are you the good samaritan?

We all know the story of the good samaritan. We would all like to think that given a situation we are the good samaritan.

I thought this too.

The other week Anna and i were confronted with the parable of the good samaritan. The good samaritan isn't helping someone up when they fall over in the centre of town. This isn't the story jesus was telling i don't think. The story jesus was telling required so much more than that. The good samaritan took man to an inn. In those days they didn't have cars. The man took him on his own donkey. The inn might have been miles away! he might have had to have walked an hour to the nearest inn...at least! When he got there he paid for the man. Not only that but he said to him that he would also pay for any extra expenses! He didn't know how much it was, it could have been a lot! but that how out of his own way he went, this was the extent of his love and compassion.

2 weeks ago Anna and i dropped off a couple after the meeting who are new interested contacts. We dropped them off in the centre of durban in a part called "The warwick triangle" and is know to be somewhat dangerous. As we pulled up at the side of the busy road which was packed with people waiting for taxis and shoppers from the markets there was a man laying in the road. This took me by surprise and i didn't quite know what to do. He looked homeless. My immediate thought was is he dead or is he injured. The couple we were dropping off didn't seem to batter an eyelid, told me he would have been drinking strong spirits all night and got out the car and walked off.

Anna and i didn't know what to do. We were in the middle of a city centre where we were stared at for being white and no white people go in this area. There was Busy traffic rushing past us on one side and a swarm of people on the other side. No one seemed bothered that there was a man lying in the road. We both knew this was exactly like the parable of the samaritan. What were we to do? The man was completely unconcious and very dirty. How would we lift him into the car? We were two weak females. Do we take him to hospital? Where is the hospital? Supposing he was unconcious from drink would the hospital just turn us away as its quite common? then where do we take him? back to westville hall? We had somewhere important to be. Do we stay at the hall instead and wait for him to wake up? then what? clothe him and feed him and drop him back off the street where we picked him up?

We failed at being the good samaritan.

How incredible was the good samaritan!