{"id":197,"date":"2012-02-14T11:53:50","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T11:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidhenson\/?p=197"},"modified":"2012-02-14T21:51:38","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T21:51:38","slug":"the-immigrant-samaritan-an-alabama-hb-56-parable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidhenson\/2012\/02\/the-immigrant-samaritan-an-alabama-hb-56-parable\/","title":{"rendered":"The Immigrant Samaritan: An Alabama HB 56 Parable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is the third part in an ongoing series of retellings of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Read Part 1:\u00a0The God Samaritan<\/a> and Part 2:\u00a0The Wrong Samaritan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The preacher had chosen a rather appropriate text this morning, the lawmaker thought, seeing how fruits and vegetables growing on farms across the state were rotting in the fields<\/a> rather than being picked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe harvest is plentiful, but the farmworkers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out farmworkers into his harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be honest, it worried the lawmaker. This was a beloved teacher \u2014 his favorite really. He had been looking forward to his biannual message here at the Baptist church. Usually they stirred the congregation to renew their faith and the church \u2014 the lawmaker included \u2014 would find their souls warmed just in hearing his voice, as lost sheep might a shepherd\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

\"\"But this message struck a bit too close to the bone, and the lawmaker wondered whether this sermon was meant as a direct criticism of his most recent accomplishment, a work that he had authored and pushed for. And he knew everyone in that huge sanctuary was wondering the same thing, wondering whether all that congratulating they had offered him on his success was now being called into question.<\/p>\n

Finally, the lawmaker could not stand it any longer and interrupted the sermon, hoping to get the preacher back on more comfortable ground, more faithful ground really than this bleeding-heart mess about empty fields and lost workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeacher, excuse me for interrupting,\u201d the lawmaker said. \u201cBut this isn\u2019t the kind of message I\u2019m accustomed to hearing from you, and I have my doubts about whether it\u2019s really biblical. So let\u2019s get back to the basics. What must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh yes. Is that you, senator? Yes, well good morning, senator, you\u2019ve been busy lately, I see,\u201d the preacher replied. \u201cYou are a learned man, so why don\u2019t you tell us. What is written in the Bible? What do you read there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senator answered, \u201cYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d the preacher said. \u201cDo this and you will live.\u201d<\/p>\n

But wanting to justify himself, the lawmaker pressed the preacher for clarification, \u201cAnd just who exactly is my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

The preacher smiled broadly. \u201cI\u2019m so glad you asked,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like to tell you a story to answer your question and see if that makes things a bit clearer.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cYou see, there was once an important lawmaker and he was going down to Montgomery from Gardendale to argue for an important bill he had s<\/a>ponsored because a vote on it was imminent. But on his way, he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, another lawmaker was heading to Montgomery along the same route. But, when he saw the beaten man, he cringed at the condition of him and continued on, so as not to be late for the vote. He didn\u2019t even recognize his colleague whose bill he was going to vote on. Next, a pastor came upon him. He, too, was traveling to Montgomery, where he had been given the honor of offering the invocation to bless the senators\u2019 deliberations and decisions there. The pastor approached the wounded man, offered his condolences and promised to pray for him at the session. His thoughts had turned so heavenward that the pastor failed to see that the wounded man was an important senator who had authored the bill up for debate.<\/p>\n

But then a Latino man, hands, brow and clothes filthy from a day picking in the fields, approached the senator. When he saw the beaten man, the farmworker was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged the man\u2019s wounds. Then he carried him to his old Ford pick-up truck and took him to a hospital. \u201cTake care of him,\u201d the farmworker told a nurse, handing her his information. \u201cThis is where you can find me if he needs anything at all. And when I come back, I will repay you whatever more his care costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are coming back to pay his medical bills? But don\u2019t you know who this man is, se\u00f1or?\u201d the nurse replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know him,\u201d the farmworker said. \u201cOf course, I know him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teacher turned to the lawmaker and asked him, \u201cWhich of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?\u201d<\/p>\n

The senator replied with confidence, \u201cThe one who showed him mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly so,\u201d the preacher said.<\/p>\n

The senator sat down, satisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my story is not over,\u201d the preacher continued turning to the congregation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWhile the senator was recuperating, his bill passed and was signed into law. After several weeks passed, the farmworker returned to the hospital with his entire savings. It was money he had put away in hopes of bringing his family \u2014 his wife and three children \u2014 to America from Mexico. He used every last penny, but paid the senator\u2019s medical bills. When he had finished, and his receipt had been printed, the farmworker turned to walk out of the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when he exited the building, he saw two police officers waiting for him. Under the authority of a new law, he was questioned, detained, and taken into custody for being in the country illegally. Three stories above, from the window of his hospital room, the senator watched, satisfied that justice was done and that he had made it happen. Within a few weeks, the farmworker had been deported to Mexico, penniless.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we see,\u201d the teacher concluded, \u201cthat indeed the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the third part in an ongoing series of retellings of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Read Part 1:\u00a0The God Samaritan and Part 2:\u00a0The Wrong Samaritan. The preacher had chosen a rather appropriate text this morning, the lawmaker thought, seeing how fruits and vegetables growing on farms across the state were rotting in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7],"tags":[32,34,11,33,870,35],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parable","category-politics","tag-hb-56","tag-immigration","tag-jesus","tag-one-heart-one-alabama","tag-parable","tag-samaritan"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Immigrant Samaritan: An Alabama HB 56 Parable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the third part in an ongoing series of retellings of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. 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