::

I was away for the weekend to LifeLight, a Christian music festival in Sioux Falls. It was a good three days of sun and wind and rock and roll with my kids and good friends. And as you might expect, worth at least a story or two. 

From under our canopy tent at the top of the field we had a great vantage point to observe the entire main stage area of the festival grounds, packed full of tens of thousands of people. There was a wide stretch of open ground between us and the furthest back clumps of blankets and lawn chairs. This swathe functioned as a thoroughfare for folks coming in, going out, looking for the port-a-potties or heading down for something to eat as well as a makeshift field for a dozen or so games of Frisbee and football.

Around mid-afternoon yesterday, with the temperature high, humidity up and the wind blowing hard, I noticed that all of a sudden there was a lady lying on the ground, flat on her back. Her lawn chair was by her side, still folded up. She had a plastic sack, presumably full of her snacks and supplies for the day, also by her side, unopened. And there she lay, stick straight on the ground, not moving. Folks continued walking through, some having to step around her as they went. Some looked down, some averted their gaze. I guess the paramedic cart went by once and at least slowed to look, but still went on by. And the football and Frisbee games continued over and around her, undeterred by a woman lying on the ground. It was truly as though she wasn’t there at all.

As you might expect, the scene wound its way through my “weird filter” and got me thinking. It’s certainly not a perfect match to the parable of the Good Samaritan. If nowhere else, the story breaks down where nobody stopped to help, or even check on her. But I still had visions of the priests and the Levites walking to the side of her, crossing to the other side of the field to avoid her. 

::

As I’m guessing you may already know, Jesus had a conversation with a religious scholar in which the scholar asked what he had to do to gain eternal life. Jesus’ answer was a question, as He was so good at doing. He asked the scholar to tell Him what was written in the Law. How do you interpret it? The scholar answered, according to The Message translation, ” that you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence — and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

Jesus commended him for his response. But then the scholar took it another step, maybe looking for a loophole. He asked, But who is my neighbor? How do You define neighbor? 

And so Jesus told him the story of the man who was attacked while on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers did what robbers do, and robbed him blind and left him beat up by the roadside to die.

As he lay dying, along came a priest. We expect the text to tell us that the priest to helps him out. That sounds like a priestly thing to do. But he doesn’t. He walks to the other side of the road to avoid him. 

Then along comes a Levite. Another religious leader we’d expect to be moved to respond comes along. But there is none of the anticipated mercy. The Levite also crosses to the other side of the road to avoid the wounded victim. 

Finally, a Samaritan comes. Now this is the guy we’re going to expect to walk by. To avoid the man at all costs. Culturally, it would have been completely understandable. Justified. Expected.

Yet he stops, cares for the man and takes him to a hotel and pays his bill.

::

I can’t be sure, because I didn’t keep my eye on her the whole time, but nobody stopped to check on the woman in my story while she lay on the ground. At least not when I was looking.  Nobody stopped to help.

Including me. 

She was only yards away from us, and I was among the throngs of people who had to have seen her there and looked the other way. I didn’t want to disturb her. I didn’t want to embarrass her. I didn’t want to draw attention to her.

That’s what I told myself.

::

Really, I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t want to inconvenience myself. I didn’t want to look foolish. 

What if she yelled at me for waking her up? 

What if she was just doing some sort of psychology experiment to see what would happen if she just plopped down in the grass and the dirt and acted like she were dead?

What if it was a Punked type stunt, designed to catch people looking stupid?

::

Wrong questions. There were better, more important questions to ask.

What if she’d passed out from heat stroke or dehydration?

What if she’d had a heart attack?

What if she’d just broken down and couldn’t move anymore?

What if she wasn’t just some lady who was tired after packing her stuff in to the festival grounds on a hot, windy day and just decided to lay down and take a nap?

What if she wasn’t that lady? What if that lady was someone who seriously needed help?

::

There were plenty of priests and Levites here. Plenty who walked along and didn’t take a moment to get involved. Plenty who threw footballs over her supine body on the ground, sometimes cutting around her just in time to avoid giving her a swift kick in the head. Plenty who watched her from a safe distance under a canopy tent.

But from what I saw, there were no Samaritans. None who went out of their way to assist. None who gave of their own resources, running counter to what would be expected of them, to help someone who might have been in need. None even willing to find out of there was a need. 

Including me.

::

So, Rabbi, who’s my neighbor? 

I know my neighbors. If I saw one of my neighbors lying flat on his back in the street in front of my house, I’d go see if he was ok. I wouldn’t just say, “Oh, he got tired walking back from the mailbox and decided to take a nap.” 

If I saw a coworker lying on the floor by the printer, I’d ask her if she was ok. I wouldn’t just say, “Oh, claims can be pretty exhausting. She must have needed a break.” 

And if I saw one of my friends in the grocery story lying on the floor in the produce aisle, I’d go find out what was up. I wouldn’t say, “Oh, I hate shopping too. What a great idea to just take a nap instead.” 

But a lady I don’t know, lying down in the middle of a field on a hot day with almost 100,000 people milling around? I can find a way for it to make enough sense that she decided to drop right there for a nap without even getting her blanket or chair out that I didn’t need to get out of my chair to ask a simple question.

Are you ok? Do you need anything? Can I help you?

::

Jesus tells the religious scholar in this story that it’s not just the people we know and like that are our neighbors. I have to be ready and willing to step out of what’s comfortable and take a risk to help another.

As it turned out, all was well. I eventually did see the woman sitting upright in her chair, apparently rested and comfortable and enjoying the festivities. I didn’t see a tragic story on the news that night about a woman with a life threatening condition that was ignored at LifeLight.

::

But what if?

What if she wasn’t just some lady that got tired after packing her stuff in to the festival and decided lay down for a nap in the middle of the field?

Just what if she wasn’t? 

What would I do then?

::