Today we heard the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s a familiar story to us. But do we walk away learning something. Think about the individuals who came across the man left for dead. What were their first thoughts? First the priest said he can’t help. He would be made unclean and unable to do his duties. The Levite said, he’s not of my class. I can’t associate with him. Each thought of himself first. But the Samaritan, he didn’t think of himself. He thought of the man who was hurting. And even though their cultures were different, he helped the stranger.
This story reminds me of a story of people not helping someone. You may of heard it. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have. The story may be confusing but the message is clear: no one took responsibility so nothing got accomplished. It’s easy to make excuses why we don’t help. But there is only one reason why we should. Because it’s the right thing to do.