So in the past couple of days, there was a story in the news about a Chinese toddler named YueYue who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident on a busy street. The hit-and-run by itself is tragic, but what outraged a nation, and caused global concern was that the little girl laid in the street for 10+ minutes, while people (18 in all) went right past her.
She was ultimately pulled from the road by an old woman, a "scavenger" the news reporter called her. She alone had mercy. But the fact remained: 18 people couldn't muster up compassion for a baby that lay bleeding in the street. Some people have blamed this occurrence on "jingshen kongxu" or "spiritual vacuum." But I think it's a love vacuum. It put me in the mind of a famous parable: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
We know the story, a man is traveling on the road, is robbed and left for dead. Two of his own kin (priest and Levite) pass him by, leave him for dead. Then a Samaritan comes, pulls him out the street, bandages him up, puts him on his donkey and takes him to an inn. Basically, the Samaritan loved him.
And so, I'm reading this article in the news, and I'm reading Luke 10, and I thought to myself: "Who are you leaving for dead?" One of my favorite sayings when I'm angry is "s(he) is dead to me!" Note: this person I'm speaking of is NOT actually dead. Parable guy in the street was NOT dead. YueYue was NOT dead, but they were treated as if they were dead. Treated as if they don't matter. Treated as if they don't deserve your attention.
I think a lot of time we focus on who stopped: the good samaritan and the scavenger. But here's the diss: I'm not like them. No, we need to focus on the people who didn't stop. That's who I identify with the most. I'm so busy trying to do EVERYTHING right. To live this holy and acceptable life to God. The Priest and the Levite--by virtue of their professions--were accustomed to living by the rules. But all 613 mitsvot are garbage...reading the whole Bible, going to church, attending small group, LEADING small group is garbage if we don't truly love. Every rule, every praise and worship service, every small group hinges on what?
‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Everything depends on love. And so again I ask myself: who am I leaving for dead? And WHY am I doing it?! Helping people who don't like you...it's nuts. Helping people who make you feel small, bitter, and worthless...harsh. Do you know that Jews hated Samaritans? Oral Jewish law says "to eat the bread of Samaritans is equal to eating the flesh of swine." It defiles them just to eat their bread. Scavengers in China wade knee-deep in trash created by the affluent members of society. They are the super poor, looking for treasure in the trash of the super rich. YueYue was the daughter of a businessman. Businessmen walked over her. The scavenger picked up a treasure that other people walked over like trash. There is something to this...
I'm reading the parable, and I'm concerned because it doesn't mention an important element of what the Good Samaritan did: the DIFFICULTY. Why isn't there even a sentence about the difficulty?! It's difficult to help people who hate you. How do you love when you haven't been the recipient of love? How do you love people who have what you want...and who throw it away? That is difficult...when you're walking according to the flesh. And so...yeah., I'll admit, that I often have difficulty. And the excuse I often use is "I'm only human." And I totally am. But I don't want to be "only human." I want to be more than that. I want that supernatural ability to love. I'm still praying for it...
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