Desmond Tutu once described the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa as a collection of "strange allies." He noted that when your very survival is at stake, and the security of your life and family is in jeopardy, whoever is not against you is for you. Of course, that last phrase is a quote straight from Jesus.But Tutu's statement has also been demonstrated on every continent and throughout history. At times in recent history, the United States of America has been allied with the Soviet Union, communist China, Germany, Iran, Japan, England, France, Spain, Italy, and others. What do you also notice about that list? They have all been at war with us at some time or another! Very interesting.
Most of you reading this know that I am a huge Portland Trailblazers fan. My two favorite teams in the NBA are Portland, and anyone who beats the L.A. Lakers! That means that on any given night, I could be rooting for Portland to beat the team they are playing, and then the next night root for that exact same team to beat the Lakers! All you sports fans out there know what I’m talking about. When our teams are on the borderline of making the playoffs, we even say, "We need some help from _________________." That usually means that we need a team to lose and it may be one of our team's rivals that will beat them!
Have you ever had to accept help from someone that you did not want to receive help from? This can happen in so many ways. One of your children can go through school and have a very difficult relationship with a teacher. You may have silently vowed to never have anything to do with that teacher again! But then another child you love, perhaps your own, finds that same teacher to be the best they have ever had, and somehow they learn better from them than any other teacher. So now what do you do?
In the story of the Good Samaritan, this is undoubtedly Jesus' intent. He purposefully makes a hero of the one normally marked the villain! Jesus wants his audience to experience that help sometimes comes from surprising sources. This is not just for us, but we can be proof of this to others.
Many people believe that if they mistreat us, we will treat them badly. They think we will write them off and they may actually “get ready” for us to treat them poorly. (This is of course the story of Jesus.) But when we love them fully and keep serving them, it is so surprising. It can also help someone open up to you being able serve them. Maybe they have been burned before and they think people are only serving to manipulate or use others. But when we continue to love and serve others beyond their previous barriers, it can bless our relationship with them forever more. Help them anyway.
- Don McLaughlin
