The Good Samaritan (Director’s Cut)
Luke 10:25-37
What’s your favourite type or genre of film: action, ‘RomCom’, intense thrillers, ‘SciFi’, horror…? Watch enough of the same type of film and you soon become adept at spotting from the start who will later turn out to be the Victim, the Villain, the Reluctant Hero… It’s all so familiar. This was particularly true with 1970s disaster movies: buildings burnt, ships sunk, volcanoes erupted, the earth quaked… The sets and backdrops changed, but the standard characters remained the same.
Today, we look at a familiar plot told by Jesus, the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It must be one of His best known Parables. If you’ve been around church awhile, you heard it many times before. You’ve seen and heard it in fuzzy felt, lego, drama, video, endless sermons… I know that you know the story. 
So, the challenge today, is to find something fresh. And, to do that, we’re clicking on the Director’s Cut, to look at the tale were all so familiar with, but from different angles. Jesus’ Parables had multi-layered meanings, and so what you need to take from it, may different to what someone else needs to hear.
This one starts with a question, asked by Self-righteous Know-All Man: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He doesn’t ask, what must we do, what must humanity do? He’s only interested in saving his own skin. What must me, myself and I do? By the time this disaster movie we call ‘life’ ends, how can I escape this burning building, sinking ship, erupting volcano of Earth and be rescued, saved, to Heaven?
What’s more, he’s asking what’s the minimum I need to do to still get in? How many times do I need to pray? To attend services? What’s the minimum I should put in the collection? How many units of alcohol are just about acceptable? He was religious but didn’t know God. He didn’t realise: there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more; there’s nothing you can do to make God love you less, ‘Religious’ people often don’t get this.
Jesus asked His own question: “What does the Law say? How do you read it? i.e. What’s your approach? Interpretation? Is the glass half empty or half full? Some have a ‘glass half empty’ view of God.
He, an expert in the Law, summarised, what we call the Old Testament as: Love God, love others, love yourselves. This, despite endless pendent laws, acts of violence, treachery, betrayal…
But he assumed it was his Jewish neighbour ie ‘others’ like me/us.  That’s why in Matthew 5 Jesus had called this attitude out:
“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
Jesus said, “Do this and you will live”; not as a reward for good behaviour, or earning your own right to heaven, but, live as God intended life to be lived. Do this and you’ll thrive, ‘smash it’. The more you love God the more you will love others as God loves them. The more you love God the more you will love yourself as God loves you. But equally, the more you love others, the more you will experience something of God’s love – because God IS Love. So, if you’re not a Christian today, if you’ve ever loved someone or something, you’ve already started to engage with God because God IS Love.
The so-called expert in the Law is baffled. So, Jesus tells a story.
The Traveller. A person was on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, a distance of 17 miles (here to Wolverhampton or Dudley) a descent of 3,000 feet. It was a wild ‘no go’ area, so most opted to go the long way round. Do you ever do that? Go the long way round to avoid that person or that situation?
From the Director’s Cut, if you’re a parent or teacher, you’re aware of the journey your young people are on - from childhood to adulthood, going through strange and scary land called Adolescence: a journey that they’ve never made themselves before, when they feel most alone (even in the company of others making the same journey), where things pop out, where others attempt to rob them of their self-esteem, identity…
And, if we take a global perspective, countries are on a journey, from ‘undeveloped’ to ‘developed’ (more later).
The Robbers In Jesus’s story, robbers saw the traveller as someone to be exploited. They didn’t see the travellers’ humanity; not as “one of us” – you don’t rob your own. They used intimidation, violence, imbalance of power to leave the Traveller in a vulnerable state - half dead, half alive - no longer thriving. Maybe you feel you’ve been mugged, even by religion, and it’s left you feeling half-dead/ half-alive
Back to the Director’s Cut, thinking globally, robbing is what Empires do – just look at what the British Empire did.
India, with 1.3 billion population, is predicted to become the world’s 3rd biggest economy by 2030. That growth has only happened since the British Empire stepped back Between 1757-1947, India saw no increase in per capita income, and average life expectancy fell. Since we left, life expectancy has risen 66%. Yes, we introduced the railways, but at what cost of Indian lives? And their purpose?: to get British troops in - to quell pockets of local rebellion; and to get food and raw materials out - to swell British pockets. During great famines of 1876-1879 and 1896-1902 when up to 30 million Indians starved, the death rates were highest in areas with the railways   - we carried on extracting food and raw materials while the local populations were starving. Empires are never good news for the countries they take.
It has taken, is taking, years for former Colonies to regain, not just their independence, but also their wealth – to journey from undeveloped to developed. It’s hard to keep up with the pack when you’ve been tied up for so long, your shoes have been taken. We need stop thinking either it’s a coincidence that some nations struggle so much, Or worse, blame them , as if somehow we in the UK have some God-given right to prosper. Ancient Israel had developed that same mindset: they saw themselves as above all other nations.
So, enter The Priest. The crowd assumed this religious person, “one of them”, will save the day. After all, it’s also “one of their own” who’s injured. But he doesn’t. He sees but fails to stop. He has a busy faith community to support, so many people, so many meetings and services to prep & deliver. So busy, he’s lost perspective. But, it’s deeper than that, his mistaken understanding of his own faith/ religion, keeps him away. What if the injured Traveller is.. injured? There could be blood, broken bones or even, death. His ‘take’ on the Law meant he’d have become defiled, requiring 7 days of purification. Numbers 31 and Leviticus 21. He not only keeps going (prioritising his own journey), he walks on the other side. He won’t engage/ pretends he hasn’t seen. Christian Aid, Tearfund & other relief & development NGOs speak of ‘compassion fatigue’. We’d don’t investigate/ educate ourselves, for fear of hat we might learn and then feel compelled to do.. again. 
Then along comes a Levite. He’s from “the” family, the tribe of Levi. Every church seems to have one dominant family! He too fails to stop and walks by on the other side
Finally, along comes a Samaritan. Now the crowd see where Jesus must be going. There was bitter hatred between Jews and Samaritans, passed on from successive generations. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 5, 
‘“You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”
The Jewish audience, because of their prejudices/ racism, are all assuming the Samaritan is going to be the Villain. Maybe, he’ll finish off the wounded defenceless traveller? Kill him?
BUT it turns out, this Samaritan saw beyond all the prejudice/ oppression - and saw the humanity of the wounded traveller. They were brothers by different mothers, a fellow person equally and beautifully made in the image of God So, he does what religious & political figures haven’t; he stops. He bandages the wounds - first aid, pouring on wine (antiseptic) and oil (soothing).
When the volcano erupts, the rivers flood, land dries up, or earth quakes, organisations like Christian Aid have to get in quick. The relief phase is all about immediate, time-critical race to get people out from under the rubble, administer life-saving medical treatment, supply emergency food, water and shelter. This is what the Samaritan did.
But he didn’t stop just with short-term crisis ‘Relief’. He then moved on to the longer-term ‘Development’ phase. He put himself out, and put the wounded traveller on his donkey whilst the Samaritan walks. Then he uses his own money to fund the travellers recovery back to full health  - back to full independence, thriving as Gid intended life to be lived. This is what Christian Aid and other NGOs do, enabled whole nations to journey from being ‘undeveloped’ to being ‘developed’.
He gives two denari, some say that was the equivalent of two days wages (equivalent today of approximately £280), others say it was enough to fund two months stay at the Inn. It just shows wide variation in income levels is nothing new. The Samaritan says, “do whatever it takes.” NGOs know the development phase takes longer, more money but, in the long run, it leads to independence, self-sufficiency…
The Innkeeper is the paid professional, it’s his job to care. What attitude will he show the wounded traveller in his care? There is a challenge for us who are paid to care or minister.
This parable is for all of us. On the one hand, it’s a reminder that our neighbours are not just the Jones’ in the flat above, or those in your street’s WhatsApp group. They’re not even all the people “like us”. Our neighbours are those in India, Pakistan, Chad, Ukraine… All those who, like us, are beautifully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Our brothers and sisters by different mothers.
On the other hand, it’s about personal faith in Jesus, calling out the deceit of dead religion and miss-guided theology.
But then, the Director’s Cut helps us see, there’s also a global perspective: our brothers and sisters are everywhere and we have family responsibility towards them. 
Jesus asked Self-Righteous Know-All, who was the true Neighbour? The “one” who had mercy on him? He still couldn’t bring himself to say, it was a Samaritan.
Jesus says to us, to you, “Go and do likewise.”
Who are you in the story? 
1.	Self-righteous know-all
2.	Victim
3.	Street robber
4.	Priest
5.	Religious Levite
6.	Innkeeper 
07840 046020   DannyBrierley@ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk