Heavenly Heroics…
09.01.24
Rudy (Rudy), Frodo (Lord of the Rings), Vince (Invincible), and Gru (Despicable Me), are all examples of what? Besides entertaining characters, they are examples of unexpected heroes. Each of these characters had arcs that took them from despised, dismissed, or disqualified to becoming the one who saves the day or rises to the top. These character arcs are known as “underdog” stories because the victor is the one that nobody sees coming. Whether it is movies, books, sports, or religious texts, we love underdog stories.
This truth about us might be the reason why a story like The Good Samaritan resonates. Those who would be considered as authority figures or heroes in the story are proven to be hypocrites. Lo and behold the hero that eventually swoops in to save the day is a… Samaritan? To the community listening to Jesus, the best example of an underdog possible was a Samaritan. In fact, the Samaritans were often referred to as such… dogs. So, when the Samaritan comes on the scene to save the day, the crowd of elites scoff while the crowd of underdogs cheers! And in a way, we often do the same. One might take this underdog story and lump it with those from our culture to think “if they can be the hero, I can too!” which then naturally moves to “I can defeat my enemies and get the glory I deserve!” Wait a minute… I think we went a little too far…
The Good Samaritan is the hero in this story, but there is not a Hollywood ending full of vengeance and victory, is there? Here are a few takeaways from the story of the “hero” we are to see as our model.
- The Good Samaritan was nameless.
This is a parable, so of course the characters don’t have names, but even within the story, the Samaritan cared for the man without needing any recognition. There was no “remember my name!” or “When he wakes up let me know so he can personally thank me.” It was an act of pure compassion not selfish ambition.
- The Good Samaritan was selfless.
The Samaritan didn’t just put a call out for someone else to do something about this injustice. He didn’t demand that the innkeeper shows compassion to the man on his behalf. Would those decisions have been wrong? No, there is a time and place for both of those forms of advocacy. But the Samaritan did not just point out the problem for others to handle, they felt compelled with compassion to care for the man themselves AND paid the innkeeper for any additional needs that came up. He followed through on his obedience instead of outsourcing to someone else.
- The Good Samaritan wasn’t vengeful.
This parable includes something that is usually missing from the other underdog stories we consume. The robbers got away with it. The Samaritan didn’t pull a Liam Neeson and hit them with the “I will find you and I will kill you” line. There was not an enemy defeated in the story, only a wounded one that was healed. This tells us something about who a hero is in the eyes of Jesus. In fact, it was an enemy (gasp!) that revealed the hero.
There are other times Samaritans are mentioned in the Bible too. In the chapter just before this parable, the disciples ask Jesus if they should command fire to consume a Samaritan village that did not welcome them (yikes…) and Jesus rebuked them. He then continues to describe His calling to go into those places and do all they can to establish peaceful relationships with them (as lambs among wolves) because the “harvest is plentiful.” And nowhere is it clearer that Jesus shows compassion for all people than the beginning of Acts when Jesus calls the Church to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and SAMARIA, and to the ends of the Earth.” The calling is not to conquer or condemn, but to be the witness of Jesus, and not just in our sanctuaries, but in our communities, and yes, even in places that some might consider “enemy territories.”
As author Michael Frost puts it, our Christian calling is to imitate “the unique event of the incarnation (life on Earth) of Jesus. It allows the example of Jesus to not only define the message of the Church but to shape the way in which that message is communicated (and carried out.)”
The desire of Jesus is not for us to dream about the glory of a hero. The desire is for us to live out the calling of a neighbor.