Saturday, July 10, 2010
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Love over Legalism
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft Corporation and the inventor of the personal computer has revolutionized society to the point that technology has forever changed the way human beings communicate and conduct business with each other. Mr. Gates is a wealthy man – a very wealthy, some might say obscenely wealthy man. His net worth is marked in the billions. With that kind of wealth, power, and influence, one could do anything they desire.
Yet, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation now has a significant role in shaping the world’s thinking about how best to combat social problems. This past January, Mr. Gates now full time philanthropist and his friend Warren Buffett, a man of equal worth and influence, offered public comments on the state of the world’s economy and its effects on the poor. Gates was quoted as saying: “The people who suffer the most from the economic crisis are the poorest.”
In order to follow words with actions, both Gates and Buffett increased the amount of their giving from $3.3 billion to $3.8 billion in 2009. Buffett pledged in 2006 to give 83% of his fortune to the foundation. He has already contributed $5 billion. The numbers are impressive and success has been made. But, much more needs to be done. While money is needed, the real sign of success is a marked and lasting change in the direction of people’s lives. It isn’t just about the money. It’s about the people who are touched by that advantage. While I don't believe Mr. Gates is now living in a shack one cannot help but laud such generosity and good example to the super rich.
This Sunday’s readings speak to us of making a difference in the life of another. From the Book of Deuteronomy 30: 10-14 writes about the natural law that God has established within each of our hearts. That law is, “. . . not too mysterious and remote for you. . . it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” It seems God has written upon the heart of every human person a natural sense of good. An inherit realization that in the sight of injustice a wrong must be made right. Obviously, though, what determines a “wrong” and what describes “injustice” may be viewed differently. Who is harmed by whom, the right response to that harm, and who receives assistance is often selective according to resources available. Even the Gates Foundation among others, have only a limited amount of resources and want to spend that money in the best way possible. But, who determines what is the “best way?”
The Gospel of Luke 10: 25-37, brings to us a parable that looks beyond the law of limits. The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most loved and well known. It is right up there in genius story telling with another parable of Jesus: the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
Here, there is another law beyond the minimum which Jesus encounters. He is asked by a “scholar of the law . . . what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It strikes with a kind of minimalist flavor. What is the minimum I have to do? What does the law tell me? Most law offers us a line to not cross. The minimum requirement. These are the boundaries within which we must behave. If we walk outside these boundaries we are going beyond what the law allows or in the case of this scholar, what the law expects of every faithful Jew.
So, he quotes the law upon Jesus’ question, “What is written in the law?” The scholar quotes the first and second law of the Ten Commandments. What we are minimally expected to do: Love God and love your neighbor.
Yet, like all applications of the law, it demands a certain interpretation. “Who is my neighbor?” the scholar asks Jesus. He wants to be sure he understands the requirement.
Then, Jesus answers his query with a parable that demands far more than the minimum requirement. He is given an example of love over legalism; love beyond the minimum which becomes heroic and Christ-like. The story of the Good Samaritan touches the very nature of our relationship with one another and is consistent with the Christian Gospel after the profound example lived out in the life of our Lord. “Your neighbor is the stranger in need and your enemy will show you how it is done.” I imagine that at the end of this story, which envisions an entirely new social order, the scholar and all gathered with him stood there speechless. The Samaritan? The priest, the Levite were expected to have shown some compassion. But, maybe it was fear, disgust, indifference or a combination of all three that prevented them from attending to the physical need of the injured man. The point may be, those who should or could have, didn’t. The least likely one, did. Over and above what was reasonable: “Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.”
The Samaritan, a sworn enemy of the ancient Jews, modeled for his “enemies” a love which transcends culture, prejudice, creeds, and forms a neighbor out of a complete stranger. The moral of the story is crystal clear. As Jesus says, “. . . God and do likewise.”
I believe we are all capable of doing more but we so often, either through fear, laziness, ignorance, selfishness, or prejudice, settle for much less. The minimum sometimes becomes the norm of our behavior. What is the least I can do and still be considered a Catholic? What is the least I can do to improve my appearance or my behavior to still have people think well of me? I don’t have time right now, someone else will surely take care of that. We can often be creatures of excuses.
The parable of the Good Samaritan, the concrete example of Jesus who is the sign of God’s overwhelming generosity, demands a life-time of meditation. It can be a measure of the quality of my Christian life, an examination of conscience before Confession, a benchmark for parish outreach ministry, a model for family life and relationships within that family and one’s extended family, a measure between the super rich and the painfully poor.
Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. ~Kahlil Gibran
Let us go and do the same for one another.
Father Tim