Danger on the Jericho Road: Who is my Neighbor?

There is danger on the Jericho Road.

“Who is your neighbor?” Jesus asks.

“Not the illegals,” Christian Nationalists answer.

We know the story of the good Samaritan.

In Luke 10:25–37 Jesus shares the parable of a man traveling the Jericho Road from Jerusalem who was attacked, beaten, robbed and left stripped and half dead.

First a priest and then a Levite, the two most important and highest-ranking leaders of the community, moved to the other side of the road to avoid the dying victim.

But a Samaritan, an outsider from another community, sees the man and stops and gives assistance. He sacrifices to help a stranger.

This is what Jesus tells us to do.

Like too many Christians, Trump supporters believe they are the Samaritan.

At the very best, they are the priest or the Levite, passing on the other side of the road, refusing to stop and offer aid or assistance to those in need.

The Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress are the robbers, stripping the poorest of us of our heath insurance. They destroyed food, rather than feed starving children. They enrich the wealthy with tax cuts and attack the arts, science and education while putting us at greater risk by diverting law enforcement efforts away from foreign and domestic terrorism.

Hundreds of millions of the most vulnerable have been abandoned to danger on the Jericho Road, in the U.S. and around the world.

When Jesus asks, “who is your neighbor?” too many Christians think the answer is people who look and think like them and who share their beliefs. “Accidents of race, religion and nationality,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. described them.

Christians who believe their allegiance is to a nation, a political party, a race or even a church are joining hands with the Levite and ignoring the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized victims in our society. The victims of our society.

“The universalism standing at the center of the Declaration of Independence has been shamefully negated by America’s appalling tendency to substitute some for all,” King wrote. “The ugly practices of our nation reveal that numerous people north and south still believe that the affirmation ‘All men are created equal’ means all white men are created equal.” American racism is still as prevalent today as it was when King was writing in 1962.

There is danger on the Jericho Road in cities across the country.

Masked men are taking and incarcerating people while their rights, nationality, legal status and dignity are ignored and violated.

The government is attacking American residents on the Jericho Road and more Americans must stand up and be the Samaritan and not the priest and Levite.

“This doesn’t apply,” people claim, because they think the U.S. is being attacked by illegal immigrants.

Even if the lie were true, thinking this may make them good Americans, but it makes them lousy Christians.

Immigrants are under attack in the U.S., and so are Christian clergy and other faith leaders, Democrats, media, universities, scientists, law enforcement, and everyone who supports the rule of law and opposes the Trump regime.

The rule of law is quickly unraveling as ICE agents shoot and teargas ministers, reporters, and unarmed civilians at the intersection of Main Street and the Jericho Road. If ICE attacks innocent victims while cameras record, imagine how they treat innocent people out of public view.

Jesus tells us these are our neighbors and we have a Christian obligation to help them.

We must cease asking, ‘what will happen to me if I try to help?’ and begin asking, ‘what will happen to my neighbor if I don’t help?’

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,” King wrote, “but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Our neighbors are under attack. Economically, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. We must stop and help.

Family are being destroyed on the Jericho Road and we must help.

If we don’t respond like the Samaritan now, there will be no one to help us when we are attacked one day.

Make no mistake. Each of us will be attacked, eventually.

Our time will come.

Because there is danger on the Jericho Road.

For more from Jim, follow these links:

Trump Supporter Charlie Kirk was a Racist Bigot

Notes from a Sermon: How Do We Respond to the Current Culture?

Have Republicans Found Their Reichstag Moment?

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.