Seeing and Doing

This is what I find so interesting about the role the Samaritan plays. I mean, if this parable really was just another morality tale, I think the Samaritan would be the guy in the ditch. Then we'd have a classic "love you enemies" story. You'd know the rules: help those in need, and bonus points because it's a Samaritan. But that's not the way Jesus tells it. In Jesus' version, the Samaritan is the one who notices – who actually sees – this beaten man and by seeing him is moved to pity. The Samaritan, that is, is the one who recognizes that when it comes to the question of who is our neighbor, there are no rules. Our neighbor, it turns out, is anyone in need. Where does such vision come from? It apparentlydoesn't come from one's ethnicity, one's religion, ones training, or one's station in life. How else can we explain that a Samaritan saw this when the priest and Levite did not? Having the eyes of faith to see that all people are children of God and anyone in need is your neighbor must be a gift of God, it must be a matter of faith, it must start with seeing, and only then move to doing.

Which is where you come in, Working Preacher. You see, my problem generally isn't knowing what I should and shouldn't do. It's having the vision to see the person in need not as a burden, but as my neighbor, to recognize in the face of another's need not a hassle, but an opportunity, an opportunity to show the mercy I myself have experienced in Christ. My problem isn't a lack of information; it's a lack of faith. What I need from a sermon, finally, is not an instruction manual or life-coaching session but a cornea transplant. I need new eyes. I need the eyes the faith to see in others my neighbors, other children of God loved by God just as I am loved.

from http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=371