Every time I think about being a follower of Jesus and my response to poverty my mind always comes to a teaching of Jesus. This story comes from the Gospel of Luke and at first glance it really has nothing to do with poverty. The scene looks something like this. Jesus is with his disciples and they are talking about anything and everything, probably how it always was when they hung out. Then a professional in understanding the Jewish faith stands up and asks Jesus what he needs to do to “inherit eternal life.” Jesus responds by asking him the same question. The man says that he must love God with his entire being and love his neighbor in the same way. Jesus pats him on the back and tells the man that he has it figured out. But then the guy asks one more question, the story tells us that he does it to justify himself, to make himself look good, to give himself another pat on the back. The man asks Jesus “who is my neighbor?” This is where Jesus tells a story and changes everything. The story he tells is what we call “The Good Samaritan” but it could have also been titled “The Loving Neighbor.” The story goes like this: a man is traveling along the road and he gets beaten, robbed and left for dead. This man is in a helpless state and requires the care of someone else or he will die. First a priest walks by and sees him but instead of helping the man as the Jewish law might prompt he crosses the road and passes by on the other side of the road. Next a Levite comes across the scene and sees the same man and like the priest he crosses the street and passes by on the other side of the road. Two people who serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, who not only know but have memorized the entirety of scripture. In other words they knew that their faith consisted of loving God and loving neighbor. Despite this knowledge both the Priest and the Levite cross the street and go by on the other side of the road. Jesus’ story ends with an unlikely character who knew little to nothing of Jewish law helping the man and providing for his care, restoration and healing. The whole story ends with Jesus telling the religious professional to do the same thing as the man who cared for the victim.
Okay but what’s this got to do with poverty? Let me tell a story.
I was at a conference in St. Louis a few years back. St. Louis, like many mid-western cities, suffers from the economic hardship brought about by the disappearance of manufacturing and industrial jobs in the United States. As a result there is an enormous amount of poverty and a great deal of homelessness. I was visiting the city, staying in a nice hotel and attending a Christian conference. One morning I was walking from the conference center to my hotel room to take a break. As I was walking I was charging ahead in the cold and trying to get to my room without being hassled by anyone for anything. As I looked up the street I saw a man, who according to my two second judgment was homeless. After a longer glance I was pretty sure he was drunk too. As I got closer to the intersection I noticed he was coming my way. As he got closer and closer I avoided eye contact and looked at the ground. As he jaywalked across a busy intersection I took the cross walk and avoided him. But the amazing this is before I got halfway across the street the story of “The Good Samaritan” began running through my mind. I felt like I was being asked the question “will you cross over the street and pass by on the other side?” I was pierced. I made it to the other side of the road before I had to turn back. As I turned back the man was stumbling in front of traffic with the drivers trying to avoid him but not willing to slow their commute. I raced back into traffic and met him in the street in front of a city bus. In an awkward embrace we made it across the street to safety. I also had the opportunity to learn a name, to make a friend and to provide a meal. Who is my neighbor? On that street in St. Louis it was that man. Since that day I’ve been challenged, when I look at poverty, to ask myself. Will I cross the street? Will I pass by on the other side of the road? Will you? Or maybe you and I will do the other thing and be a good neighbor and find that we are inheriting eternal life.
- Eric Dipzinski
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