The Good Samaritan – By Tim Hansel

One semester, a seminary professor set up his preaching class in an unusual way. He scheduled his students to preach on the Parable of The Good Samaritan and on the day of the class, he choreographed his experiment so that each student would go, one at a time, from one classroom to another where he or she would preach a sermon. The professor gave some students 10 minutes to go from one classroom to the other; to others he allowed less time, forcing them to have to rush in order to meet the schedule. Each student, one at a time, had to walk down a certain hallway and pass by a bum, who was deliberately planted there, obviously in need of some sort of help.

The results were surprising, and offered a powerful lesson to them. The percentage of those good men and women who stopped to help was extremely low, especially for those who were under the pressure of a shorter time period. The tighter the schedule, the fewer were those who stopped to help the man in need. When the professor revealed his experiment, you can imagine the impact on that class of future spiritual leaders. Rushing to preach a sermon on the Good Samaritan, they had walked right past the beggar at the heart of the parable. We must have eyes to see as well as hands to help, or we may never help at all. I think this well-known, anonymous poem expresses it very powerfully:

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club to discuss my hunger. Thank you.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release. Nice.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance. What good did that do?

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

But I needed you.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God.

I wish you had taken me home.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

Why didn’t you stay?

You seem so holy, so close to God; but I’m still very hungry, lonely, cold, and still in pain. Does it matter to you?