“CROSSING THE ROAD”

Luke 10:25-37

Sunday, June 29, 2008

In a world that often seems terribly unkind, deeds of kindness are always welcome. Wesley Autrey was that kind of a person. On January 3, 2007 CTV News carried the following story: “Man saves teen who fell on New York subway track.”

“A construction worker named Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform with his two young daughters, ages four and six, waiting on a train. Suddenly another man on the platform, apparently suffering from a seizure, stumbled and fell off the platform down onto the subway tracks. Just at that moment the headlights of a rapidly approaching train appeared in the subway tunnel. Acting quickly, and with no thought for himself, Wesley Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to rescue the stricken man by dragging him out of the way of the train. But he immediately realized that the train was coming too fast and there wasn't time to pull the man off the tracks. So Wesley pressed the man into the hollowed-out space between the rails and spread his own body over him to protect him as the train passed over the two of them. In the interview after, Wesley said: “I wrapped my arms and legs around him and tightened up. I had to lock my whole body.”

The train cleared Wesley by mere inches, coming close enough to leave grease marks on his knit cap. When the train came to a halt, Wesley called up to the frightened onlookers on the platform. "There are two little girls up there screaming for their Daddy. Let them know that I’m OK and that the man is OK."

Immediately, and for good reason, Wesley Autrey became a national hero. People were deeply moved by his selflessness, and they marveled at his bravery. Autrey refused medical attention and continued on his way with his daughters to see their mother downtown.

What Wesley Autrey had done was a remarkable deed of concern for another person. He had no obvious reason to help this stranger. He didn't know the man. He had his young daughters to think about. What he did was at severe risk to his own life. But a human being was in desperate need, and Wesley saw it and, moved with compassion, did what he could to save him. In that same interview Wesley said: “I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right.”

"The Subway Superman"-that's what the press called him, the "Harlem Hero." But the headline in one newspaper described Wesley Autrey in biblical terms. It read, "Good Samaritan Saves Man on Subway Tracks." (If you Google in ‘Wesley Autrey’ you can catch the David Letterman interview by You Tube.)

If we were on that subway platform what would we have done? Would we have been as courageous as Wesley? Would we have been a Good Samaritan that day?

That’s exactly the question this morning’s gospel wants us to ponder. Would we be a ‘Good Samaritan?’ Or would we be a little more selective? You know the thinking: “I’ll be a Good Samaritan to this neighbour but not to that one.” How far out of our comfort zone would we be willing to go to be a ‘Good Samaritan?’

The parable of the Good Samaritan is probably one of Jesus’ most familiar stories. When the circumstance arises, when we see a person in desperate need lying on the side of the road - or on some subway track - would we risk ourselves to cross the road and offer a helping hand?

In a world where acts of kindness seems often to be in short supply, Wesley Autrey, a black construction worker from Harlem, risks his life for a person in desperate need. In today’s parable, Jesus brings in one from ‘the outside’ - an unnamed and despised Samaritan - has him cross the road and set the standard for loving our neighbour.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Along the way he got embroiled in a testy conversation with a lawyer. The man knew his Torah (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) very well, especially the part that says: “That you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence – and that you love your neighbour as yourself.” But there’s where the lawyer tried to use his skill to find some wiggle room. What started out to be a discussion about Eternal Life quickly turned to the real issue. “Tell me, Jesus, just how would you define ‘neighbour?’ Who is my neighbour?”

And from there Jesus tells the story we know so well: a worshipper on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho is mugged and left for dead on the side of the road - a situation not too different from some of the drive-by shootings that have been happening in Toronto recently. Two religious leaders came along at different interval. Unfortunately, they averted the injured man. Stopping to help might cause an infraction to their religious purity laws. Stopping to help might also interfere with their busy schedules - maybe even a drain on their personal resources.

Thankfully, a person of another religious persuasion came along that road. To a Jewish audience, the very mention of the word Samaritan would be like spit in their mouth. As the Jews would often say, “It is better to die in a pool of blood by the side of the road than to be touched by a Samaritan.” Filled with compassion, the Samaritan crossed the road, and made a real difference in the victims life.

Jesus turned back to the lawyer, “So, tell me Mr. Lawyer - tell me good church person - what’s your definition of ‘Neighbour now?’” Unable to say the word “Samaritan,” the Lawyer simply mumbled, “the one who showed mercy.” And we all know the final response of Jesus: “Go and do the same.”

Jesus’ parables always have a way coming back to bite us. Jesus always moves religious talk from the pleasant into a mirror where we see ourselves more clearly. “At the end of the parable,” said Martin Luther, “it’s as if God is saying to each of us, ‘If you really want to love and serve me, you have to do it through your neighbour….he needs your help. I don’t!’”

Last week I was in Toronto attending a national symposium of United Church clergy and lay people. Close to 600 people were in attendance. The content of the event was all about ‘vital ministry in today’s Canadian context.’ One of the plenary speakers, Amir Hussein, a Muslim, told a true story about a conversation that took place between U of T professor Wilfred Smith and another person. Just like the Samaritan in our story, sometimes the honest but challenging questions need to come from someone on the outside. During that conversation, Smith was asked, “Are you a Christian?” Smith thought about the question for a minute, then responded, “Well, I think I was for an hour or two last Tuesday.” The interrogation continued, “Well, tell me, then, are you a Christian?” To which Smith responded, “Why don’t you ask my neighbour?”

What will our neighbours say about us?

In Matthew 25, Jesus said the answer about Eternal Life is really pretty straight forward. It’s all about the quality of our neighbourliness. “I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was homeless and you gave me a room; I was shivering and you gave me clothes;   I was sick and you stopped to visit; I was in prison and you came to me.'…. Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

But let me throw a little twist into the familiar moral of the story. Before we rush off to imitate the kindness of the Good Samaritan, or some heroic deed like Wesley Autrey, let me suggest that there is something deeper going on in this story. If Jesus wants us to imitate the courageous compassion of the Samaritan, WE CAN’T DO IT! It is simply not in our nature to risk everything for a stranger in need - unless your name is Wesley Autrey.

At the end of the day, we are helpless to be Good Samaritans on our own strength. What the lawyer discovered - and what we discover is that we cannot stand on the sidelines and figure out how to be good. For all of our religious virtues and attitudes, we just cannot do it. We are the person in the ditch of life. We are the ones who have fallen away from God because of our sin. According to the gospel, we are the ones who need to be rescued. Reading from The Message version, the Apostle Paul expressed our situation this way: “My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

But, there is good news in this story. There is one who crossed the road - a Good Samaritan named Jesus - the very one who was despised, rejected and risked his whole life to step into the ditch to rescue us. By virtue of his neighbour-love, Jesus acted to set things right for all time.

The question, you see, is not, “who is my neighbour?” The word of the Gospel is that Jesus, the crucified one, has already been neighbour to you. Now let his love transform your heart.

When you do, you will know what it means: “go and do likewise!”

Do you have a heart to cross the road? The search for Eternal Life, you see, is not found on some mountain top, or in some hour of worship, but down in the slopes and valleys, down in the ditch of life whenever we attend to a neighbour who has a need.