Janita Krayniak

At present, the political climate in our nation is volatile, at best. The division of family, neighbors and friends in these polarized times is real. There is an overwhelming need for meaningful change, yet there is so much that needs attention. To borrow a line from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Evita: “Where do we go from here?”

I wish I had an easy answer. But I don’t.  

What I do know is that living the gospel has never been “the easy way.” The long-standing conflict between the Jewish people and the Samaritans was a centuries-old religious and ethnic rivalry that stemmed from the Assyrian defeat of the Northern Kingdom in the year 722 B.C. This time of occupation led to intermarriage between Samaritans and Jews. Samaritans were often considered (by the Jews) to be “half-breeds” or ethically impure. The animosity continued, as the Samaritans chose to build a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. Though both the Jews and Samaritans followed the Torah, the Jewish people considered this to be heresy. The split intensified after the Babylonian exile (circa fifth century B.C.), when Samaritans opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and temple. As violence often begets violence, in approximately 108 B.C., the Jewish people destroyed the Samaritan temple. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish viewed Samaritans with great contempt to the point that they often avoided traveling through Samaria at all. Even the word “Samaritan” was used as an insult. 

I share this background with you to show that things were complicated then, and things are complicated now. Some people thought they were morally and ethically superior to everyone else, and some people were considered to be less than, ethically “impure,” and most definitely these people would have been considered to be “other.” I believe this is why Jesus uses the story of the “good Samaritan.” Not only does it strike at the heart of the political dynamics of the time by calling out the lack of response of the organized religious leaders, as well as the law/representatives of the law, but it also shows us an unexpected pathway forward, and that trailblazer is not who we expected it to be, at all. 

That pathway forward was forged in love. That pathway forward showed that common care and decency for fellow human beings is the mark of what it means to be called “neighbor or friend” (to the one who fell into the hands of robbers). The path, therefore, was not forged by the church leaders and priests, nor by those who enforced the law of the day. The path of love and care was walked by none other than the unexpected Samaritan. The very people who had been called heretical. And then to top that off, Jesus then charges the lawyer (and I believe it is a charge for us, as well) to “Go and do likewise.” Ultimately, when the religious leaders fail to see those who are in need, even to the point of crossing to the other side of the street to avoid interacting with those who are in need … when the law makers and those representing the law, fail to intervene on behalf of those who are in need … that leaves us (and by us, I mean you … I mean me.)

“Where do we go from here?” The path is clear.  We are to be like that Samaritan. We are to “Go and do likewise.” Will we?

(Janita Krayniak is the pastor at United Church of Powell.)