|
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? The
lawyer said, "The one who showed him mercy. Jesus said to him, "Go and do
likewise.
It is out there lurking
on every street or road I try to drive down this summer; the dreaded sign that
reads "Road Work!" In this week's lesson, Jesus himself was on the road. His
very journey to what lay ahead in Jerusalem is a demonstration of the meaning of
life and of love.
“When the days drew
near for him to be received up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem…. And as
they were going along the road…”
A Road work sign is
trouble enough but what about the sign that says, "Road work the next sixteen
miles." Well now I want you to join me as we do road work the next sixteen
minutes.
"Just then a lawyer
stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit
eternal life?" This is not an
innocent interlocution by a curious customer. Asking questions in Jesus'
cultural contest was often a game to see if you could better the other person.
This man understood Jesus was challenging the prevailing understanding of the
Jewish way of life. Perhaps, trusting in his own intellect, he wanted to expose
Jesus or to make him look bad. After all he was only a carpenter's son from
Galilee.
Jesus will not fall into
the trap. He probes the lawyer instead,
"What is written in the law? What do you read
there?" The
lawyer responds, "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 seeks to let the lawyer retain face. "You have
given the right answer"; Then perhaps as a nod to his credentials as a teacher.
Jesus quotes Leviticus "Do this and you shall live."
But the lawyer evidently
felt that he had looked foolish, having asked what he thought was a weighty
question, only to have Jesus respond with an answer that any child might receive
in Synagogue School.
"But wanting to
justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?"
Who Is My Neighbor? Now
he is ready to discuss with Jesus the fine distinctions that might be made here
about neighbors and perhaps during the discussion the 'friend of tax collectors'
will misspeak.
I appreciate the
insight of one Bible teacher, “It is a question most asked, in my experience, by
people in a position of privilege and relative safety who are seeking to be
selective about whom they share their privilege, for whom the question boils
down to, ‘On what grounds can I avoid responsibility for someone else’s
welfare?” Sara Dylan
The Jewish people in
Jesus’ time, just like us, had a whole list of folk who they judged were outside
the commandment to love: Gentiles, Samaritans, tax collectors, sinners of
course, the sick who were proven sinners, lower class people whose work kept
them from following the demands of the law, and so on. So for the privileged
Pharisee this question could provide some amusement.
Or perhaps he was asking
another question: What is the minimum expectation of the law? What do I have to
do to be good enough? It says he was "wanting to justify himself.”
And many times when we ask the question what we really want to hear is an
answer that will make us feel ok about ourselves and our level of commitment to
others.
A woman Jewish rabbi I
heard preach once taught that two goals of A Jewish Life were:
To be Holy
To obey the
commandments and the ordinances. The commandments are the moral law and the
ordinances the ritual law. This is what distinguishes a Jewish person. It is the
sign of loving obedience to God.
But there is also a
second dimension to a Jewish life:
To become a “mensch” (yiddish)
Well,
what does that mean? It is an extremely difficult word to properly define. The
best answer is: "You know one when you see one." To become a mensch is to become
a "person"; to become a truly human being. It involves compassion and knowing
how to respect yourself and others. You know one when you see one. This emphasis
on the second dimension of becoming a mensch is the new element Jesus brought to
the understanding of faith. It is at the heart of this passage.
Jesus wants to break
through to us so that we can see the world and ourselves with new eyes. Now he
that has everyone's attention; he tells a story.
"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.
Now by chance a
priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other
side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on
the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw
him, he was moved with pity. 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.
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.'
Then Jesus asks the final question: "Which
of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands
of the robbers?
The lawyer said, "The
one who showed him mercy. Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Notice Jesus asks a
different question.
The Lawyer asks, “Who
is my neighbor?”
He
believes he is the one who will decide who is in and who is out and he wants to
discuss it.
Jesus asks, “Which of
these three, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
Notice in Jesus'
question it is the need of the man in the ditch which creates the claim of
neighbor. “Who is his neighbor?”
Jesus ends the game of
questions by asking us to put ourselves in the shoes (or in the ditch) of the
most desperate person we can imagine before we answer the
question, “Who is my neighbor?” The man in the ditch is not
so choosy. He sees each one that passes as his neighbor, even the despised
Samaritan.
The question then becomes did
the ones who journeyed down that road truly see who it was that is in the ditch?
This question then
becomes what moves us to the faithful obedience of God in which we travel the
road to becoming a mensch?
This brings us back to
some key words in the story “when he saw him, he was moved with pity.”
The Greek word for pity
or compassion is only used in the New Testament to describe the attitude of God
or Christ, except here in Luke 10 where the one who would be a neighbor has the
compassion that is like God’s. The story asks us to have the eyes and heart of
God when we go out on the road.
Once upon a time there
was a medical student who was about to take a crucial exam. He studied day after
day. He crammed in his brain all the information from his lectures, his labs and
his readings. The arrived the day of the exam confident. There were three
questions. The first two were a breeze. The he turned the paper over. His face
went white. The third question was "What is the first name of the woman who
cleans the floor in this building at seven o'clock every night?" As he looked in
disbelief, he got more and more angry. Finally, he went up to the professor's
desk and complained, "This question is unfair! What does it have to do with the
practice of medicine?" The professor said, "It is a fair question. You see in
my opinion one of the biggest problems with medicine today is that doctors do
not really focus on their patients at all. We know how to practice medicine but
we do not know how to care for people. We know how to treat diseases but not how
to treat human beings. That's got to change.
Those who teach medicine
have worked hard to change it. Today, doctors get classes on how to talk to and
listen to patients. However, as with all of us, learning to make the small shift
in perspective that helps us become a mensch, "a person" is exceedingly
difficult. For Jesus, it is the most important thing we can do.
Remember as we do this
difficult neighbor/road work, God does not call us to guilt. God has no time for
guilt which is ultimately selfish. God calls us to compassion and to action.
This story bids us in St. Paul's words, "by the mercies (pity compassion) of
God to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
which is true spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your minds, (this is the work of the Spirit
within us) so that you may discern what is the will of God."
Romans 12:1-2
I know that when I leave
here today God is going to confront me again with one of those people who lays
claim to my compassion. God always does that to me when I preach about this. We
cannot care for every person we meet but if we cultivate a heart like God’s
heart and eyes like Christ’s eyes, God will reveal to us with calling of the
heart those whom we are to help. But Lord help us if we enter into this process
without removing the blinders we are so used to wearing.
In Anne Tyler's novel
"Saint Maybe," the main character, Ian Bedloe, takes on the responsibility of
raising three children after their parents-his brother and sister-in-law-die. It
is a big job, an all-consuming responsibility. He is a Good Samaritan, and it
changes the path of his life. Sadly, Ian takes this burden on because he
believes that raising these children is God's punishment for his youthful
indiscretions. Over the years, all of the diapers, the sickness, the squabbles,
all of the care, begins to turn Ian bitter. Finally, one day Ian confesses his
guilt and bitterness to a pastor. "This is my life? This is all I get? It's so
settled! It's so cut and dried! After this there's no changing! I just lean into
the burden of these children forever??"
It takes time, a long
time, but slowly Ian's perspective changes. As his heart softens, Ian concludes
that God was not punishing him for past sins but blessing him with a life full
of love. At the end of the novel, Ian holds another baby in his arms, his own
child, and he thinks to himself, "This doesn't feel like any eight pounds. It
feels like nothing, like thistledown-a burden so light it seemed almost
buoyant."
A burden becomes
buoyant? An obligation becomes a blessing? A responsibility becomes that which
lifts us like a balloon to new heights? I guess it depends on how you look at
it.
I always relax a little
when after sixteen miles I see the sigh that says: "End of Construction." Our
road work is complete for today or maybe it is not? In any case drive carefull-y.
Amen.
Back to Sermons main page
| 
