Ten Dollars and the Good Samaritan

"What was he thinking, traveling that road alone? Didn’t he know the dangers? Hadn’t he heard the reports of bandits traveling that stretch of highway? It serves him right that he got jumped. Maybe he will learn something from the experience.

Okay, I suppose I could help him out, get him to an inn or something, but that is it. I will pay for his first nights stay, but after that the bill is on him. He will have to figure out how to pay the innkeeper. That should teach him a lesson to avoid this road without some kind of armed escort. I will help him but I’m going to make sure he learns not to do this again."

No these aren’t the thoughts of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10:30-26, but I wonder if they would have been mine. This past week I received a call from a woman who needed some gas to get to work. She said that she didn’t get paid until the end of the week and just needed something to get her to the paycheck. She had heard that our church helped people out.

I said sure, I could help her with ten dollars, and told her I would meet her at the convenient store up the street. She said she would be there in a few minutes in a maroon Grand Am.

I drove to the convenient store and pulled in the parking lot. I had a definite picture in my head of the vehicle and person. We had never met but I felt like I knew who she was. I saw a beat up Grand Am with trash in the back window. I saw a woman who looked like she had seen better times in a vehicle that definitely didn't have that new car smell. I had created a mental picture of who I was going to meet.

I didn’t see the Grand Am. I certainly didn't see anyone matching the description I had created in my mind. I went inside and purchased a candy bar and waited. The only car I noticed was a Chrysler LHS Sedan with custom chrome wheels. The parties in that vehicle puffed away like smoke stacks on their cigarettes as I chewed my candy bar.

I waited and waited for the maroon Grand Am, but there was nothing. Eventually I decided to return to my office, I didn’t have all day. I went back two other times, never seeing a Grand Am but noticing that the Chrysler with the tripped out wheels remained.

Eventually I got another phone call. It was the woman in need of gas. She said she was actually in a purple Chrysler, it was her son-in-law who would be driving her to works car. When I returned to the convenient store I saw that it was the chain smoking crew from earlier. I got out of my car and began to laugh. Their ride was much nicer than my own.

The man followed me into the store and I gave the clerk the ten dollars. Her son-in-law said thanks and we began to talk. During our conversation I realized that I had failed. These were people, people who needed Jesus. Sure they were probably taking me, but I don’t see where that comes into play in the text. I had an opportunity to rise above that, to share the love I have received, and what did I do? I laughed.

The question is not whether they deserved the aid or assistance. The question is, are they my neighbor? That is what I missed that day. Does this mean I give money to every person who asks? No. It just means that I should see them as my neighbor and treat them accordingly.