JACK BECK: THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
IS ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN OF JESUS' STORIES.
WHAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOW IS THAT IT'S ALSO A WILDERNESS STORY.
IN FACT, IT'S A STORY THAT INTIMATELY INVOLVES WILDERNESS TRAVEL.
I'M SURE YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW
ABOUT THIS STORY AS WE WALK ALONG THIS ROAD,
THE ROAD BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND JERICHO.
YOU'LL SEE THAT THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
IS NOT ONLY A STORY THAT HELPS US IDENTIFY WHO OUR NEIGHBOR IS,
BUT HOW WE'RE TO SHOW LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR.
WELL, ONE LAST TIME.
ONE LAST TIME, AS WE SIT HERE IN THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS ABOVE JERICHO,
IT'S TIME FOR US TO TAKE THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
AND MOVE THEM FROM TEXT TO GROUND INTO HEART.
WE'RE GOING TO DO IT WITH THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
IT'S A STORY THAT JESUS TOLD IN ORDER TO
HELP ANSWER THE QUESTION, "WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?"
IN ORDER TO SEE HOW THE STORY ANSWERS THAT QUESTION,
WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND A BIT OF THE SOCIAL TENSION
THAT EXISTED BETWEEN JEWS AND SAMARITANS IN JESUS' DAY.
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER QUESTION THAT THIS TEXT TAKES UP,
AND THAT'S THE QUESTION, "HOW DO I LOVE MY NEIGHBOR
"WHEN THAT NEIGHBOR IS GOING THROUGH A WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE?"
IN ORDER TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION WELL,
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS STORY
IS GROUNDED WHERE IT BELONGS, HERE IN THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS.
WHEN WE DO, WE'LL COME TO MORE DEEPLY APPRECIATE
HOW THE LOVE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN SHOWS THE WAY.
IT'S AN INCONVENIENT SORT OF LOVE THAT HE SHOWS.
NOW JESUS BEGINS THE STORY IN LUKE CHAPTER 10 VERSE 30 WHEN HE SAYS,
"A MAN WAS GOING DOWN FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO."
NOW I KNOW THE WORLD "WILDERNESS" DOESN'T APPEAR
IN THAT SENTENCE, BUT IT BELONGS THERE, DOESN'T IT?
BECAUSE THE ROAD THAT GOES FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO
IS THE ROAD THAT YOU AND I HAVE BEEN WALKING ON,
THE ONE THAT GOES DIRECTLY THROUGH
THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS AREA.
THERE WAS A MAN, JEWISH MAN, WHO WAS WALKING THIS ROAD
IN THE SAME DIRECTION WE WERE,
WHO ENCOUNTERED A GROUP OF ROBBERS.
THEY BEAT HIM, THEY ROBBED HIM,
AND THEY LEFT HIM FOR DEAD ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
THE NEXT PERSON ON THE SCENE WAS A JEWISH PRIEST
WHO LOOKS AT THE MAN AND PASSES AROUND HIM ON THE OTHER SIDE.
THIRD PERSON IN THE STORY, A LEVITE, ALSO A JEWISH MAN,
WHO IS COMING DOWN THIS ROAD, DOES EXACTLY THE SAME THING AS THE PRIEST.
PASSES BY ON THE OTHER SIDE.
THEN THE SAMARITAN ARRIVES, THE MAN NO ONE WOULD EXPECT
TO BE HELPING A JEW BECAUSE OF THAT TENSION BETWEEN JEWS AND SAMARITANS.
BUT HE STOPS.
HE BANDAGES THE MAN'S WOUNDS.
HE PUTS ON OIL AND WINE TO SOOTH THE PAIN.
LOADS THAT MAN ONTO HIS OWN DONKEY,
AND CONTINUES ON THE WAY TO A TRAVELER'S INN
WHERE THE MAN CAN BE TAKEN CARE OF BEYOND THE TIME THE SAMARITAN MAN CAN STAY.
THIS STORY IS A WILDERNESS STORY.
IF YOU UNDERSTAND TRAVEL THROUGH THIS WILDERNESS AREA,
YOU WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND THE INCONVENIENT SORT OF LOVE
THIS SAMARITAN WAS SHOWING.
LET'S PUT THIS STORY IN ITS PLACE.
THE ROAD BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND JERICHO
IS THE ROAD WE'VE BEEN WALKING, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE.
YOU NOTICE THAT THERE ARE NO CARS ON THIS ROAD.
THIS IS NOT A ROAD FOR CARRYING CARS.
THIS IS A HIKING TRAIL.
THAT PUTS THE ACTION OF THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE
IN A PRETTY NEGATIVE LIGHT, DOESN'T IT?
BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE THIS INJURED MAN
LAYING NEXT TO THE ROAD, IT TAKES SOME EFFORT
TO AVERT YOUR EYES FROM THE NATURE OF THE INJURIES,
TO STOP YOUR EARS SO THAT YOU DON'T HEAR HIM MOANING AND CALLING FOR HELP,
AND TO PHYSICALLY MOVE ACROSS THIS NARROW TRAIL
TO GET AS FAR AS WE CAN AWAY FROM HIM.
THAT'S LOVELESS ACTION.
THIS WILDERNESS TRAVEL IS ALSO TRAVEL
WHERE YOU DON'T EXPECT TO MEET MANY TRAVELERS.
I THINK THAT PLAYS A ROLE IN THE STORY TOO.
I SUSPECT THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE,
BOTH OF WHOM PASSED BY ON THE OTHER SIDE,
WERE COUNTING ON THE FACT THAT NO ONE WOULD NOTICE,
BECAUSE THERE'S NO ONE ELSE OUT HERE TO NOTICE.
THEIR LOVELESS ACT COULD BE AN ANONYMOUS ACT.
THIRD THING I'D OBSERVE ABOUT THE NATURE
OF WILDERNESS IN THIS STORY IS THAT
TRAVEL ON THIS ROAD IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
YOU HAVE BEEN WALKING NEXT TO THIS SHEER EDGE.
HAVE YOU FELT THAT? HAVE YOU FELT THE RISK?
I MEAN, YOUR FOOT SLIPS OFF THIS,
AND YOU BEGIN TO ROLL, YOU DON'T STOP FOR A LONG TIME,
AND WHEN YOU STOP YOU'RE NOT IN GOOD SHAPE.
YOU CAN ADD TO THAT THE LARGE PREDATORS THAT ARE PART OF THIS ECOSYSTEM.
YOU CAN ADD TO THAT THE RISK OF DEHYDRATION,
AND LOOK WHAT WE SEE IN THE STORY, THIEVES.
THIEVES. ALL OF THIS IS PART OF THE RISK OF TRAVELING THIS ROAD.
IT MEANS THAT ANYBODY WHO'S MOVING
ON THIS WILDERNESS ROAD WANTS TO DO SO
QUICKLY AND BE DONE BY THE TIME THE SUN SETS.
LOOK AT HOW THAT INFORMS THE DECISION OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
DESPITE THE RISK TO HIMSELF, HE STOPS,
LENGTHENS HIS TRAVEL DAY IN CARING FOR THIS MAN,
AND RUNS THE RISK OF HAVING HIS TRAVEL
MOVE INTO NIGHTFALL, WHEN THIS PLACE BECOMES EVEN MORE DANGEROUS.
NUMBER FOUR, THIS ROAD HAS NO OTHER VILLAGES ALONG IT.
SO FROM START TO END, YOU'RE UNABLE TO RESUPPLY.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THAT JOURNEY, YOU HAVE TO BRING WITH YOU.
OF COURSE, WEIGHT CONSIDERATION MEANS THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CARRY A LOT OF EXTRA.
WHAT DOES THE GOOD SAMARITAN DO?
HE TAKES OF HIS OWN SUPPLIES WHEN HE ARRIVES AT THE INJURED MAN
AND PUTS OIL AND WINE ON HIS WOUNDS.
THIS IS LOVE.
THIS IS LOVE IN ACTION, SURRENDERING HIS POSSESSIONS.
FIFTH, THIS WILDERNESS ROAD IS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING.
I FEEL LIKE I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT.
THIS WILDERNESS ROAD IS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING.
EVERYTHING FEELS LIKE IT GOES UPHILL,
AND DOWN A LITTLE BIT, AND THEN BACK UP AGAIN.
IT PULLS ON THE THIGHS. THEY BURN AS YOU WALK.
THAT'S WHY THE GOOD SAMARITAN HAD A PACK ANIMAL, A DONKEY TO RIDE.
BUT WATCH WHAT HE DOES WHEN HE GETS TO THE INJURED MAN.
HE STOPS, GETS OFF THAT ANIMAL,
PUTS THE INJURED JEWISH MAN ON IT,
AND HE CHOOSES TO WALK THIS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING TERRAIN.
THAT'S LOVE, YOU SEE?
SURRENDER OF HIS PERSONAL COMFORT.
I BELIEVE THAT WHEN YOU PUT THIS STORY BACK IN ITS PLACE,
THE WILDERNESS, WHERE IT BELONGS,
YOU SEE IT'S NOT JUST A STORY ABOUT WHO OUR NEIGHBOR IS,
BUT HOW WE EXTEND LOVE INTO OUR NEIGHBORS' LIVES
WHO ARE GOING THROUGH WILDERNESS.
LOVE THAT IS INCONVENIENT.
I'VE GOT TO TELL YOU THAT CHALLENGES ME.
THAT REALLY GOES TO GROUND IN CHALLENGING
HOW I THINK ABOUT MYSELF AND HOW I'VE TREATED OTHERS
WHO ARE GOING THROUGH A WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE
IN THEIR LIVES WHETHER IT BE PHYSICAL
OR MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL, SOMETHING THAT WAS
THREATENING THEM AND BRINGING THEM HARDSHIP.
WHO DO I LOOK MORE LIKE IN THE STORY?
ALL TOO OFTEN, I'M AFRAID, I'VE PASSED OVER ON THIS SIDE,
AVERTED MY EYES A BIT, AND JUST GLANCED OVER TO MY SHOULDER
TO MAKE SURE NO ONE'S LOOKING.
NO ONE NOTICED, SO IT'S OKAY THAT I DIDN'T
TAKE THE TIME, AND THE ENERGY, AND THE EFFORT TO RENDER AID.
I WANT TO BE BETTER THAN THAT.
I WANT MY LIFE TO LOOK MORE LIKE THAT OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN,
WHO ALLOWED INCONVENIENCE IN HIS LIFE
TO SERVICE THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.
THAT'S LOVE.
THAT'S LOVE IN ACTION.
THAT'S INCONVENIENT LOVE.
JOHN MUIR, A GREAT LOVER OF THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS,
ONCE SAID, "I REALLY LOVE TO GO OUT INTO WILDERNESS,
"BECAUSE WHEN I DO I FIND MYSELF GOING IN."
TODAY, AS WE PACK UP TO WALK OUT
FOR THE LAST TIME FROM THIS WILDERNESS,
I'D LIKE TO GO OUT AND GO IN AT THE SAME TIME.
I'D LIKE YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WILDERNESS IS.
I'D LIKE YOU TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU'VE SEEN IT KNIT
INTO THE VERY FABRIC OF STORIES AND PSALMS
THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW SO WELL.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO PUT THAT INTO YOUR LIVES.
LET THE THOUGHTS OF GOD MOVE FROM TEXT
TO GROUND AND THEN HERE, WHERE THEY BELONG IN OUR HEART.
LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN.