A Thought For The Week Of April 18, 2016

"But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." (Luke 10:33) As I read this verse, a number of things come into my mind. I think of Muslims protecting a Catholic Church in Egypt during Mass after threats against the church were made. Or I think of Muslims in Norway forming a human shield to protect a synagogue in Oslo after an attack on a synagogue in neighbouring Denmark. Or I think of Christians and Jews joining together to help the Muslim community after a mosque was torched in Peterborough, Ontario. We sometimes get so consumed by fear of "the other"; by fear of those who are "different." There's no reason to fear them or to look down on them - but we do, as if we're somehow better than they are - except that we're not. That's one point made very clearly by the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised and looked down on by the Jews, but Jesus told a parable in which the Samaritan was the hero and the Jewish figures in the story were not. The Samaritan stopped and looked after the man who had been robbed and beaten while the Jewish leaders and officials had just passed by, as if it were none of their business. They were, after all, God's people - of the nation God had called into being - and they were very busy doing their religious duty. The point is that while those who passed by were busy with their religious duties, the Samaritan - while of the "wrong" race and the "wrong" religion - busied himself doing the will of God. The implication of the parable seems to be that our religion means very little unless it's matched by action. If our religion doesn't fill us with concern for others, then it means very little; if our faith isn't shown by how we treat others, then it's quite pointless. In fact, religion or faith means nothing if it gets in the way of us doing what God wants us to do.