Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The Good Samaritan
How many times have we, as believers, been confronted with a good Samaritan situation? In Sunday school and sermons we have heard this story many times. It is one of the principal parables showing how we should treat one another.
Each character is assigned a role to play. A bad thing happens to a person. Two prominent, highly respected people in the community ignore the situation. The third person, who is viewed in a negative light, acts in a way a “good” person should act (even though he is viewed as a person of lower social standing).
One of the basic principles of society is to love one another. Jesus demonstrated constantly what this parable truly means.
My wife Mary and I were confronted with a modern-day application of the parable. One cold, dark winter night while we were heading home, the roads were covered with a thin layer of ice. The rural road between two towns was unlit by streetlights. We saw a man walking along the road, his car having gone into the ditch. We stopped and offered the man a ride. He was heading in the opposite direction and was uncertain of his destination.
We were confronted with a decision. How much time and effort would it take to help the man? What should we do? Would we be putting ourselves into a perilous situation?
We ended up giving the man a ride to a nearby town the direction he wanted to go and dropping him off at an open restaurant/bar. We did not follow all the way through to lend aid to the man. How will you demonstrate this parable in your life? Will you be the priest, the temple assistant? Or will you be the good Samaritan? If you are, how far will you go?
Keith Gohdes, Canaan Moravian Church
Davenport, North Dakota,
lay member, Northern Provincial Elders’ Conference