“And when he saw him, he had compassion.” Luke 10:33[1]

“The meaning of life is to find your gift.  The purpose of life is to give it away.” Picasso

“I have decided to will myself to love my mom.”  Teresa, a caregiver

The word “charity” comes from the Latin word “caritas”, which means to give one’s heart to another. In English we would say, “My heart goes out to you.”

But I’m guessing that’s not what comes to mind when they hear the word.  It most likely means to give money to a worthy cause, or a homeless person.  That’s what I think of. But that’s not what Jesus had in mind when He told the beloved story of The Good Samaritan, which illustrates the true meaning of charity.

It is set up by the question an “expert” in the religious law asks Jesus.  Two things of note:  this man knows what is expected of him.  He answers that to have life he is to love God and his neighbor.  But evidently he doesn’t want to do the latter, for he asks a “self justifying” question, “And who is my neighbor?”

Isn’t that just the way it is with us sometimes?  We want to find a loophole that allows us to live comfortably in the house of religiosity that we have so carefully constructed for ourselves.  It is like the house of straw in the story of the Three Little Pigs, easily blown down, or blown up.  Which is what Jesus does to the religious man’s self-righteousness. 

The Good Samaritan turns self-righteous religiosity and proud fully paraded piety on it’s head, illustrating that it truly is mercy, compassion, and charity that matters.  The hero is not a “good” religious person, but rather a person that the good, self-respecting and self-righteous religious people would’ve looked at, and then looked down upon or ignored all together.  That’s what the first two religious people did to the man who was left for dead on the side of the road.

But not the Samaritan.  He saw the man, and his heart was filled with love—charity.  He had, I believe, what Teresa describes in the quote above, a desire to will himself to love the other.  Note where a will motivated by genuine love leads him. As he steps toward, not away from the man, we can trace the seven figurative steps that guide charity.

1.  He approaches the man—rather than averting his eyes or looking askance from a distance.
2. He touches the man!
3. Then he anoints the man with oil and wine—a very sacred act.
4. He puts him on his own animal—which would’ve been an act of defilement in the eyes of the others.
5. Took him to an Inn—going out of his way to provide for his needs.
6. Cared for him—the word in Latin is literally “cure.”
7. Paid the Innkeeper to provide further for his needs. The last thing he does is give money–which may be our first default mechanism.

That’s quite a list, isn’t it?  In fact, it’s a very simple road map for mercy and charity.

Do you notice anything the Samaritan doesn’t do? 

He doesn’t say anything to him.  He neither chastises him for getting himself in that position, nor does he engage in “good religious talk.”   The omission of those are incredibly significant, especially the second, for “good church people” who are infatuated with the idolatry of sanctified speech.

This is a beautiful story, illustrating the beauty of what it means to give the gift of love of God to others.  What greater meaning could there be in life?

Questions to Contemplate: 

What does charity mean?

What does charity mean to you? 

What did charity mean to “The Good Samaritan” depicted in Jesus’ story.

What did charity mean to Jesus?

How do you practice charity?

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[1] This meditation is based on the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37