SERMON: Where Are the Good Samaritans?
Spoken Live on January 5, 2023
at Kaleo Phoenix in downtown Phoenix, AZ
Happy Black History Month everyone.
Who here is a younger sibling?
I am a younger brother.
There were just two of us growing up, my older brother and I.
When my brother was around I relaxed.
I knew he would be in charge and would be the one to make the tough decisions if our parents weren’t around.
Even if arguments arose with our parents I would choose to be the instigator then hype man as I would allow my brother to defend us.
Today, I feel as if I am the instigator in the fight against injustice and white supremacy as I use the words of my older brother Martin to do the real fighting for me.
His words are my words today and I believe his words have come from God.
We are continuing through Martin Luther King Jr.’s book Strength to Love which is a collection of his sermons
Today I will be drawing from King’s sermon titled: On Being a Good Neighbor
Guess which Bible story he uses?
We will center our discussion today in King’s statement in the book saying:
“The good Samaritan engaged in a dangerous altruism.
We so often ask, “What will happen to my job, my prestige, or my status if I take a stand on this issue?
Will my home be bombed, will my life be threatened, or will I be jailed?”
The good man always reverses the question.
Albert Schweitzer did not ask, “What will happen to my prestige and security as a university professor and to my status as a Bach organist, if I work with the people of Africa?”
but rather he asked, “What will happen to these millions of people who have been wounded by the forces of injustice, if I do not go to them?”
Abraham Lincoln did not ask, “What will happen to me if I issue the Emancipation Proclamation and bring an end to chattel slavery?”
but he asked,
“What will happen to the Union and to millions of Negro people, if I fail to do it?”
The Negro professional does not ask,
“What will happen to my secure position, my middle-class status, or my personal safety, if I participate in the movement to end the system of segregation?”
but “What will happen to the cause of justice and the masses of Negro people who have never experienced the warmth of economic security, if I do not participate actively and courageously in the movement?”
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.”
Now, allow me to read the story of the good Samaritan.
In honor of Black History Month and looking to the tradition of many Black churches let us stand as I read.
Alright now…Opps…
I can’t seem to find the passage here in my notes...
Let me look it up….
You all can take a seat.
No need to stand as I search for it…
Let me set the story up as I find it.
Jesus is approached by an expert in religious law who asks him an important question:
What should I do to inherit eternal life?
This is like the question what must I do to be saved?
What is the good news, WHAT is the gospel for me and my people?
Jesus leads him to answer his own question stating that the greatest commandement is that
You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’
And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Jesus then tells a story to teach him further…
Looks like I found it but it is in a different version is that alright?
This is the USA version:
30 Jesus replied with a story:
“A Black American man was traveling from work to home to be with his mother, and he was attacked by two police officers.
They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “Another police officer came by. But when he saw the man lying there, he walked up to the man and began kicking him.
32 “Then a fourth officer came and went to look at him to only beat him with a baton.
33 “Then a fifth officer came and went to look at him to only kick him. A sixth and seventh officer came who only appeared to watch and observe.
No one came along to save him! no one felt compassion for him!
34 No one soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them!
No one put the man in his own car to take him to an inn, where he could be taken care of!
35, ‘no one took care of this man!
36 “NOW who would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “No one. No one showed him mercy. No one was with him”
Let us take a breath …. Then pray
Now This seems to be a different account … I do apologize
If I recall the story goes, a man was beaten by bandits and no one helps him even a priest and temple assistant walking by.
However, an unexpected person and an unlikely person,
who is despised by the people Jesus is telling the story to
is the individual who helped the beaten man.
A Samaritan.
The good Samaritan had something that King called dangerous altruism
He states in the book that altruism is defined as “regard for, and devotion to, the interest of others.”
The Samaritan possessed a dangerous altruism
He states that
The Samaritan was good because he made concern for others the first law of his life.”
What made the good samaritan this way?
In what ways was he formed and developed to lead him to care for the man who was beaten and have this love ethic?
What made him believe in solidarity with this beaten-up man that the priest and assistant walking by did not?
In life, often, your life matches up with what you confess to believe.
Let me draw a representation of this …. Watch this
In seminary this week we were asked to share our theological journey with one another.
I shared my theological journey within the past four years with a guest who was visiting us.
After I shared my journey he paused for a second and confessed to me that it sounded like I was led to care more about people.
Hearing his response to my journey
I paused for a second and affirmed what he said.
“Yes”, I stated.
My hope is that my theology journey has led me to love my neighbor more.
I saw this quote on Facebook this week posted by the Happy NGO organization.
It was by John Thataminil stating:
When Christianity is working, what we care about is our neighbor.
When Christianity is not working, what we care about is Christianity.
Our theology should lead us to care for our poor and oppressed neighbors who we have nothing to gain by standing in solidarity with them.
Paulo Freire has a similar reflection on this image but he replaces confession with reflection and life with action.
Now watch this (go over to draw)
He states in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed that this is an essential part of what makes us human.
This means there is something inhumane,
NOT about the person who was beaten and bloodied by the bandits,
but by those who ignored him.
Something that was not fully human about the priest and the temple assistant
The action and result of the action resembles the humanity practiced by the Samaritan and the good fruit that the Samaritan produced in his human life.
I believe songs shape people’s theology and a good friend of mine from Neighborhood Ministries shared this bridge of a song with me:
“You know the tree by the fruit
But just between me and you
I never do what I want
I do what I'm taught
And I've been learning a lot
About the violence I'm capable of”
Many people have learned to be violent and inhumane to others because it is what they were taught and shown.
There was something taught to the priest and temple assistant that led them to ignore the beaten man and act inhumane.
However, We see that the Samaritan was a good tree because of his fruit.
The good fruit of the Samaritan was not because of pity he had for the beaten man,
but because of compassion that led the Samaritan to be with him.
King states that
“True altruism is more than the capacity to pity; it is the capacity to sympathize.
Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.
Pity may arise from interest in an abstraction called humanity, but sympathy grows out of a concern for a particular needy human being who lies at life’s roadside.
Sympathy is fellow feeling for the person in need—his pain, agony, and burdens.
Our missionary efforts fail when they are based on pity, rather than true compassion.
Instead of seeking to do something with the African and Asian peoples, we have too often sought only to do something for them.
An expression of pity devoid of genuine sympathy, leads to a new form of paternalism which no self-respecting person can accept. ”
That is what it means to be in Solidarity or to be an ally.
To truly be with someone means you are in solidarity.
My question for us my brothers and sisters is:
WHERE ARE the good Samaritans today?
Where were they when Tyre Nichols was being beaten by five cops to die three days later?
WHERE ARE the good samaritans with the killing of Emmitt Till a 14-year-old boy on vacation from Chicago, who reportedly flirted with a white woman in a store and three nights later, two men took Till from his bed, beat him, shot him, and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River.
WHERE ARE the good samaritans during the killing of Willie Edwards Jr., a truck driver, who was on his way to work when he was stopped by four Klansmen? The men mistook Edwards for another man who they believed was dating a white woman. They forced Edwards at gunpoint to jump off a bridge into the Alabama River. Edwards’ body was found three months later.
WHERE ARE the good samaritans when Eric Garner died after he was wrestled to the ground by a New York police officer on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes?
Say Eric Garner
WHERE WERE the good Samaritans during the death of Michael Brown who was 18 when he was killed by a police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri, who was responding to reports that Brown had stolen a box of cigars?
Say Michael Brown
WHERE WERE the good Samaritans during the death of Tamir Rice, a 12 year old boy who was shot dead in Cleveland, Ohio by a police officer after reports of a male who was "probably a juvenile" pointing a gun that was "probably fake" at passers-bys.
Say Tamir Rice
WHERE WERE the good Samaritans during the death of Philando Castile who was killed while out driving with his girlfriend in St Paul, Minnesota?
Say, Philando Castile
WHERE WAS the good Samaritan during the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, who was shot eight times when officers raided her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky?
Say, Breonna Taylor
AND SO MANY OTHERS
WHERE WERE all the good Samaritans after the lynching of so many Black Americans along with their white allies?
But someone tell me How can there be good Samaritans when they are not being developed?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when churches look more like modern KKK rallies as they call Black Lives Matter demonic and view them as more of a threat than an ally ?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when we do not allow women of color, a most marginalized group in our country, to preach and teach?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when people are more concerned with keeping false peace instead of joining the movement of making the world more just?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when conferences that talk about justice and racial unity are canceled?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when people fear of not receiving white approval?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when not conforming to the norms of our unjust social order will not get you numbers, money or popularity
HOW can there be good Samaritans when people like to only feel affection toward God but have no action?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when we do not have enough worship leaders who know how to sing and lead people to reflect on the God of justice and liberation?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when people are more concerned about being right than loving?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when people are more concerned about getting people to heaven when they die instead of helping to redeem God’s good creation?
HOW can there be good Samaritans when no one is being developed and formed to truly be Jesus’ hands and feet?
SOMEBODY TELL ME HOW?
WHERE were all the good Samaritans during the lynching of over 3000 Black Americans from 1882 to 1968?
We need now more than ever a theology that will lead us to love our neighbor, don’t we?
There was a song created called strange fruit in 1939 that was a protest to the lynching of Black Americans.
The lyrics imagine the Black victims as fruit on trees.
I want us to have a moment of silence as we reflect and lament the Black lives that have died to systemic injustice that is woven into the fabric of our country.
I have now had time to find the REAL passage for today in Luke 10:30-7.
Let us stand and read the passage again...
30 Jesus replied with a story: Now This is good “ A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “NOW WHICH OF THESE THREE WOULD YOU SAY WAS A NEIGHBOR TO THE MAN WHO WAS ATTACKED BY BANDITS? “ JESUS ASKED.
37 The man replied, “THE ONE WHO SHOWED HIM MERCY”
Then Jesus said, “YES, NOW YOUUU GO AND DO THE SAME.”
ARE THERE ANY GOOD SAMARITANS IN THE ROOM TODAY WHO WILL DO THE SAME?
ARE THERE ANY GOOD SAMARITANS HERE WHO WILL STAND WITH THE POOR, THE UNDERSERVED AND THE OPPRESSED?
SHOUT YES IF THAT IS YOU!
Y'all ain't hearing me today ..,
Before we drown into a sea of despair
I am reminded and I want to Thank God for the good samaritans who have gone before us and went to do the SAME as the good samaritan and produced good fruit.
I LOOK BACK TO…
The good Samaritan Dietrich Bonhoeffer a German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident who wrote to disciple people into solidarity
The good Samaritan John Brown an abolitionist who went on to attempt to overthrow the institution of American Slavery
The good Samaritan Harriet Tubman who risked her life to lead hundreds of slaves to freedom
The good Samaritan Ella Baker who organized the civil right movement
The good Samaritan W.E.B Dubois who helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The good Samaritan Martin Luther King Jr. practiced non-violence in his struggle for civil rights who was assassinated.
All the good Samaritan moms who have lost their daughters and sons and have stood up to call out the injustice of police brutality.
Our good Samaritan who grew up in poverty in Nazareth named Jesus
who was killed by his own Jewish brothers and the systemic evils of the Roman Empire
because he represented and embodied healing and liberation in a social order that
wanted to oppress and dehumanize.
And so many others.
Will we now go and do the same as the good Samaritans my brothers and sisters?
Will we still do the same when it is hard and not comfortable?
Will we still do the same when people call you a leftist or marxist?
Will we do the same if people say you don’t go to a real Jesus centric church?
Will you do the same if you are harassed by people who think you are wrong?
Will we do the same if people say you are too radical?
Will we do the same if family members are confused by you?
Will we do the same when people see your fruit as strange fruit?
We are the fruit of the labor of the good Samaritans who have gone before us and those who are still with us now.
It is NEVER too late to be a good neighbor. Amen?
But when will the unjust public lynchings of Black Americans STOP?
I know we are all tired of it.
We continue to wait for the George Floyd Justice in Police Act to be passed to hopefully bring a change and stop the police killings of Black Americans.
Supporting this act by making people around you and your local officials aware of this is one way we can stand in solidarity.
We need to be eager to be in solidarity with those who are being dehumanized and suffering.
We must continue to speak up and stand out and say no more when we see the dehumanization of another person
We must be on the lookout for ways we can be with those who have their backs against the wall.
Dante Stewart, another Good Samaritan, who helps develop and form other good Samaritans answers the question of if he has watched the video of Tyre Nichol’s murder like this:
“I believe vicarious suffering is a very real thing. We do not just suffer alone, but we see what other people go through and have to endure, and we feel that pain as well. But I also believe that vicarious love is a thing as well.
“I want to be with him at every moment I possibly can, not just in that video. I don’t want them to go through it alone.”
They keyword here is WITH.
We must search for ways to first see people then be with them.
It is easy to develop compassion fatigue doing this work
But you are not alone in this fight of solidarity because we have our older brother Jesus whose last words are
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Let us pray as worship comes up …
