World Day of Prayer for Christian Unity Week - Prayer Service

Reflection by: Rev'd Father David I. Giffen, Assistant Curate, St. Paul's Cathedral London, ON

January 17, 2009

I speak to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

There was once a boat with hundreds of people aboard, which had been travelling through the deepest parts of the Sea for many, many years.  This was an unusual boat which was longer in length, than any boat, anyone had ever seen.

This boat was so long, that the people living aboard had divided in two; one group living at the front of the boat, while the other group resided at the back of the boat. 

The elders of the boat told stories about days when the entire people of the boat were one, but so few could remember.

Their division had lasted so long, that the people at the back of the boat referred to the people at the front of the boat, as the front boat people, while the people at the front of the boat referred to the people at the back of the boat, as the back boat people.

They knew of each others existence, but they did not associate with one another.

One day along the boat’s journey, a leak sprang loose at the front of the boat, and the front boat people began to panic.  All hands of the front boat people grabbed buckets to try and save their home.  But the leak was too much for the boat, and the front of the boat began to sink into the sea.

At the back of the boat, many aboard began to notice the commotion that was happening at the front of the boat.  Binoculars came out and someone shouted ‘the front of the boat has sprung a leak!’  And in relief, one of the ‘back boat people said to another, ‘boy I’m glad we’re not at the front of the boat, or we’d be in real trouble.’

What we all fail to realize sometimes, is that like it or not, we’re all in the same boat.

***

“Who is my neighbour?” they asked our Lord.

Well, it’s certainly no random piece of scripture we hear in our Gospel Reading tonight.  So often when I am asked to preach at morning or evening services throughout the week, I look to the daily office lectionary to find some kind of obscure passage, describing the call of Hezekiah, or the genealogy of a minor prophet; some obscure passage that asks the preacher to dig deep into old Seminary notes, or the dusty book on the shelf that hasn’t been cracked in years.

So often that is the case, but not tonight.  This evening’s Gospel reading is so well known by both the secular and the sacred alike; even the final episode of the Sitcom “Seinfeld” was based upon its tenets. 

How much more common can you get?

In Seinfeld’s, Series Finale, the cast of characters is put on trial for not adhering to a small town by-law called, “The Good Samaritan” Law.  Essentially they are charged with the ignoring of a crime, which takes place right before their eyes, and they are deemed to have acted, without enough care for their fellow citizen.

Obviously a piece of fiction, as we are certainly free to care for one another, as much, or as little as we like.

“Oh what a Good Samaritan,” you might hear of a cub scout who returns a lost wallet, or a candy striper who roams the hospital wards, “What a kind person they are.”  It’s not hard to see that you don’t have to be churched to hear it – like I said both the secular and sacred alike.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree, we should be “kinder” to one another; in fact, we’d have a much more peaceful world if we did, but I’m not sure if simply being ‘kind,’ was the message of Christ, in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

You see, “Samaritans,” in the 1st Century, the context of this story, were a nation despised by the story's target audience, the Jewish people.  And those same Samaritans were equally raised to distrust and abhor the Jewish people right back.  

Understanding the first century context of this parable, enables us to examine it, as it was told originally, rather than just through our modern lens, which misses such important facts. 

As the years went on, the story’s telling moved further and further away from the context which it was originally told in; fewer and fewer people heard the parable with the awareness of the tensions that existed, between the Samaritan and Jewish peoples.

And quickly it became just another story, about simply being kind.

***

I want you to imagine for a moment, that instead of a 1st century Jew having been beaten, robbed and left for dead on the side of the road, we find a 21st Century, Klu Klux Klan member, lying on the roadside in his place. 

Picture this bigoted, racist, man; lying there and beaten to a pulp. 

A number of people pass and can’t be bothered to take the time and effort it would take to heal, and care for this man – so they continue on their way.

Some time passes, and along that very street walks a Southern, African American man.  His clothes indicate he is not of a wealthy class, or any kind of privilege.  And as you look into his eyes, it’s not hard to envision scenarios by which this man wears scars beneath his soul; cut deep by the Klan this victim before him represents. 

This underprivileged, Southern Black Man, lays his eyes upon the beaten member of the Klu Klux Klan.  A beaten man, who for all intents and purposes, should encompass, everything this man has struggled against in his life. 

Imagine that Southern Black Man, lifting up the wounded from the ground.  Imagine him cleaning his cuts, and bandaging his wounds, and carrying him to the local emergency room.  Imagine that man handing over every penny in his wallet, and promising to return to care for any further bills that may incur.

A far cry from simply being kind…

Imagine a person of same sex orientation caring for a Fundamentalist Christian in such a manner; imagine a Fundamentalist Christian doing the same.  Imagine a Palestinian offering himself for an Israeli, or an Israeli for a Palestinian.

These are more than just acts of kindness, or demonstrations of care; these are acts of radical fellowship and forgiveness, acknowledging a single people under one God.

*pause*

I heard a modern parable a few months back, which parallels the essence of what we’re talking about tonight; a story that reminds us of who we are called to be in Christ, and who Christ is in us.

*pause*

“There is a guy is walking down the street in a deserted part of town, when accidentally he stumbles and falls into a hole.  He looks left and right and all around him and discovers that the walls are so steep that he can't get out. 

A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you, Doc, Can you help me out?’  The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. 

Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?’  The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. 

Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me down here, can you help me out?'  And the friend jumps in the hole with him.  

Our guy says, 'Are you stupid?  Now we're both down here.'  The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out.'"

***

“Who is my neighbour?” they asked our Lord.

Not just your brothers and sisters in Christ, or your family members back at home.  Not just the co-workers you have come to love, or the family who sit in the next pew. 

In Christ, there is no black, and no white; no gay, and no straight; no Jew, and no gentile; no salve, and no free.  Out of many we have been made one, and as one, we are called to love the many.

For as one, in Christ, we are called to be much more than kind or cordial; we are called to love those who pain us, and care for those who persecute us.  We are called to look beyond the hatred in the eyes of many, and see the God who loves us deep inside them.

For in many ways the parable of the Good Samaritan tells us how we are called to love one another, but at second glance, it tells us so much more.

The love God calls us to, is the standard by which he loves each and every one of us. 

The abundant nature of God’s love is so big and so vast, that regardless of whom we are, regardless of what we’ve done, and regardless of what we are going to do, our God loves us, bandages us, cares for us, and offers to return to settle up our debts, again and again and again.

God is the one who shows us the greatest mercy, we go and do likewise!

Thanks be to God