The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor.  But who is our neighbor?  This is a question a religious expert asked Jesus in Luke 10, and Jesus responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Most are probably familiar with this story.  A Jewish man is attacked by robbers and left half-dead on the side of the road.  Two religious leaders come along, and both keep right on going.  Finally Jesus introduces the Samaritan.  His Jewish listeners immediately assume he won’t help.  Jews and Samaritans hated each other.  But Jesus has the Samaritan stop, bind up the man’s wounds, bring him to an inn to recover, and pay for all the expenses.  The point is obvious:  Your neighbor includes those who oppose you, who hate you, who you want to hate.  Loving your neighbor means you love even your enemies.  And loving your neighbor means you help him when you see a need you can meet.

But let us go back to Jesus and his listeners.  The atmosphere is electric.  The listeners are bristling.  The Samaritan is the hero?  How dare Jesus make a Samaritan the hero!  Samaritans are half-breeds.  They don’t worship right.  There has been hatred and opposition between the two groups for year, and Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero?  Jesus is clearly not a good politician, because his popularity level drops significantly here. 

Why does Jesus tell the story this way?  He could have made it a Samaritan who is hurt and a Jew who saves the day.  His main point to love your enemies would have remained intact.  And he wouldn’t have offended his listeners.  Why does he make the Samaritan the hero?  Is he trying to get their attention?  Does he want to irritate them?  Let me suggest another possibility.

I think Jesus is trying to remind them that even their enemies are capable of doing good because they are made in the image of God.  We want to villianize our enemies.  We seek to demonize those who oppose us.  If we can paint them as evil, then we can treat them as evil.  But wait, they are still people made in God’s image capable of doing good.

Let’s retell the story for today.  Jesus is invited to a Tea Party.  He goes and begins to tell this story:  A man affliated with the Tea Party is driving down the road in his car emblazoned with Tea Party slogans.  His car stalls, and as he gets out to see what is wrong, he collapses.  A Tea Party leader comes along, sees the man on the side of the road, and zooms right on by.  A Tea Party organizer sees the man and zooms right on by.  Then a Democrat sees the man, stops, calls 911, calls the tow truck, and pays all the car and medical bills.  Imagine the atmosphere at the Tea Party if Jesus told such a story making the opposition the hero.  We want to villianize the opposition.  Jesus reminds us that they are people capable of doing good. 

In Israel today, Jesus would make the Samaritan a Muslim, a Palestinian.  To the Palestinians, Jesus would make an Israeli the hero.  At Terry Jones’ church, the hero would be a Koran-toting Muslim.   To the rioting Muslims, it might be Terry Jones. 

If he came to our churches, the Samaritan might be a gay activist, an abortionist, an atheist, a raunchy rock star, an immoral movie star, a full-of-himself sports star.  Whoever we want to villainize, demonize, treat with hatred and contempt would be the Samaritan when Jesus told the story to us.  We can disagree with people’s character, beliefs, politics, and activities, but they are still people made in the image of God.  They are our neighbors whom God has called us to love.