Our Lord Jesus Christ made it plain in the parable of the Good Samaritan: Your neighbour is not just the person next door. The complete Christian response to the needs of others is to go the long way, to give generously, to care with love – “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” You would certainly get yourself off the side of the road when injured if you could; you would dress your wounds yourself, if you could; you would get to a hospital or suitable shelter yourself, if you could. When you can’t, you will long and pray for someone to help you. You will shed tears of pain and anxiety if no one does. If you will love your neighbour as yourself, then you must do these things for someone else. You are to be the Good Samaritan even when the wounded neighbour is someone you distrust, or someone you don’t know.
Sometimes our neighbour is the person next door, down the street, in the next township. It is someone we know, someone we may like, someone with a familiar face and name. Even then we may not respond as we should. I’ve been that neighbour. I have needed a job and received a can of soup.
I bring this topic to your attention because I was watching television. (!!) There is a television here, and Nicholas is getting caught up on the science programmes, I watch the cooking channels, and we both kibbutz the home reno shows. One renovation show I don’t like is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” It’s extreme in a number of ways, mostly in the manic behaviour of its host and the frantic pace at which a house is constructed. I do not believe that a good house can be built of modern materials in a week, especially the monstrous constructions in which the show specializes. These houses are too big, too expensive to maintain, too up-to-minute-but-out-of-date-tomorrow. The deserving family receives a new house, but they receive a lot more than they needed. These are not Habitat for Humanity houses, small and practical and inexpensive. These are unsustainable Barbie Dream Houses.
What really bothers me is that this team of designers and builders is not part of the community. They enlist community help, and have a group of sponsors for materials, furniture, and appliances. So why didn’t the community do this work without the television people? Why didn’t the local contractor, the local department store, and a team of neighbours come in, tear down the fire-, storm-, or decay-damaged house and build something appropriate and useful? Why does it take getting your face on the airwaves to motivate people to care for their neighbours as they would care for themselves?
On this programme we see families living in motels, in converted sheds, or in basements because their houses are uninhabitable. Did anyone in their vicinity notice this before the Makeover team brought it to their attention? The team builds handicapped accessible houses for children in wheelchairs, structures that will accommodate a large family that has lost income or health, new mini-mansions with rec rooms and pet parlours for fire victims. I don’t think this is an effective use of resources. Several families could be housed in these nightmares! Why doesn’t the community respond in a timely, economical way long before some desperate family sends a video to a post office box?
I’ve worked on teams to help those families who lost homes to fire, collecting emergency supplies, gathering furniture for a new apartment or house, loading the truck on moving day. We could have done better. Churches and communities gave cast-offs, old stuff that might do for now, but would still have to be replaced. Not everyone is expecting a good insurance settlement. Sometimes that settlement is enough to pay the mortage, but not enough for a down payment on a new house. Renters lose the most, even if they have renters’ insurance. Try to get your damage deposit back from a landlord who just lost a whole building! For the poorest people, the loss of that $500-$1000 can mean homelessness. They can’t sue; small claims court may be backed up for weeks.
Christians are expected by Our Lord to lead the way in these desperate times. We are to make the sacrifices of time, goods and money. We are to rally the others to help. Our traditional aloof stance keeps people out of our churches. We are seen as irrelevant because we are! No excuses anymore, brothers and sisters! No rationalising, no explanations, no politicizing. Open your eyes and look around. Your quiet street is a disaster zone, full of desperate and hopeless people. Time to seek them out, lend a hand, give of your substance, even if there isn’t much of it. Often, it is the poor people who respond the most to others’ needs; they know what it is like, and they’ll go without so others can have a share. They’ve got plenty of practice, and know they can survive a little deprivation.
We are feasting in the midst of a famine, friends. Pray for guidance in this, and start now.