First Baptist Church of Herndon

#38 People Along the Road

Linda Soller | Mar 11, 2013

How was your commute this morning? It’s one of the questions I hear regularly in the lunch room as people wander in to get their coffee.  Next comes the eye rolling and then someone starts in on the complaints about the traffic and the time it takes, and well you know what I mean.  Traveling down the road offers unique challenges and most of us have learned to work around those challenges to get where we need to go.

Today unlike in Biblical times we are most often traveling in a container like a bus, a car, or a train. You just don’t see many people walking down the road to work, unless you live in the city. The containers we travel in offer some level of protection from our fellow humans. We can watch them without having to address or greet them. We can cram ourselves in to a small space and never speak to the person beside us. We file on and we file off at the predetermined spot. It is usually very orderly and when it’s not it may just make the evening news.

There was a time when you had to walk everywhere unless you were very wealthy. If you were alone it was a dangerous trip. A man headed to Jericho. He was on his own and was attacked, robbed and left for dead. A priest came along the road and instead of helping him the priest crossed to the other side of the road and kept going. How strange that this priest who was supposedly God fearing didn’t see fit to stop.  Next an educated Levite came along and again the man was left lying beside the road. Surely the Levite knew the man needed help. Finally a Samaritan came along. Now everyone knew those Samaritans were worthless. It was not looking good for the man who was beaten. But wait - the Samaritan stopped. Why was this happening? Why was the Samaritan helping the poor fellow on the side of the road? Must be some mistake, the Samaritan probably will just drop him in town and run for it.  We know how the story goes. The Samaritan did not drop him and run but instead arranged for continued help for the victim. The people hearing Jesus tell this story were confused. They couldn’t imagine the Samaritan being the hero of the story.

Thank goodness most of us will never encounter a person physically beaten, robbed and left along the road. We may, on the other hand, be passing those in need every day of our life.  Those people may not be as obvious as the man on the road, but we see them. That poor person struggling to find their way, don’t they have a GPS? That old gentleman who doesn’t seem to know the speed limit when I need to go 5 miles an hour faster so I can get to work 2 minutes earlier. That person with the flat tire, can’t they take care of their car any better than that? We know what they look like to us, but what do you think you look like to them? As you travel along the road practice patience, humility, understanding, and kindness. The Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan all acted differently from society’s expectation. What can society expect from you?

 Have a great week :o) Linda