THE GREAT SAMARITAN by Jessica Honegger For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?- Matthew 5:46a I recently sat on the floor in the hut of an Indian slum with a paralyzed woman. She taught me how to Kantha stitch one of the pieces for Noonday Collection, the organization I run that creates economic opportunity for the vulnerable. Unable to leave her house, this work provided her enough income to send her kids to school. I had so little in common with her– in language, physical ability, culture, and economics. Who was I to come into her home? Me, with my American privilege. Me, with my able body. Me, with my life of so little suffering. And yet, this is what Jesus did for us. He left Heaven—His perfect culture, with all the comfort and untainted love He shared with the Father— to become incarnate. And He now invites each of us to do the same for one another. Moving into different and uncomfortable spaces to love sacrificially is a theme Jesus pounded into earth during his leave of absence from Heaven. In the story of the Good Samaritan we see an invitation to STOP. To be INTERRUPTED. To be INTENTIONAL to meet the vulnerable who may look different than ourselves. When we leave what is comfortable to share the burden of another, we become incarnational ministers with Jesus. After all, it was Jesus who asked us, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” (Matthew 5:46) “Jesus is the Great Samaritan to whom the Good Samaritan points.”- Tim Keller, Generous Justice Take a look at the people in your life. Do they all look the same as you? How often does the opportunity to love inconveniently, unexpectedly, and with someone who can give little in return (and I am not talking about parenting!) occur in your week? Tim Keller defines agape love as serving a person “for their good and intrinsic value, not for what the person brings you.” Yet we are often fearful of what it could mean to become the Good Samaritan in our daily life. It is too messy to actually incarnate, so we write a check instead because that feels safer. Or we act the Good Samaritan partly for selfish reasons—we love how it makes us appear. We declare ourselves obedient with ten degrees of separation, still keeping us safe from human suffering. God’s invitation to us is to agape love. It is to a love full of self-forgetfulness. The good news is we can begin emulating the Great Samaritan even when we’re scared. We can start small. We can even move reluctantly, because God will capture our hearts for His beloved with or without our permission. We may certainly act imperfectly; faithfully serving the poor, prioritizing their dignity and intrinsic worth is a complicated road with many false starts. I have loved sincerely but poorly in my journey with the vulnerable. I have commoditized and patronized unknowingly. I have volunteered too far outside my skills, acting as a midwife in the mountains of Bolivia (I have a degree in Latin American Studies but not obstetrics!) and served on a hoity toity board (even worse). And yet the only way I am learning to agape love is by practicing! Not just praying “God give me a heart for the poor” or waiting for that perfect opportunity (because there is no perfect when it comes to justice…it is entirely untidy), but by doing. Because ultimately, Jesus left heaven where salvation was still an unrealized plan and came to earth to actually save a desperate humanity. May we draw courage from His resolve and strength from His mercy to go and do likewise. ___________Jessica Honegger is the founder of Noonday Collection, an organization which uses fashion and design to create economic opportunity for the vulnerable. Their business directly impacts the lives of over 2,000 artisans around the world.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 14:15:12 +0000
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