I have often thought that the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) was the ultimate example of loving your neighbor, but according to Martin Luther King Jr. this kind of love is only the first step...
"We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” – From The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., Chapter 31: Beyond Vietnam
Micah 6:8 says “He has told you, O Man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
When we reach out to the poor in kindness and humility, like the Good Samaritan, we are doing good but it's only two out of three. We are also called to do justice.
What's the difference? Imagine you saw someone drowning in a river, it would be an act of kindness to rescue that person. Now imagine if you continued standing at that same part of the river and saw multiple people drowning as they headed downstream. Eventually you need to head upstream and stop the evil person throwing these poor people into the river! That's justice.
Justice can be more difficult, because like the evil guy upstream, you don't see injustice as easily. You have to investigate. Sometimes you have to look really hard for it. And when you find it you will need courage to go after it and bring justice to the situaiton.
It's especially hard when you determine that the conditions that allowed for you to stand comfortably on the river's edge, were the same conditions that allowed for others to be thrown in.
Lord, you've shown me what is good, now help my life to be about humility, kindness, and justice.
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