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. 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. 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."Go and do likewise… it’s… simple… the way to love the lord your God is the old camp fire song… “Love the Lord your God…”
Fred Craddock writes: “Jesus has said that the wise and prudent will miss what Babes will understand. This story illustrates the truth of those words.”
The Lawyer and all those of us who are sophisticated will immediately begin to break down what is being commanded and search through the nitty gritty details to find exactly what is being asked… it can’t be that simple… go and do…
I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time with the Lawyer this week… I’m starting to empathize with him… I bet he’s a good guy… worked hard, studied hard… did his best to make sense out of the violent world that he finds himself in… and how he’s asking questions of Jesus. Trying to figure out why this Rabbi sounds so different than the rest.
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There is a missionary story that tells of a small church in Alberta that got in contact with a small church in Africa and wanted to help them out. As they dialoged about what the needs of the community might be… pictures were sent back and forth. The good, upright church people were appalled that the women of this small Africa village were so poor that they didn’t even have shirts… the good people were appalled that they couldn’t even afford good, modest clothes and so... a campaign was started… money was raised… 1000 shirts were purchased and sent.
A few weeks later a letter arrived back to the church. It was a letter of thanks… it was written in a… polite… way. The women in the village thanked the church for the gift of these… strange clothes… and they had sent a picture of themselves wearing the T-shirts. Now… culturally their bare breasts were not a problem… and in a hot country with children to feed it makes no sense to cover yourself in cotton… and so the village woman had cut holes in the shirts to allow... breathability, and easy access to breast feeding…
Duty had encouraged the upright church folk to support those without clothes… they saw it as their duty to clothe these other women… but their efforts had gone towards solving a problem that just wasn’t there. It was a clashing of duties - and a failure to listen…
This happens all the time in attempts to help. I know in downtown Edmonton they ran a study to find out why people were doing so poorly at taking their medications and seeking health services. Turns out the people had different priotiries than what the health professionals expected… you’d think in a world where Hepetitis C and Hiv were a threat, these would be top priority… yet when a survey was done… the number one health concern of the homeless people in downtown Edmonton was… wild dogs. It’s hard to care about your HIV pills or much of anything when you are concerned that you might be attacked by a wild dog…
And this is the World that Jesus tells us to go into… serve your neghbor… show mercy.
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So let us dig into the story of the good Samaritan… and perhaps we should begin with the title.
Of course none of the titles that we have in out bibles are actually in the original text… these are later additions to help us sum up what is going on in different sections… a shorthand that helps us know our place and group the stories… but in this case it also colours our interpretation of the story…. it gives the impression that the whole point of the story rests somewhere in the actions of the good Samaritan.
The Lawyer says “Teacher” - a good respectful way to begin… “What must I do to inherit eternal life” And a dialog starts… Jesus answers the question with a question… an old teacher trick to find out what you are really asking about…. “What does your training and books tell you?” And the Lawyer knows the law and interprets the books of the law correctly by giving a solid answer right out of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and; love your neighbour as yourself.”
Jesus pats him on the back… says “Great! Do that!”
Simple enough… except when you start to think about it you see that you don’t actually do these things… not only would it be impossible to put your whole heart/mind/soul/strength to something… we live in a complex world where choosing the right thing to do is often difficult - like the little church who wanted to help the African Villiage or attepts to help the homeless… it’s difficult to know where to put our time and resources… and the story Jesus tells now shows this too - and salvation comes from an unexpected place.
Obviously this answer from the text didn’t satisfy the Lawyer… and doesn’t really satisfy me either… He was asking a pretty big question and this talk about ‘just love’ doesn’t get to the root of the lawyers concern… so he pushes…
Luke gives us insight to the Lawyer where he writes… “But wanting to Justify himself…” And isn’t that they truth right there… wanting to Justify himself…
Jesus didn’t speak a single word of condemnation to him and yet… he seems to have judged himself… he has self condemned himself… he started thinking of all the things that he has done and left undone and where the law told him clearly that he needs to “Love the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul, strength… Is enough enough… and when is it enough… ?
“Wanting to Justify himself he asks “Who is my neighbour?” there is something more that Lawyer wants to know to be at peace. And Jesus offers him peace through a story.
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Jesus shows how the Law and all religious morality codes are not going to give peace because all the law can do is show where the expectations are… and show when you have failed… As Lutherans we hold to a theology that says that the law kills and condemns. It’s a mirror to show where we have failed, and a curb to alert us to when we have strayed… that’s all it does…
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Salvation and peace does not come from knowing the law and following it to the best of our ability… if it were that simple… then long ago we would have solved all our social problems in our society… if the law gave life… then there would be no one of corrupt social or moral values climbing to heights of power… the Law is not able to bring new life and peace and forgiveness and salvation… it’s only the gospel that does that...
So as we head deeper into the story… we know that Jesus is trying to bring peace to the man who is wrapped up in self condemnation, and the law.
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It is well known that Jerusalem is known as the city of light… the theoretical place where the temple was located… the place where God was thought to rest his feet. And we have a man journeying away from here… down hill all the to Jericho… a dangerous scary road then… and no different today with all the winding roads and military check points… he is travelling into darkness.
Before he arrives he is attacked and left for dead… he can’t defend himself… he can’t get up our of the ditch… he is helpless…
Along comes the Priest… not a bad guy… but a guy with responsibilities… he knows the law… he knows that on one level he should help… but… he also has other responsibilities… he can’t touch this person and make himself unclean… he has a duty to the temple… and for the people that depend on him to do his job he must remain clean… he can’t reach out to this dying man because it will cost him too much… he can’t reach out past his own religious trappings and fear and so... hurries by.
Second is the Levite… also knowing the law… but also knowing how scary this situation is... he cruises on by… excuses abound for why he doesn’t help… personal safety… who knows if there are robbers still around or what might happen if he lingers… and what is this going to cost? Have you ever come home and tried to explain a $1000 credit card bill to your family because you were helping out a dirty run down stranger? No… the Levite is not a doctor and he also has people who depend on him to stay safe so… he can’t reach out… he has too many other duties.
And so… salvation comes from the last place you would look… an outcast… something foreign to the people… a person who doesn’t follow the law… a loser by societies standards… this is a Samaritan… a half breed… a nobody... And yet… he is the only one who embodies mercy…
The answer to the question of who is my neighbour shows our shortcomings by showing that the neighbour is anyone who needs our help… and in a world like ours that is hurting so badly… that is certainly a long list of people… and it’s not good news for the lawyer or for us to be shown that we have failed to live up to the law. To be shown how the law is in fact killing us by the things we have done and left undone. It's hard in a world of so much need to even know where to begin.
And if the sermon ended here… you should fire me. You should call the Bishop this afternoon and have me removed if all I told you to do today was to try harder and be more like the Samaritan…. Because grace and mercy comes through Jesus… the one who, like the Samaritan was an outcast, a nobody, the one who died on a cross. You will not find salvation in the law.
The good news of Christ is not found in the law - in the Priest or the Levite… it’s not found in guilting ourselves into becoming the best Samaritans possible… it’s not found in the command to go and try harder… it’s not found in picking up scary hitch-hikers against our better judgement or taking on lifestyle risks for the sake of earning God’s favor…
No… it’s found in the one who is telling the story.
It is Christ who is telling this story… and it is Christ who is embodying and making real the true meaning of the story… this is a story of how the Kingdom draws near to the ones who are weak and dying under the law… helpless and bleeding on the side of the road. It is a story that reminds us that it is Christ - God incarnate - who was killed and left abandoned on a cross… who pays for the healing of all the nations.
So now hear the story again… I’ve changed the words to bring us into the story… to reflect the meaning that might have been heard by those who shared the cultural understandings of Jesus:
"Humanity" was going down from "The Holy City" into "the night", and fell "Into the hands of Sin and Death" who stripped "Humanity, beat humanity, and went away, leaving humanity half dead and helpless. Now by chance "Religion" was going down that road; and when it saw "Humanity, "it" passed by on the other side. So likewise "The Law", when it came to the place and saw "Humanity" passed by on the other side. But "Grace and Mercy" from the last place we would think to look, while traveling came near "to Humanity"; and when "she" saw humanity, "she" was moved with pity. "Grace and Mercy" came "close" to humanity and bandaged humanities wounds, having "Baptized and washed Humanity in" oil and nourished humanity with wine poured out for all… "she" put helpless humanity on "her" own animal, brought humanity to an inn, and took care of humanity. The next day "she" took out two denarii (silver coins), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of "humanity, I have paid the price and will pay whatever else I need to when I return.
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Christ on the cross was beaten and left for dead by sin and death … but death doesn't get the last word.
Grace and mercy show a new life… beyond death… a resurrection to new life for Christ.
In the story that Jesus tells… we are none other than the one going down into the ditch and left for dead. Unable to fulfill the law.
But it is the Christ… the outcast… the one found in pain and suffering on the cross... who comes from the least likely place of rejection to resurrection...
It is Christ that baptizes us… makes us clean… anoints us with oil, nourishes us with wine and bread… and now walks with us in new life… a life lived in the Kingdom… free from the law that brings death and makes us helpless to sin… In Christ we are made new and free to Love God with all our hearts, and our minds, and our souls, and our strength; as we love our neighbours as ourselves. We are free from self justification... and declared righteous by Christ. Thanks be to God for coming with new life in response to our brokenness...
And may the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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