Pentecost VI: Jesus in Samaria

In Luke 9: 51-62, we see that Jesus has concluded the main body of his ministry and has now turned towards Jerusalem and his future destiny.  He chooses deliberately to travel through Samaria, which is a radical breaking-down of barriers, for mainstream Jews and Samaritans are bitter enemies, each considering the other to be heretical.  First, they do not agree on Scripture.  Samaritans accept only the first five books of what we call the Old Testament, whereas Jews accept all of the books in their current canon and the authority of "oral Torah" or commentary.  Second, Samaritans believe that God's sacramental presence is in the Temple on Mount Gerazim in Samaria, whereas Jews believe Jerusalem is the cultic centre of the faith.  One year Samaritan terrorists went to Gerizim and burnt down the Temple there and the next Passover a delegation from Samaria strew bones of dead humans in the Temple render it impure for worship.  Looking back at the Exile to Babylon, Jews saw their deportation as a sign of God's chastisement of those God loved; Samaritans saw it as a sign of God's disfavour, for they were not exiled.

When Jesus' band seek hospitality in Samaria, they are turned away.  Well, of course, for a believer in Samaritan culture would not abet a pilgrimage to Jerusalem which they considered to be counter to God's will.  The disciples want to burn the place down.  Jesus says, no don't retaliate.  Much later, the "heretical" milieu of Samaria will prove a fertile field for Christanity.  Jesus evangelizes a Samaritan woman who becomes an evangelist to her people, and much later on, the Jerusalem Church will send Peter and John to Samaria to confirm converts who have only been baptised and thereby to convey the Holy Spirit to these new believers.

What messages might we pick up from this story.  First, avoid judgementalism towards those whose worship and traditions are different from our own.  Second, go outside your comfort zone and find relationship with those beyond your usual circles.  Broaden your horizons.  Third, be proactive in serving all people.

The latter vignette in our reading initially seems unreasonable, but I believe the core message is that building the Kingdom of God on earth is of surpassing importance.  Jesus' work is not to be tackled at our convenience, or when we squeeze God in, or when we have nothing better to do.  As Christians, the Kingdom mission is now and always primary in our lives, in our deployment of time, talent and wealth..  

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