By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorA plumb line is a weight attached to a length of string that a builder uses to determine if a wall is straight up and down, or whether it's leaning dangerously to one side or the other with the possibility of falling. There are instruments in construction today that use lasers for the same purpose, especially on high rise buildings.
One of the jobs I held during my college years was for a construction company as an assistant to a field engineer. It was our job to make sure all the lines were straight, those that went sideways and those that went up and down. You can imagine the dilemma that would arise if foundations were set for walls that didn't quite match up. Window frames, doors, in fact all the facets of building are based on precise measurements, regardless of how big or small the job. We were given the wiggle room of 1/8 of an inch, whether the distance was 30 feet or 300, it could only vary by that much. Anything else would have to be torn up and reset, or seriously redesigned.
But any builder has to use whatever equipment is available to do the job. Apparently when God was talking to Amos, there were no lasers. So a plumb line had to suffice. The metaphor was one of several Amos writes about in which he receives the message that the nation of Israel is in real trouble. To bring the metaphor a little further, if the plumb line is used in time, it can detect the problem and save the wall before it falls over.
Jesus uses a different kind of plumb line in his story of the Good Samaritan. He takes the measure of a person by the kindness he or she shows. It's a familiar story, but some of the details are interesting to reflect on.When the Priest and the Levite saw the man beaten and bleeding, perhaps already dead, they crossed the street. I had always assumed it was because of apathy and not wanting to get involved. That's certainly a possibility and gives plenty of grist for the mill. However, I've come to see it rather as the scrupulous following of the law. The codes of purity are quite clear in the books of the law. If the priest or Levite -- or anyone else for that matter, touches a body in such condition, they become unclean. They break a law. They were actually obliged to cross over and not touch the man.
The Samaritan allowed the law of compassion to override the legal code and is the hero of the story. He is the neighbor to the man, and follows the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.
While it's interesting to talk about the role of apathy as a possibility in this story, I like the clash of laws better. It's murkier and both sides can claim to be right. The fact that Jesus weighs in on the side of Samaritan shows his cards, but Jesus was always getting in trouble with the established authorities for turning laws on their head. Healing on the Sabbath, eating meals with sinners -- the very things we praise him for these days were sources of trouble that ultimately got him crucified.
Jesus offered a different lens for his followers to see through. Compassion trumps legalism. The implications for that teaching in our day are far reaching, and disturbing. The conduct of our nation and every nation is based on laws. They are strictly codified, and the equality of their enforcement is debatable, but most reasonable people are agreed that laws are imperative for a society to exist. There are sticky issues we deal with currently with immigration, gay marriage, gun control, accountability for financial or ecological disasters that stretch the laws and seem to go beyond comfortable territory. As God holds the plumb line which I shall call "compassion" based on the Gospel lesson, some will call the wall straight while others won't. It will be argued about until the wall falls over and then it's too late. That's sort of what happened in Israel with the unfortunate demise of King Jereboam and his advisor Amaziah, and the conquering of the nation of Israel. If the wall is seen to be the righteousness of the nation, Amaziah, in effect, kept saying the wall was straight, and Amos said it most certainly was not. And it did fall very hard.
In all the debates about current issues, I hear voices of anger, fear, bigotry, greed, apathy, and denial. I hear very few about compassion and asking the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
Like the priest and the Levite in the Gospel story, it's easy not to challenge what's legal or "always been done this way." It's hard to seek the good of others over the false security of doing business as usual. Whether on the global level or in our everyday lives, it's murky to look at issues that pit compassion over what we've always believed to be right. But if we're going to build the kingdom of God we've got to make sure the building is strong, on a good foundation and won't topple over. Jesus is the foundation and the compassion evidenced in the parable of the Good Samaritan is the plumb line.
Amen.
©2010 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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