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July 18, 2004 Deuteronomy 6:4-1-8; 30:9-14; Luke 10:25-37 Even familiar stories can still bless and challenge us. Sometimes, they are so familiar that we overlook important details and miss their real power. We can forget what it really meant to the people who first heard them. Such is the case with the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s important to help others, but what was Jesus really saying? What would first century ears have heard that ours miss? “A lawyer stood up to test Jesus.” One of the common charges against Jesus was that he was not orthodox enough. This lawyer was testing his theology. “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Is this a familiar questions? It was also asked by a rich, young ruler (Luke 18: 18-25) and by others. Do you ask similar questions today such as, “How do I know if I’m saved”? This lawyer was actually a theologian, a religious lawyer – kind of like a seminary professor. He was testing Jesus. Jesus answers the lawyer’s question with a question: “What is written in the law?” What does the Bible say? In effect, this was like the class Introduction to theology 101. The lawyer quotes Deuteronomy 6 and combines it with the injunction to love one’s neighbor -- the most basic catechism for all candidates to Judaism. You shall love the Lord your 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 congratulates him on providing the obvious answer, then dismisses him like lowly student in discipleship class. The lawyer reacts as you or I probably would. Wanting to justify himself, he poses the theological “question of the day”: “Who is my neighbor?” “Tell me the boundaries, the limits.” “What do I really have to do and how will I know when I have done enough?” Jesus simply tells him, “You know the answer. Just do it.” Our theology is much the same. We know what bible says: love one another, help the least of these, lay down your life for a friend, do justice, love mercy, walk with God, embrace peace. Love God with all your emotional capacity, mental capacity, physical capacity, and your capacity of will. It’s really common sense. There no way around it. Live and act as Jesus would. Love yourself as God loves you. Love your neighbor as yourself. “But Jesus,” he argues, “you haven’t told me who my neighbor is and who my neighbor is not!” Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” This was a steep and winding road, a dangerous road, a wilderness road. It was the domain of outlaws, but it was the only route to Jericho so our travelers walks it. The worst happens. He “fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.” The outlook is bleak, but then good fortune appears. “By chance a priest was going down that road; when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” There seems to be a legal loophole at this point. The law does seem to indicate that a priest is required to bury a corpse if he should come upon one. The problem is that, in order to stay ritually pure, which is crucial for his job as a priest, he cannot touch a corpse. Otherwise he can’t enter the temple do the work of a priest. So, the priest walks on by. Likewise a Levite, also a priest and also with the same constraints, has the same response. When he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Were the priests’ reactions totally unjustified? It seems that Jesus gets people’s anger and frustration stirred up toward the religious establishment in order to set them up for the story’s hero. “But a Samaritan, while traveling. came near him.” You know what he did. He went above and beyond the call of duty. Jesus clinches his point by asking the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The answer was clear and unavoidable, the no-brainer of all time. Even though lawyer could not bring himself to say ‘Samaritan,’ he said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus must have smiled as he said to lawyer what he already had said before the story was every told: “You ‘go and do likewise.’” Jesus once asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” They answered with varying degrees of honesty and insight. Jesus, in effect, invites people to ask themselves this same question about themselves in each of his parable. To find the truth of a parable, you must find yourself in the parable -- “Who do you say you are?” Are you the Samaritan? He is definitely the hero of the story. Many see themselves there and that is a sign of good self-esteem. The Samaritan came through at the critical time as needed. Perhaps you see yourself as the priest/Levite. These two are very unpopular characters, yet sometimes they are me. When a homeless person comes begging money at the church house or on the street corner. Most often, I tell them, “We don’t give money”. The truth is that not giving money is usually the better response. I am almost never willing to do what I have occasionally done – that is, take the person to a restaurant, buy them food, stay, talk, then help with their recovery. This is a huge investment! If you are willing to invest yourself that way, I suggest you go through Crossroads’ Peace, Justice, and Missions team. The Neighborhood Partnership and Community LINC groups offer opportunities to invest yourself in the lives of others. Perhaps you see yourself as the robbers? Almost no one chooses to identify with the robbers, but upon honest reflection, we do sometimes cooperate to rob people of their dignity, independence, and self-respect. We do this by supporting unjust laws and dehumanizing policies. This is true whether you are liberal or conservative. Such laws and policies contribute to the economic depravation of many people in our world, nation, city, community, and neighborhood. These are people left lying by the side of the road in a ditch. The central character of Jesus’ story was the traveler. “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” He is every man, every person. In the context of Jesus’ culture, this is as non-descript as he can possibly get. Jesus invites us, first and last, to see ourselves living life and then, suddenly, by side of road robbed, beaten, and half dead. Have you found yourself this way? In this context, the “Who is my neighbor?” question has a distinctly different flavor and great sense of urgency. When we find ourselves by the side of the road, the truth of our theology, the idea of a God who meets us in our brokenness, is more than just a nice idea. Isn’t it just too much to consider doing what the Samaritan did? Sometimes I think I just can’t do it. It’s too hard and, besides, I usually have other plans. When we feel that way, it’s important to remember that there are just two options to how we read this story. One is that it’s you (or me) in the ditch, by the side of road desperately in need. I’m sure you had no plans to get mugged, no plans to get fired, no plans to get sick, no plans to get pregnant, or no plans to lose your spouse. How badly do you want someone else to stop and help? How badly do you want to be healed? There are lots of Jericho roads in life. There are lots of challenges to stop and help and heal. There are lots of chances to fall, as well -- lots of robbers and lots of ditches. The lawyer told Jesus that the way to eternal life is to love God and neighbor. How are we to love? The kind of love Jesus means is agapé love – self-giving love. Such love is always a matter of choice, a matter of will. It is to desire the health of the other. Scott Peck called such love “to desire the spiritual growth of another.” It is to respect differences with others and listen to them. It is to treat others as important to you, to notice them and regard them worthy of your attention. To love another is to look for the good in them, to affirm their strengths. To love others is to help them build bridges to health and by working within them to build bridges to community. This is true for individuals. It is also true for congregations. Is it too hard? Stop and consider who is healed and who heals. Those in need, who are touched, are healed. Those who reach out and touch in love are healed. The great commandments are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments are inseparable. The Old Testament promises they are very do-able. In fact, they are already built into us – part of our basic programming. It is a matter of faith, this practice of
loving God with intellect, emotion, will, and body. To
love like this is an act of faith. It includes
embracing your authentic self – to know who you
are. Who do I say that I am? Who does God
say that I am? To come to know is basic to answering
the original question, “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?”. Perhaps the answer, at least
in part, can be found in the words of Maya Angelou’s
poem I am a Christian: It is in the ditch where we find Jesus, battered. It is in the same ditch, along the side of road, where Jesus finds us. When we confess our need, at the place of our desperation, healing comes. “Lord, who do you say I am?” God says, “You are mine. You are beloved.” In knowing, in remembering, and in connecting we are healed. In our brokenness, we are healed and we heal. In stopping to help, we are healed and we heal.
Gracious and loving God, We
affirm in this moment that your Spirit is always present
and that the gift of your Spirit is always healing and
wholeness. We claim this gift now as we embrace
your presence. We commit to you to go and share
this gift – this gift of love and healing and affirming
and respecting and listening -- with someone who needs
it. Amen. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 30: 11-14 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 14No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
Luke 10: 25-37 25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your 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.’ 28And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ 30Jesus 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. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He 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. 35The 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.” 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 37He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’
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