“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37
“There is no insinuation that the needy ask for help. This may be for two reasons: to emphasize the other part, that attitudes of solidarity through be taken. Or it may be because the text is speaking about a “situation,” internalized as “normal” both for those who are fine and for the others.
And this is serious. The prophetic message acts then as a wake-up call. It makes the hearers take note of what is happening in the society, or of the social differences that divide and generate sectors of “classes” in the community.
Even more: if the text says nothing about what the needy do, or about what they should do, the force of the oracle is for those who can—and it says to them what they should do—show solidarity with them. In other words, the prophetic message proposes what Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan says—to be neighbor…
“Neighbor,” therefore, is not oen who is near (to the other) but one ho draws near to the other. One “becomes a neighbor” by approaching the other, by taking an initiative to draw near and help.”
José Severino Croatto in “Leviticus Jubilee Year to the Prophetic Liberation Time” in God’s Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America edited by Ross and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 104.
Again, I hope you are appreciating these Latin American scholarly perspectives on generosity whilst I travel and serve in Guatemala this week. Croatto helps us see that the generous neighbor for Jesus is not one is near but one who takes the initiative to draw near and helps a person in need.
Today at 8am Denver time / 4pm Cairo time, I am participating in a webinar promoted by GTP and NABLA, entitled “Steps from External Support Dependency to Local Sustainability.” But why mention this? In the webinar I cite the Good Samaritan in contrast to some helping can actually hurt.
Some help can create unhealthy dependencies rather than build healthy disciples. The key is in the movement! We cannot throw money at a problem and call it “generosity.” Instead, we show solidarity with the hurting. We take the initiative and draw near to those in need, as Croatto says, and lift them up.
Is there someone you know that you could show solidarity with right now? What if you took the initative to move toward them, to draw near to them at this time and lift them up? How might you avoid giving a handout that creates a dependency and give a hand up to build a disciple?