It has become incredibly cliché to point out how polarized the society in which
we live has become. Everyone has heard it a thousand times, and I certainly don’t mean to diminish it, because it’s true. But it would be a mistake to believe that this is the only time in human history that it has become more or less impossible for neighbors to function together. The Parable of the Good Samaritan that we hear today illustrates how the inability to look past our tribalism or biases stunts our capacity to live as Christians.  

Because we are inundated with messaging meant to counteract division between social groups, it doesn’t come as a shock to us that a Samaritan, someone from outside the broadly accepted chosen people, would stop and help a man practicing his Jewish faith. We see public service announcements and billboards
all over the place, telling us to be kind to those who are different, so maybe it even looks like an after-school commercial. But the rift between Samaritans and Jews in the days of Our Lord was brutal and absolute. Two groups, descended from the same tradition, claiming the same God, have developed radically different ways of worship that are mutually exclusive and hostile towards one another. A man returning from worshipping his God in Jerusalem falls into terrible misfortune, and in Jesus’ story, his own kind turn their backs on him.  

So intense was their conflict that perhaps it was difficult for him to even accept the help of a Samaritan, even in the face of his overwhelming need. With all of that in mind, this is not me saying that we should all try to be friends and move past our differences and maybe be nicer to each other if we have to talk politics. This is me, convicted by my own sinfulness and hardness of heart, hearing the call of Jesus to love our neighbors, even those we have despised and those who have despised us, unto the point of reckless abandon. The Samaritan doesn’t just walk across the street and ask the man if he is okay. He turns his entire life upside down to make sure this man is cared for with the dignity that is due to him, insofar as he is made in the image and likeness of God. This is the basis for our shared humanity, and this is the only thing that will overcome our sinfulness and division.  
 
The solution to the brokenness in society will never be policy and rules and the like, even though those should be natural outgrowths of what we do. The solution to the brokenness in society is God’s grace, and the degree to which we are willing to accept it and work in conjunction with it. Jesus used the most radical metaphor he could find, and we don’t have to look too far today to find similar situations. This week, I pray that we all search for such division in our own lives, and invite God’s grace to begin the process of healing and overcoming that sad divisions that lessen our awareness of one another’s inalienable human dignity.