Friday, May 1, 2020
The White Helmets - Sermon for week ending May 2, 2020
Our documentary for today is The White Helmets, on Netflix, about a
group of volunteers in Syria, in areas out of regime control, who are dedicated
to saving lives. As daily airstrikes
target civilians, the white helmets run toward the explosions and try to rescue
people. Abu Omar, one of the white helmets interviewed, voices their commitment,
saying, “Any human being no matter who they are or which side they are on if
they need our help, it is our duty to help them. I try as hard as I can to save
every person under the rubble. I consider them all to be my family.” One of the
first scenes shows a group of them eating dinner when they hear planes overhead.
They leave it and go, driving through streets crowded with people running away from
the explosions. That’s followed by a them pulling a five-year-old girl from the
rubble alive, while bombs drop all
around them. Khalid Farrah, another
volunteer, said, “The hardest thing is seeing the dead bodies. The bloodbath is
not stopping. I believe that all lives are precious and valuable. A child, even
if he is not my son, is like my son.”
My favorite scene shows them digging
through the rubble after a barrel bomb was dropped onto a village of about 10
families. The buildings were leveled, and many were killed. They worked for 16 hours, rescuing people and
searching for the body of a one week old baby who lived in the village. Then
they heard a tiny cry and pulled the baby out alive. And every one of them started
to cry. While working after the biggest car bomb to ever hit Syria, Mohammed
Farrah describes the danger, saying “Our job depends on speed and accuracy.
There is ISIS on the ground and Russian planes above. There are cluster bombs
and barrel bombs. My 2-year-old son hears the planes
fly over and says, ‘Daddy, a bomb.’ Our children are growing up with this” Most
White Helmets have no prior rescue experience, so teams take turns spending a
month in Turkey training. They learn how to use listening
devices to locate those trapped, saws to cut through the rock and ropes to lower
themselves down and pull up those they rescue. They learn how to put out fires that
keep them from their rescue missions. The documentary is scene after scene of
the White Helmets risking their lives to rescue people from
bombed buildings. Near the end, they
visit the baby they pulled out alive a year later. Abu says, “In the White Helmets,
we have a motto: To save a life is to save all humanity.” Since 2013, they have
saved over 58,000 lives.
When I first told Cathy about the
documentary, she said it sounded like what
our first responders and health care
workers are doing, running toward the explosions of Covid 19. There are
hundreds, of stories of those on the front lines of this pandemic, making
personal sacrifices so that they can help others survive. Like James, an ICU nurse who has a
wife, 4 children, and his wife’s elderly parents at home. He moved out of the
house so that he could treat Covid 19 patients while protecting his family. Mary
Beth, an RN, whose hospital is currently at Code Orange, meaning that the
medical staff are mandated to stay over at the hospital for as long as they are deemed
necessary. And Maxine, a critical care physician who decided to secure her will
and power of attorney, adding, “I talked to my kids about who they will live
with if I don’t survive this.”
There are so many interpretations of
the parable of The Good Samaritan, our reading for today. It’s a polemic
against Jewish purity laws or the priestly hierarchy or it shows there is one
good Samaritan among all the bad ones. But I think the message is much simpler:
If someone needs help, do everything you can to help them. It doesn’t matter what race or religion or
orientation or gender or gender identity they are. We are all God’s children,
and it is our duty to help one another. The question that Jesus responded to
with this parable was, “Who is my neighbor?” The answer is, “Everybody.” As we pray
for all those who sacrifice their health and safety to run toward those who
need help ,may we continue to look for way that we can be of service to others.
Amen.
______________________________________________________________________
Gospel Reading - Luke 10:25-37
Our gospel lesson for today is Luke 10: 25-37, the
Good Samaritan.
A lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in
the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus he said to him, “You have given
the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify
himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied, “A man was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped
him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a
priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other
side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
by on the other side.
But a Samaritan while traveling came
near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity and compassion. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then
he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and
said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more
you spend.’
Which of these three, do you think, was
a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said,
“The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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