Start:Stop-The Good Samaritan Today

"First Duty" by Phillip Job on show at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 8th November 2018

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. This month we celebrate the founding of the Samaritans here in this church 65 years ago. We begin with the Parable of the Good Samaritan which can be found on page 76 of the New Testament section of the bibles.

Bible Reading : Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’


Reflection

The lawyer in our reading reminds us of the commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

According to the theologian Paul Tillich “The first duty of love is to listen.” These words were the inspiration for a photographic exhibition by Phillip Job which was displayed last week as part of celebrations to mark the 65th Anniversary of the founding of the Samaritans here by our former Rector Chad Varah.

Phillip’s exhibition “First Duty” comprises a series of sequential portraits of Samaritans helpline operators at work in the Lewisham branch, where he is a volunteer.  In sound recordings accompanying the images, operators describe their experience of listening. Phillip asks us to remember the last time that we really listened to someone? He goes on to explain how training to be an active listener as a Samaritans volunteer had a positive impact on his own life. In his story, as in those of many of the other volunteers who attended the anniversary celebrations, perhaps we begin to see a blurring of the boundary between listening to those in need because they need to be heard and listening because the volunteers needed to listen?

The difficulty of making time to listen - and therefore to love - was discussed by Kosuke Koyama in his reflection written in the late 1970s entitled “The Good Samaritan Today.” Continuity is a driving force in Japanese culture - and for good reason - it is associated with prosperity; from imperial succession to job security propped up by the country’s infamous work ethic. But the snowball of modern life - described by Koyama as a “next-next” or “busy philosophy” - frustrates our ability to stop and listen to those in need. We all want to keep moving on to the next thing - with quick fixes and a clear path to salvation - perhaps this is the sort of answer that the lawyer in the parable was expecting when he asked Jesus
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Kosuke Koyama explains: “The basic Japanese life philosophy is not congruous to the mind of the Good Samaritan, whose next travel schedule is disrupted by the victim he unexpectedly meets on the way. The Good Samaritan has no time for the next until this human need of his neighbour is met.”

Forty years on - and on the other side of the world - this is a situation with which we can still relate today. Kosuke Koyama explains that the challenge for today’s Good Samaritans is not only to take care of those left for dead by the roadside, but to “seek to change the system that produces so many victims” in the first place?

But who is the victim in this parable?

Perhaps the “next-next” way of life not only robs us of the time to notice the victim by the roadside - but also prevents us from considering that we might be the victim? This is one of the possibilities put forward by Sam Wells, the Vicar of St Martin in the Fields in his book The Nazareth Manifesto.

In taking on the best-known parable on the subject, he encourages us, like the lawyer, to ask “who is our neighbour?” and challenges our predisposition to self-identify as the Good Samaritan (something everyone from Kosuke Koyama to Margaret Thatcher has done).

The book is an exploration of an approach to Christian social engagement which he sums up as “being with” rather than “doing for” - incarnational mission and ministry which is put into practice each day at St Martin in the Fields through its various programmes including the HeartEdge network, of which this church is a part.

Sam Wells suggests that in its historic context the victim in the parable could be interpreted as Israel - a once great nation that has been invaded, ransacked and its leaders taken into captivity. But it is also possible to find meaning by identifying ourselves as this beaten and bruised character in the gutter - even though most of us (in the west at least) live in relative comfort and security. Sam Wells explains that like Israel, we are in desperate trouble - and this is the starting point of the parable - and the gospel. Our privileged position is propped up by growing social, economic, gender and ethnic inequality at a global scale - as well as our exploitation of the natural resources of the planet. Issues which - at least personally speaking - we do precious little to address.

We are the victim lying by the roadside.

Kosuke Koyama calls on us to change global systems to stop creating victims. Sam Wells suggests this rebalance of power must begin within each of us - and starts by recognising that our salvation is through those, like the Samaritan, who are on the margins and at the edge;

“We need a complete change of heart to begin to realise that we are as desperate and needy as the man in the gutter. Only then will we find that God saves us and gives us everything we need through the person whom our society, our economy, our culture and even some of our churches have taught us to patronise, feel guilty about, ignore or even despise.”

Just as Phillip Job’s portraits of the Samaritans at work raise the possibility that there is value in listening not only because this fulfills the needs of those speaking - but because we need to listen to be fulfilled - so we must not to expect others to see Jesus in us through charitable acts for the needy - but to open our eyes to enable us to see that we are in need of meeting Jesus in them.

Perhaps, then, as Sam Wells explains, we are not the answer to the prayers of those in need; but they are the answer to ours? Loving our neighbour as ourselves means being with - rather than doing things for - them. It is only then that we are able to listen - and love.

In a few moments of silence before we pray, perhaps we might bring to God - our Samaritan -our own needs - and those of the world today.

Prayers

As we join together in prayer asking God to change us so that we might change the world, the response to ‘Hear me, Lord, and answer me’ is ‘for I am poor and needy.’

Hear me, Lord, and answer me;

for I am poor and needy.

Lord, help us to recognise that we are in trouble and in desperate need of help.

Guide us to bring about an end to injustice and inequality in the world.

We pray for all at this time who are lying by the roadside stripped, beaten and left for dead.

Help us to put our busy lives on hold, so that we might share your love and compassion with all those around us;

Hear me, Lord, and answer me;

for I am poor and needy.

Lord, we bring before you our brothers and sisters who have been excluded by decisions made in our name;

Give us strength to transform our acts of charity through humility - being with those in need not for the selfish desires of personal glory or a sense of guilt - but because in being with them we glimpse you.

Hear me, Lord, and answer me;

for I am poor and needy.

Lord we are sorry that we have failed to make time to listen and to love others - especially those who we find hard to love.

We bring before you all who are unable to listen to and love themselves.

We raise up to you our concerns this morning asking for your strength and wisdom to direct our thoughts and actions this day.

Hear me, Lord, and answer me;

for I am poor and needy.

Lord, we are sorry that we have failed to make time to listen and to love you.

Open our hearts that we might receive your generous love.

Open our eyes that we might see your love at work in the world.

Guide us this day that we might go and do likewise.

Hear me, Lord, and answer me;

for I am poor and needy.

Blessing

In the brokenness of our world, God is there.
In the cry of the hungry,
    the suffering of the sick,
    the plight of the homeless,
    the sorrow of the bereaved

    we see His face.
In the misery of the lonely,

    the despair of the oppressed

    the plea of the weak,

    and the helplessness of the poor,

    we seeking His help,

As we have come to Him,
   now go for Him,
   in the name of Christ, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen

Links

Images : From Phillip Job Photography

Phillip Job Photography – First Duty
Interview with Phillip Job - FotoRoom
A Nazareth Manifesto – Book Review by Andy Goodliff