Law as a “complete” outline of what God requires; instead of a starting point of what it means to love.  If the Law is complete, we can run our lives by the lists of requirements it proscribes.  But if the Law is only a foundation, we must spend our lives looking to start there and figure out what else love means.  The second road is harder, and so why most of us have messed up ideas about what God’s Law means.  You will note in any case, the Law is still the Law.  So Jesus begins here to ask the lawyer what that means.

The lawyer answers Jesus in verse 27 saying … “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”  The lawyer has his priorities straight at least.  Love God first.  Then love others at least as much as you love yourself.  Also the lawyer has zeroed in on the true topic of the law, it is all about love.  How is it that the legalist of his day gets it, and we still don’t?  The lawyer never actually specifies one single commandment.  He never explicitly states that we should not steal.  The reason; you don’t steal from someone you love.  But “not stealing” is hardly a comprehensive list of the ways someone else knows you love them.  It takes more than just not stealing.  It takes more than all the other commandment no-no’s combined.  Do all of that.  But don’t stop there.  There is more to love than that.  This is why the lawyer does not have to list each commandment out separately.  The only part the lawyer has omitted is “how” to go about living this way.  It is the cause and effect of submission.  We submit to Jesus, and He remakes us to love this way, to think this way, to live this way.

Jesus responds to the lawyer in verse 28 saying … “And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”  Jesus says, good answer.  This is how we should live with our families, our neighbors, when you think about it, our communities, our nation, and our world.  But the lawyer, sees the relative ease of living this way with the list of people who love him already.  And the lawyer sees the relative difficulty of living this way with others he knows or cares for less.  So the lawyer wants affirmation that the list of people he loves is good enough for Jesus (and by proxy, for God).  Luke continues in verse 29 saying … “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?”.  This is the question we actually ask when the topic of loving others comes up.  Isn’t it good enough to love my mom, or my dad, or my wife and kids – do I really need to love others beyond that?  The implication being, that loving people outside of my immediate circle is too hard.  Easy to love nanna, too hard to love that person who sits next to me in church who I am not that fond of.  But Jesus has an answer for the lawyer and for us on this topic as well.  He offers it in the form of a parable or story.

Jesus begins in verse 30 saying … “And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”  Let’s make a few substitutions to Jesus’ parable to make it more personally relevant to you and I.  First, the “certain man” is not just some random guy, its you.  Yes, you personally.  And second, crap happens.  Yup, you get mugged.  Not just robbed.  But beaten as well.  Left for dead.  This is not your best day.  You are a believer, why does crap like this happen to someone as good as you?  But it does.  Not because God loves you any less.  But because Satan hates you just as much as God loves you.  And sometimes the servants of Satan do his will, at your expense.  So mugged you are.  Beaten.  And left for dead.  You would hope the people who love you would fix this.  But they are not around.  You are nowhere near your home.  Maybe traveling to a far away city.  Someplace you do not normally go.  But if things don’t get better soon, you may just bleed out and die.

Jesus continues in verse 31 saying … “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.”  OK, here comes your first opportunity for help.  It is a pastor from your particular denomination or church.  Not just a fellow believer, but a preacher, who you recognize from the audience, even though he may not exactly recognize you.  At least you know he shares your beliefs, and preaches them from the pulpit every week.  You are beginning to take hope.  But what’s this?  He sees you.  He sees your need.  And he crosses the street to avoid getting anywhere near you.  You cannot even talk to the guy.  He is too far away.  And He did it on purpose.  He sees you bleeding.  What’s wrong?  Didn’t want to get his nice suit dirty with your blood?  How could this happen?  A minister.  Really?  Really?  But nevertheless you still lay there bleeding.

Jesus continues in verse 32 saying … “And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.”  Now here comes the head elder/deacon of your church.  You do know this guy.  You know he shares your beliefs.  You know he is a worker in your church.  You’re sure he will stop and help.  I mean, you would, right?  But the deacon/elder just does exactly what the preacher did, he crosses the street to avoid even talking to you.  Neither of these guys call 911.  Neither of them even want to acknowledge you have a problem.  Can’t they see.  Can’t they hear you?  How could someone who claims to follow Jesus be this cold to someone like you?  What did you ever do to offend them?  They don’t even know you enough to be offended by you.  This is crazy.  You could die, I mean really die.  Your getting cold.  The lack of blood is taking a toll on your body.  You’re starting to think you will never get to say goodbye to your family.  The thieves took your phone and your wallet (or purse).  You have no I.D..  You have no money.  Not even change for a payphone if you could find one of those long-gone necessities.  Could not walk to it anyway I guess.  Your dying.  This sucks.

Jesus continues in verse 33 saying … “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, [verse 34] And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”  And here is where the story goes sideways.  “Least likely …” comes into play.  Remember that enemy I told you to imagine (for Democrats we will use Donald Trump, for Republicans we will use Nancy Pelosi).  They are the Samaritan (whichever one you happen to like least).  Not just their staff, or a person who knows them, but one of them personally, depending on who you hate the most.  Keep in mind, you have likely never met either one of them.  So they do not know you at all.   As far as sharing your beliefs goes, they don’t.  I mean, really, they don’t.  They are the anti-version of what you believe.  Completely.  And it is one of them that discovers you bleeding on the street.  They get out of the limo.  They come over to where you are and put pressure on the wound with their own hands.  They yell at the staff to call 911 for you.  All the while they sit there on the ground with you, getting filthy in the city gutter and street, holding you, holding your wounds, keeping pressure on it.  And telling you, you are going to be alright.  Don’t give up.  Help is on the way.  They take off their outer winter overcoat and put it around you.  Now it is they who are getting cold.

You can hear the sirens.  The EMT’s put you on a gurney and hoist you into the back of the ambulance.  Donald or Nancy, get in with you.  They ride with you to the hospital.  You cannot even speak anymore.  You have no I.D.  The hospital is not sure they want to admit another John/Jane Doe with no insurance card.  So Donald or Nancy takes out their wallet/purse and pulls out several large bills, and their own personal insurance cards.  Put it on my tab they say.  What is your name the hospital asks?  Too weak to respond.  Can’t answer.  Donald says he is part of my family.  Take care of him like you would take care of me.  Spare nothing in his healing.  I will take care of everything.  At this point you are sure they are going to leave you, or at least call the local press in order to get a photo-op out of this tragedy.  They do neither.  They cancel their appointments.  And then quietly sit with you all night long.  You wake up in the morning just long enough to hear them continue to assure the hospital they will be back later this day.  Once again to check in on you and make sure you make it, and figure out how to get word to your family.  And neither wants anything from you.  No selfy.  No photo-op with the press.  No kind words in public from you about how heroic they are.  A complete press black out.  They did not do this for press.  They did this only for you.  Just you.  Just because it was right, the right thing to do.  Your mind cannot even imagine a story like this.  These two are beyond least likely to ever … cause your mind has already judged what they are like, even though you have never met either of them.  Yet this is the story Jesus offers, just modified in language and people we understand and feel about today.

Jesus concludes starting in verse 35 saying … “And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. [verse 36] Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? [verse 37] And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”  The lawyer wanted to know who his neighbor was, at a minimum his “Jewish” neighbor.  But Jesus states, it was a Samaritan.  An enemy, a person hated for the things they believe.  Someone lesser than.  Someone least likely.  Someone homeless who does not deserve our pity let alone an all out barrage of mercy and financial offerings.  I cannot imagine Donald Trump taking the time to do this for me.  But what is worse; from an ever deeper perspective, the homeless person on the street, cannot imagine “me” taking the time to do this for him.  “I” am the priest, or the Levite; not the Samaritan.  I have walked by too many.  Which means I love too little, to see the pain I cross the street to avoid.  That is what must change in the core of who I am.  And I cannot talk about Commandments or the Law, while I cannot see the needs of others, and call myself a Commandment keeper.  I am not.

Its not enough to do this for people I love, who are already in my inner circle.  Until every person on planet earth breaks my heart in sympathy, I have not learned to love like Jesus loves yet.  It is not enough to take actions, but still care less, or care pragmatically.  I must learn to care with total abandon.  To care like Jesus did and Jesus does.  When I care like that, I will reflect who Jesus is.  Until then, I am a poor reflection of the name of Jesus.  And I know, my heart of stone will take the Master’s touch to ever feel differently than it does today.  But Jesus can and is remaking me.  Like Jesus can remake Donald Trump or Nancy Pelosi.  He may already be working on Donald; am I willing to let Jesus work on me as well?  Or do I spend too much time assuming Trump has no hope, while I squander my own hope in bitter pre-judged accusations?  I hope not.  Here is where submission must become everything.  I wish to look deep into the eyes of that person in need, while there is still time to do something about it.  And before my heart has become nothing more than stone focused only on the shortcomings of others.