A few weeks ago there was a news story in which a man came to the rescue of another man who was being attacked by two pit bulls. The man who came to his rescue had no previous connection with the man under assault but he intervened and saved the man's life. Another story recounted a man who jumped into a river to save someone else's drowning child. And over the holidays a young Muslim man came to the defense of a young Jewish couple who was being mugged by a bunch of thugs on the train. It's called the story of the "Good Samaritan" and even those who don't go to church, read the Bible, or who haven't grown up around a Christian metanarrative are usually aware of the gist of the story. Someone sees someone else in trouble and steps in to help them even when by law they don't have to reach out.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke 10:25-37 and it begins with a man of the law asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life. An exchange between Jesus and the man boils down the necessary requirements to, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The man of the law then asks one more question of clarification, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus then launches into a story about a traveler who is accosted by bandits and left for dead. The battered and dying traveler is bypassed by a Jewish priest and a Levite who take a detour to the other side of the road to avoid involvement in the mess. Only a lowly Samaritan, who was according to the Jewish law, a lesser race, class and culture came to the aid of the man in the ditch, bandaging his wounds, transporting him to a safe place and taking caring of him. Leaving the innkeeper money to pay for the man's continued recovery he promises to return and follow up and pay for any additional expenses. This is definitely more investment than money dropped in the can of a homeless man.
What moved this Samaritan who is called good to do such a thing? What moved this man to reach out to someone who had been brutalized? What caused him to ignore race, class and culture, inconvenience, messiness and money, in order to be a neighbor?
The scriptures say it was splagchnizomai. It's the Greek word that is translated as "pity" in this passage, but which literally means to be moved in one's bowels. To have something deep within you moved when you see another person's pain or struggle. It is the word that is often used about Jesus when he sees the plight of people who are like "sheep without a shepherd" or who happen to be blind or hungry or held captive.
Perhaps the Samaritan is moved in his gut because he himself knows what it feels like to have people move to the other side of the road when they see you. Perhaps the Samaritan is moved in his gut because he has not been so hardened by the letter of law that he has forgotten the heart of it. Perhaps it's simpler than that, perhaps he just sees the man's blood and knows that his blood looks the same.
Being able to identify with someone else's wounds, being moved in your gut by someone else's pain, being able to see what is similar in your struggle and seeing past a person's particularities to their pain. This is at the core of what it means to be a neighbor. To have splagchnizomai take over your life and move you into action. Being a neighbor is not about what you should do. Nobody wants a neighbor who helps simply because they have to. A bunch of neighbors who simply do what they have to do will never contain enough heart to become a neighborhood. Being a neighbor is about being moved in your heart to help.
And you will know if splagchnizomai is happening to you when you are moved beyond a coin in the can and compelled to reach out and touch the wounds of the one you find in trouble. You will know that splagchnizomai is taking over your life when your response moves from a moment of compassion to investing in someone else's recovery. You will know that you are becoming a neighbor when you find yourself wanting to return and establish a relationship with the one whose race, class and culture are different from your own.
Jesus follows up the story with a question, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him. "Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Mercy is an emotion of compassion which doesn't stop with emotion but moves into action. "Go and do likewise." Let your gut reaction move into action and become a neighbor not because you have to but because your heart is so moved you can't help but reach out and care for those who are hurting.
I pray that you know the God who was moved with splagchnizomai for you and may he dwell in you so thoroughly that you are moved with splagchnizomai for others.
