ROBBERS AND VICTIMS
LUKE 10: 25 – 37
Nobody wants to be a victim, neither does one want to think of oneself as a robber. This is why we prefer to speak about the Good Samaritan and not so much about the other characters in the story. But there are many important lessons to be learned about robbers and victims, too. Because we”ve all heard about the good Samaritan, I decided to talk today about being robbers and victims. I must warn you though, it may make you feel a bit uncomfortable. I found it so myself.
About the victim: Unfortunately, everyone is a potential victim. In the story Jesus told, a man was on a way from Jerusalem to Jericho, and encountered an unexpected disaster. He was robbed, wounded, lying on the ground totally helpless. Travelling from point A to point B, that kind of things can happen to any one of us. But we prefer to think that being a victim only happens to other people.
This is because we want to be in control of ourselves all the time. Our culture places high value on being independent and in charge of our lives. We take all sorts of precautions so that we will not be in a helpless position. We are proud to be able to look after ourselves. This is why, when disaster strikes, we feel guilty. We feel that we have fallen into this situation because we were not prepared, were not good enough, or we did something wrong. We say that to the victims, too, saying, "It”s your own fault." Victims are punished instead of the perpetrator being named.
We blame poor people for being lazy. We blame assaulted women for inviting such a fate by being insolent or wearing provocative clothes. One of my past parishioners was once very angry when I visited him in a hospital. He did not want anyone to know that he was seriously ill. He firmly believed that sickness was a result of sinful living. Poor man. He did not want to admit that he was vulnerable. He did not allow others to care for him and love him. He was proud, so being cared for was a shameful state of affairs.
The most serious problem about not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable is our reluctance to open ourselves to others. Because we are proud and think that we are in total control of ourselves, basically we don”t want others to help us. We shut them out. We don”t allow others to love us, or care for us. There is absolutely no shame in being loved. But we somehow feel ashamed – and this is especially true for men – that other people know we are in need of help, and are vulnerable. We must know the limit of our abilities. There comes a time in everyone”s life to realize that receiving a loved one”s care is normal. Let”s admit that we are sometimes helpless, and that there is no shame in that.
Because we are proud, we have a tendency to prefer taking what we need rather than waiting for others to give it to us. We live in a culture which admires aggressive people rather than patient people. I think this is why violence in entertainment is popular. You see, we have the seed of a potential robber in all of us. If we don”t have something, we take it. The only way to keep the robber in us in check is to nurture humility. Humility reminds us that we are not the almighty. There are things that we can not do. We need to wait from time to time for others to come to our rescue. And we have to be ready to accept that. That is called humility. Otherwise, how can we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sin? We are totally vulnerable before the cross of Jesus. That is the basis of our Christian faith.
There is another interesting twist in this story. It is called opting out. It was the option chosen by the priest and the Levite. It can also be called lack of commitment, making excuses, or cowardice. You say, "Sorry, no time, I have a dentist”s appointment." You know how it goes. You may even have done it. I remember doing it from time to time myself.
The priest and Levite were professional do-gooders. It was their job to act as God”s agents. But they had excuses, probably good ones. There must have been an important worship service, where hundreds were waiting for the priest to arrive. You can”t let down the hundreds on account of mere one wounded man. There could have been an important congregational meeting in which the Levite had to chair. You can not run an efficient organization with sentimentality. We know. Don”t we? So we passed by on the other side of the road, pretending that we did not see the dying man.
The typical moral drawn from those characters of the priest and Levite is that we too easily wait for others to pick up the slack, to do the things which we should do. But wait a minute, didn”t I just say that there are times when we must wait for others to help us? Perhaps it”s a question of balance. The trick is to have the wisdom to know the difference between when to act and when to wait. There is a prayer I love to say from time to time, written by a great American Christian and theologian, Reinhold Niebur. "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Of course, there will be times when we have to act with courage, without waiting for others. That is the time for assertive attitudes and action. But there is a world of difference between acting courageously on behalf of others, and acting aggressively on behalf of ourselves. It is wisdom, coupled with humility, that helps us judge the line between assertiveness in aggression and assertiveness in courage. The exercise of such wisdom is itself an act of courage, and not an excuse. Sometimes such wisdom leads us to wait, to accept the fact that there are some things we cannot do, and to accept the care of others. Sometimes such wisdom motivates us to act. But then the action is based on love for God and love for other people. Love is the measurement for what is important and what is less important. It helps us to discern the difference between waiting and opting out.
Let us hope that we will learn to know God”s standard of love so we know what we can not do and admit it honestly, and what we can do and act on it courageously. The victim, the robber, the Levite, the Priest and the Samaritan all travel within us. Only love can tell us which character”s footsteps most mark our souls.