The Man With the Red Envelope
Giving like the Good Samaritan, from Luke 10:25-37
A few years ago, at the Meatloaf Kitchen - a meal service in New York City where I volunteer - a guest pulled me aside and handed me a bright red envelope.
“To celebrate Chinese New Year, I wanted to thank you all for everything you do for our community.”
Inside the envelope was a check for $1,000.
I didn't use these words at the time, but what I witnessed that day at the Meatloaf Kitchen was Christlike generosity.
Selfless. Unconcerned with the recipient. Focused only on need.
A man waiting in line for a free meal gave away money he couldn't spare, so that other strangers could eat for free.
Looks can be deceiving.
That is the idea at the heart of this week's Gospel:
True selflessness does not depend on who you are or what you say, but by what you choose to do.
In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan - a man who acts when others wouldn’t.
The parable follows a question from a scholar, who asks Jesus how to achieve eternal life. When Jesus tells him to “love your neighbor as yourself,” the scholar asks:
"And who is my neighbor?"
In other words: Who do I actually need to treat with compassion and generosity?
Enter the Good Samaritan.
In response, Jesus tells the scholar about a man who was robbed and left beaten on the side of the road, and the three different people who came across him.
The first was a priest - a servant of God - who crossed the street rather than help out.
The second was a Levite - a religious scholar - who did the same.
The third was a Samaritan - a social outcast, considered a heretic for his “incorrect” beliefs about God - who did what the others knew they should: Tended to the man's injuries, brought him somewhere to recover, and paid for his treatment.
It turns out that the one with "impure" thoughts had the purest heart:
“But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.”
Ultimately, at the core of this story is the gap between good intentions and loving actions.
It’s not hard to imagine the priest’s rationale for ignoring the suffering in front of him:
“That man needs my help, but if I stop for him I have to stop for everyone - and that’s not possible.”
And it’s not hard to imagine similar logic for the Levite:
“Helping that man will just put a bandaid on the problem - my time will be better spent attacking the root of the issue.”
But no matter how good their intentions were, each man ended up doing nothing.
Only the Samaritan was moved with compassion to help - and that is who Jesus tells us to follow:
"Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
[The scholar] answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Go and do likewise.
What makes this week's Gospel so powerful is how little has changed since the day it was told.
We have the same good intentions as the priest and the Levite. And more often than not, we make the same excuses they did. When we “can’t help everyone,” we end up helping no one. When the problem is “too complex to solve,” we end up looking the other way entirely.
In fact, so little has changed that thousands of years later, we still react in the exact same way to the suffering right in front of us:
We cross to the opposite side of the street.
If anything, the problem has only gotten worse since Jesus counseled the scholar to love his neighbor like himself.
Now, rather than address the needs of those around us, we focus our attention on "more important" issues elsewhere.
We obsess over the big things we cannot change and ignore the small, fixable problems right in front of us.
We bemoan the climate crisis but won’t pick up trash in our own backyard.
We criticize the healthcare system but spend no time with the sick in our neighborhood.
We police strangers’ opinions online but won't say hello to the homeless man outside our subway stop.
If Jesus were here today, he would tell us to jump in feet first - to do what we can now to help those around us.
Not to wait for the right impact. Not to scrutinize the worth of whoever needs our help.
To love our neighbors as ourselves requires us to look up from our phones, to look away from our televisions, and be like the man with the red envelope.
Just give.
After all, who more closely follows the word of God:
Someone with the “wrong” views, who helps the needy around him?
Or someone with the “right” views, who helps no one at all?
The answer to that question hasn’t changed since the Good Samaritan.
See you next week.
Emmett
Gospel
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."