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?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read
there?" 27 He 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." 28 And he said to him,
"You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." 29 But
wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he
passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when
he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a
Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with
pity. 34 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. 35 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.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who
showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw
him, he was moved with pity.
·
I’m running a bit early this year, and
I’d like all of you to remember the story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss/Theodore Geisel. It
will come up later in this little sermon.
·
We all know the story of the
so-called Good Samaritan… or at least we think we do. The story of course has long
been used as an example of Christian compassion, especially with the addendum “Go
and do likewise.” at the end of the story. By way of illustration,
there is a club of sorts around made up of people who travel in those large
RV’s called “the Good Sam Club”, although that group is a bit more about the
travel than it is about helping others.
·
We’ve all been told to be like the
Good Samaritan and help others in need, no matter who or what they are. We’ve
all been told to avoid being like the temple priest and the Levite, both of
whom walked by the injured man, staying to the “other side.”
·
What we might not realize about this
story is that it is not a morality tale. It isn’t about the doing of good
deeds.
·
The story begins with Jesus replying
to a question by a lawyer about what a person must “do” to inherit eternal
life. Realize first off that his man is not a barrister or an attorney. He is a
person who studied and trained in the subtleties of the Mosaic Law and its
interpretation. There is a good chance that he is trying to trip Jesus up in
his teaching.
·
Jesus does what none of us are
supposed to do: answer the question with a question. What is written in the law?
The lawyer responds with a quote from the book of Deuteronomy - 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 says “you’re right!” Then the
trouble begins… wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?" It is possible that the lawyer
wanted to see who counted as his neighbor, the better to make a list of who
might legally and justly receive his compassion… and who could legally and
justly be excluded.
·
Jesus’ answer is a parable, the
parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable is a surprising one. If it were
simply a morality tale, anyone could serve as the injured man or the rescuer.
If it were a story that shone the spotlight on welcoming the unwelcome and
making peace, a Samaritan would’ve been the one in the ditch. So this isn’t a
be-nice-to-your-fellow-traveler story or a plea to end the animosity between
Jews and Samaritans. It is a parable of the Kingdom of God and the presence of
God’s compassion enters the story in an unexpected and unlooked for way. In
some way, this parable teaches Jesus’ audience and teaches us about the Kingdom
and presence of God.
·
Jesus parable turns everything on its
head. The example of someone helping a neighbor is a hated foreigner, who goes
about the rescue in a most practical way, even paying the fee and promising to
cover any further expenses for the man’s care at the inn.
·
When Jesus tells the lawyer and the
crowd to Go and do likewise, he’s actually telling them to go and
become the outcast; go and become the hated person who does what is right; go
and stop counting the cost and worrying about who is worthy of your care.
·
What Jesus is really telling them is
“Go and become like me.”
·
The word we translate as compassion
or pity or mercy has a very strong meaning in the original language. It means
to be moved from one’s guts. For moderns, the heart is the seat of feeling and
of compassion. For the people of Jesus’ culture, it was the guts and actually
the bowels that mercy flowed from. The closest example of this comes from Dr.
Seuss: And what happened, then? Well,
in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.
And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the
strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!
·
Jesus answer to the lawyer’s question
…and
who is my neighbor? is not a proper list of the worthy and deserving
people. Rather Jesus turns the question to the lawyer and asks Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who
fell into the hands of the robbers? The parable drives home the lesson that the
real question and the real story is “who are YOU neighbor to?” If we can honestly answer that, the Kingdom of
God has come near.
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