Like a Good Neighbor

Like a Good Neighbor

Collect for Thirteenth after Trinity Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: St. Luke 10:23-37

23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:

24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

One day I was riding with my dad when we came upon a car that was broken down. We gave the driver a push around a median strip to go in the opposite direction to a service station. This maneuver required an approaching vehicle to come to a stop. When the driver was able to proceed and came opposite us, he stuck his head out his window and angrily yelled at my father, “Mister, don’t ever do that, especially for a (and he used the N-word).” My dad was not the most racially enlightened man of his time, but he believed in helping people in need whoever they were and wherever he found them.

We read from St. Luke’s Gospel this morning both Jesus’s original story of the Good Samaritan but also why he told it.

1. Question Time

• In the British parliamentary system there is something call “question time” in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament address their questions to the Prime Minister Cabinet members. When these questions come from opposition party members, question time came become quite heated. They ask questions not for information but to try to trip up the Prime Minister and expose him and his policies to ridicule.

• People were seated as Jesus was teaching. One of the listeners was biding his time waiting for something like “question time.” When the chance arose he stood up and asked Jesus a question. His questioning was not entirely sincere, as he was “putting Jesus to the test.” Perhaps he would trip up Jesus and discredit him among those who were so interested in him and his teaching.

• St. Luke calls him a “lawyer.” He was not what we think of when we hear the word “lawyer.” He did consult with clients and go into court to represent them and argue their cause. Rather he was a scholar who studied the OT especially the Law of Moses. His work was interpret the Scriptures, to know how people who went before him had understood them, and to help people know how to live by the law in present day life.

• He began with a question: “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He was looking forward to the coming of the kingdom of God and asking how he could enjoy and participate in the life of the kingdom. Eternal life is not just quantity of life but quality of life. It is endless life but also life in the presence of God where there is no sin, or suffering, or death. It is perfectly blessed and fulfilling life in communion with God.

There could hardly be a more important question. People have lots of questions. Where are we going to eat tonight? How am I going to get the money to pay the bills? How am I going to make myself happy and get others to help me be happy? But you don’t find a lot of people asking how they can inherit eternal life.

• Jesus did not answer the question directly, but asked the lawyer a question. “What’s written in the law? How do you read what the Old Testament says about this question?” The man had a ready and accurate answer. What he said Jesus also said when he was asked about the law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

The law said to love God supremely completely -with everything you are. You can look at a human being from many perspective - heart, soul, strength,and mind. These are not distinct “parts” of a human being as though we can define each of things listed.It is meant to say, “Love God with every part of your being.” Love for God is not a half-hearted thing. It is a whole being thing.

And love your neighbor as yourself. You naturally
love yourself. You take care of yourself. You may so
love yourself and want to make sure your needs are
met that you want others to serve you, to meet your
needs and make you happy. But the Law says, “You
already love yourself. Now love your neighbor as
you love yourself. Make your love of yourself the
guide to how you care for and treat others.

If we want practical guidance into how we express
love for God and others, then look at the
Commandments we read this morning. Love God by
worshiping nothing and no one but him, by not using
images or any other pagan ways to worship the true
God, by worshiping the true God reverently and
sincerely, by reserving the day of worship as holy
so you can always gather for public worship? How do
we express love for others? By honoring those in
authority, by respecting and protecting life, by
faithfulness in marriage, by respecting the rights of
others to own what they have earned, by telling the
truth, by being content with what God has given you.

• Jesus said, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” “You got the right answer. Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself, and you will inherit eternal life.” What Jesus is saying is, “If the way to get eternal life is by being the right kind of person and doing the right kinds of  things, then if you love God wholly and your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live.” Jesus does not pursue this, because the lawyer takes the conversation in a different direction, but the question that is left hanging for the lawyer and for us is, “Can you do this? If this is the way to inherit eternal life - by keeping the law, by loving God and neighbor - then will you inherit eternal life? Can you love God and neighbor in this way?”

2. Story Time

• The lawyer did not continue to pursue his question about eternal life. It seems he became uncomfortable with his own statement of our duty to love our neighbor as ourselves. He wanted to justify himself, to show that he kept that law. So he asked, “Who is my neighbor?” There was more than one view of the right definition of “neighbor.” A neighbor might be your relatives or the people who lived near you. For Jews the definition never went beyond “fellow Jews.” The duty to love others never went beyond Jewish ethnicity and religion. You might have a duty to love all your fellow members of the Jewish nation, but the duty never extended to Gentiles or Samaritans.

• In response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told a story.
• A man traveled from Jerusalem down to Jericho. The road was 17 miles long and descended 3000 feet. The countryside was rather desolate, the kind of area where bands of thieves could hide and prey on their victims. We don’t know anything about this man. Presumably he was a Jew, but Jesus does not focus on the man, but on the “helpers.”
• Along the way thieves attacked and robbed him. In the process they ripped off his clothes, beat him  up, and left him half dead on the roadside. His injuries were so bad all he could do was to lie in the road where he had been left.
• As he lay there along came two religious men. One was a priest, perhaps on his way home from a period of service at the Temple in Jerusalem. When the priest came upon the man, he saw that the man was severely wounded and not able to care for himself, but the priest not only did not help. He crossed to the other side of the road and continued his trip. Then along came a Levi. The Levites were the priestly tribe. Not all Levites were priests, but the Levites provided help at the Temple, so perhaps this man, too, having served his rotation at the Temple in Jerusalem, was going home. His response was the same as the priest’s. He crossed to the other side of the road and continued his trip. We might like to know what they were thinking - why they did nothing to help. But Jesus focuses our attention not on the reason for their neglect but on the fact. There was a man in need, and both these religious men neglected to help.
• The crowd probably thought they knew where the story was going. The next man along would be a Jewish layman. He would do the right thing and help. In other words they thought this was going to be an anti-clergy story with the hero a layman. People always enjoy a good anti-clergy story!
• But Jesus took the story in a completely unanticipated direction. The next man along was a Samaritan! Samaritans were of ethnically mixed - long ago a remnant from the old northern kingdom of Israel had not been deported but left in the land. Gentiles had been brought in to help resettle the land. Eventually there were intermarriages. The result centuries later was the Samaritans. They also had a mixed but ultimately false religion. The accepted the Five Books of Moses but none of the rest of the OT. They built their own Temple and worshiped in their own chosen way.
• One of these Samaritans came along, saw them man, and had compassion on him. There has so far been no concern, no sympathy, no caring, but this Samaritan has compassion. So he went to the man. He practiced such medicine as he knew, pouring wine and oil into the wounds and bandaging them. Then, since them man could not walk, he put the man on his own donkey and led him to the nearest inn. He did not just deposit the man there, but stayed and cared for him. When the man was well enough to be left, the Samaritan gave some money to the innkeeper - enough for at least several days of room and board. He asked the innkeeper to take care of the wounded man and told him, “If this man needs to stay longer and needs more care than this money covered, I will be back, and, when I come back, I will pay you whatever is owed.

• Jesus asked, “Who do you think was a neighbor to the robbed and wounded man?” The lawyer knew there was only one answer: “He that showed mercy on him.” Jesus answered, “You go and act in the same way.” Jesus has turned this story around. The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus made the point of the story, “Whose neighbor are you?” And the answer is, “You are a neighbor to anyone you meet who is in need and you can help.”

Now we understand that we are not going to inherit eternal life by loving God and neighbor well enough for us to be rewarded with eternal life. The more we understand what it means to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves, the more we understand how impossible it is for us to gain eternal life by how well we love. We know that we need forgiveness for how poorly we have loved and we need acceptance with God that is not based on our loving God and neighbor. We see that Jesus Christ is the only One who perfectly loved, the One who atoned for our lack of love, and the one who makes us right before God by faith in what he did for us.

But the Law is still there as a guide to how we as those who have eternal life through Christ show our gratitude. The Law still calls us to love God with all we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The law still tells us that all people in need are our neighbors to be loved and helped as we have the opportunity to do so.

When we come to the Table, we come knowing that we are accepted not because we have loved well enough but because Jesus loved us. And we leave knowing that he sends us into the world to show his love to our neighbors - to love all whom God places in our paths who are in need.