Pentecost 6, Proper 10, Year C

“All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies”. [Psalm 25:9]

In spite of daily news media reports portraying the opposite, most Americans obey established laws. Sometimes our feelings toward the law can vary, particularly when we feel that the law was written to benefit the few at the expense of the many or when we perceive that enforcement is unequal and unfair, but we generally obey the law and work from within to bring about change.

But for the Jew of Jesus’ time there could be no variation. As we have learned from the lessons and sermons over the past several weeks, the Mosaic Law was given directly by God and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not one with whom you argued. The Law was their disciplinarian. As we heard in the reading from Deuteronomy today, the Law demanded all the heart and all the soul. The observance of the minutiae of the Law was the best sacrifice one could offer to God. As Fr. Humke remarked in his sermon on June 20th about some of today’s “Christian” groups, likewise obedience of Mosaic Law also seemed to be interpreted as “If you enjoy it, STOP IT. It must be wrong.” Observing the minutiae was a constant struggle. The outward observance of the Law was much easier and certainly more obvious to those who watched others in order to judge them. The people who paid attention to outward appearances were content to think of themselves as righteous.

But, along came this Nazarene, an acknowledged teacher and healer, a rabbi who speaks of God and of God's kingdom with great authority, and he confounded them and challenged their comfortable ways. When someone sick came to him on the Sabbath, Jesus did not hesitate to heal that person. When a woman, a sinner, washed and anointed his feet, her sins were forgiven. When another woman, an outcast, a Canaanite, asked him to heal her child, he listened to her prayer and healed her child. He mingled equally with tax collectors as well as with proper, respectable people. He didn’t seem to care too much for the outward niceties of the Law. He clearly told his fellow Jews that the Law was made for the people not the people were not made for the Law. Jesus told them that they need to think for themselves, and that was, and is, a tall order for many people. Many were highly offended, and scared. Others were very attracted to this young prophet who, instead of preaching pessimism and tragedy, filled Galilee and its surroundings with his loving presence. They wanted to know his secret. They wanted to have what he had -- a peace that comes only from close communion with God. They wanted to inherit the kingdom of heaven. So they came to Jesus to ask him how. Some came to trap him or to back him into a corner.

The story in today’s reading from Luke tells us of one of these encounters. It is a remarkable story. It is about a lawyer who challenges Jesus, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus, who respects the scriptures of his people, turns the question back upon the inquirer and refers him to what he, being a Levite, should already be very familiar -- the Mosaic Law. The lawyer answers from Deuteronomy and Leviticus with the magnificent words about loving God with our whole heart, soul and might and our neighbor as our self. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Leviticus 19:18) Jesus tells him that his answer is correct. But the man was not satisfied and wants more. The questioner was, after all, a lawyer trained to ask questions in order to ascertain the limits of his liability. Thusly, he sought clarification of the last part "and your neighbor as yourself". Perhaps he was seeking to create a comfortable box for his life, with all the problems solved in advance, or, perhaps, he was trying to trap Jesus. The story does not say, but he asks the question, "Who is my neighbor?" He was probably asking, “Who is fit to be my neighbor?” [At other times he probably asked other questions, too, like, “does tithe mean before or after taxes?” Does this tithe business mean giving the whole thing to the church, or does giving to the Fund for the Arts count?” Can’t you just imagine what a lawyer might have expected Jesus to say, perhaps something like: "A neighbor (hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than three statute miles from one’s own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter referred to as the party of the second part) living closer to the party of the first party than one is oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever."] Will Jesus give the expected usual answer and define the neighbor as only the fellow Jew or will he expand the notion of neighbor to Gentiles as well? Will Jesus alienate many in the crowds who are always listening to him, or will he open himself up to ridicule by his Jewish colleagues?

Jesus does neither and tells a story instead. In the story, a wounded man is bypassed by two of the most respectable, religious representatives of the community, a priest and a lay assistant. They pretend that they don't see the dying man. If they even stop, it may take too much time and they are both so busy. If they render aid, it may require that they get dust on them; their hands are clean, their clothes proper, they must not be soiled with blood and mud. It is easier this way. They are respectable people judged by outward appearances and they just cannot afford to get their hands and clothes dirty. But the Samaritan, the known outcast, is not bothered by such outward niceties. He stops and offers help -- the kind of help that takes responsibility, that is not here today and gone tomorrow. He takes the victim to the inn, he treats the wounds with his own hands, he stays with him through the night, he pays the bill, and he comes back to check on him. Jesus then asks, "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor?" The answer is, "The one who showed him mercy." "Go and do likewise," is the simple command of Jesus.

In the kingdom of God's mercy, one must always be prepared for surprises. As good Judeans, those who listened to Jesus tell the parable of the Samaritan would have expected the hero of the story to be one of them. How surprised they must have been when that figure turned out to be a hated Samaritan. Then Jesus surprised the inquirer by turning the original question on its head. The original question was, “who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer is “who is not?”

The parable of the Good Samaritan, however, is not a story about good and evil. It is a poetic reflection on loving. God is like the Samaritan. God loves without any care or concern for who is deserving. In Jesus, God becomes a human being for our sake and is suddenly personal, immediate and right in the thick of things with us. It is as if we are the wounded one beside the road, and God leaves the road to be present with us as one of us. God does whatever is required. This is the message of the cross: Jesus loved us enough to die for us. One of the prayers during the service today describes that action as stretching out his “arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within reach of [his] loving embrace.” He did whatever was required to show us that we are absolutely loved and forgiven. The Resurrection and Ascension assure that this love is forever and ever.

The story of the Good Samaritan makes us realize that every human person is our neighbor. Jesus invites us to live in that truth. With the power and grace of God through Jesus Christ we can indeed go out and do likewise, we can show mercy to our neighbors, and we can bear fruit. Jesus calls us to look beyond outward appearances and to think for ourselves; to not only talk the talk, but also to walk the walk; to “Go and do likewise”. Jesus confronts us irresistibly, disturbing our conscience and urging us toward social responsibility. In Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith and we can actually participate in and be an instrument of God's love, so that our hands will enable him to express his love through us.

As we leave this church today, I pray that we take the following with us -- the image of the loving embrace of Christ; the vision of the Good Samaritan; the words of our Lord to "Go and do likewise”; and the exhortation of Paul to the Colossians: “Bear fruit in every good work” and “grow in the knowledge of God”.

“All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies”. [Psalm 25:9] Let us go forth, then, and keep his covenant and his testimonies, ready to celebrate life that is not lived by rote; to delight in its complexities and in its bewildering ambiguities; to get excited by the thrill of working out things for ourselves; to celebrate our diversity; to oppose intolerance; and to knock down the walls that would keep the stranger out. Amen.

Jim Barnes

07-11-04