Let Down | Seeing Others

30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way.(Luke 10:30-32 CEB)

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of Jesus' most famous stories. A man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest walks by and sees him but crosses to the other side of the road. A Levite does the same thing. But a Samaritan – someone who would have been despised by Jesus' audience – stops and helps.

We usually focus on what the Samaritan did. He bandaged the man's wounds, took him to an inn, paid for his care. He went above and beyond to help someone in desperate need. And that's important.

But I want us to notice something else about this story. Both the priest and the Levite saw the injured man. They didn't miss him. They didn't walk by without noticing. They saw him lying there on the side of the road...and they chose to keep walking.

Why? We're not told. Maybe they were busy. Maybe they had important religious duties to attend to. Maybe they were afraid. Maybe they figured someone else would help. Maybe they just didn't want to get involved. Whatever their reasons, they chose to ignore someone who desperately needed help.

And we do the same thing. Not necessarily with people who've been beaten and left on the side of the road, but with people all around us who are struggling. We see them. We notice them. But we keep walking.

We see the single mom in line at the grocery store counting her money, hoping she has enough to pay for the food her kids need. We see the elderly neighbor who hasn't had a visitor in weeks. We see the coworker who's clearly overwhelmed and stressed. We see the family at church who's wearing the same clothes they wore last week because they can't afford anything new.

We see them. But we're so focused on our own Christmas shopping, our own holiday stress, our own problems and plans that we just keep walking. We cross to the other side of the road. We tell ourselves that someone else will help, or that they probably don't really need anything, or that we're too busy to get involved right now.

And when Christmas is over and we're cleaning up the wrapping paper and taking down the decorations, we wonder why we feel so empty. We wonder why, even though we got everything we wanted, we still feel let down.

Maybe it's because Christmas was never meant to be just about us. Maybe it's because the good news of Christmas – that God loved the world so much that he sent his son – is supposed to change how we see other people.

When we really understand that God loves everyone, not just us, it should open our eyes to the people around us. It should make us stop and notice. It should move us to do something.

The Samaritan in Jesus' parable wasn't a hero. He was just someone who saw a person in need and decided to help. That's it. He didn't do anything extraordinary. He just refused to cross to the other side of the road.

That's what Christmas calls us to do. To see the people around us. To really see them. And then to do something about it.

Closing Prayer:

Jesus, forgive us for all the times we've crossed to the other side of the road. Open our eyes to see the people around us who need help. Give us compassionate hearts that are moved to action. Help us to love others the way you love us – not because they deserve it or because it's convenient, but simply because they need it. Amen.