The Good Samaritan

CrossWalk Community Church Napa

What happened to the hero in this story that made him have a different response to the wounded victim than the religious leaders on the other side of the theological aisle? It's a parable - a made up story - so we only have our imagination to work with. If he was a human like me (and many others), the something that happened must have been an expression of Divine Love that changed his heart, his eyes, his mind, that led to a change in the way he used his hands and feet and mouth. Maybe, as was the case for the disciples, we may have similar experiences that lead to similar outcomes.

If we are to believe the biblical revelation, it seems that God does not love the people Israel if they change (as they first imagine), but so that they can change. Divine Love is not a reward for good behavior, as we first presume it to be; it is a larger Life, an energy and movement that we can participate in—and then, almost in spite of ourselves—we behave differently. It seems few of us go there willingly. For some reason, we’re afraid of what we most want.

This whole human project pivots around Divine Love. Because our available understanding of love is almost always conditioned on “I love you if” or “I love you when,” most people find it almost impossible—apart from real transformation—to comprehend or receive Divine Love. In fact, we cannot understand it in the least, unless we “stand under” it, like a cup beneath a waterfall. When we truly understand Divine Love, our politics, our anthropology, our economics, and our movements for justice will all change. - Richard Rohr