Sermon at home congregation on July 11

A little context first. Two weeks before I gave this sermon, one of the co-pastors of my home congregation died after a long journey with cancer. I had already been scheduled to preach and was honored to do so. He very much helped to form my theology, even though I had been gone to school the entire time he was the pastor at my church.

July 11 was also the day before the 6 month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, both of these tragedies impacted me during the process of writing this sermon.

I had written and given it at Lord of Life Lutheran church in Dubuque for a Lenten series. But it never felt like it was connected to that congregation. When I was scheduled to preach at Prince of Peace the text happened to be the same, so I looked at it again, and found that it connected to this congregation, and so I rewrote it, with them, Pastor Andrew, and Ben in mind.

Sermon

Date: Sunday July 11, 2010

Location: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 10: 25-37

In the episode of the Simpson’s “Mypods and Boomsticks” the secondary story revolves around Bart and a new friend that has joined his class. Bashir is a Muslim from Jordan, he and Bart hit it off well. Homer is at first impressed with his son’s new friend. But, Homer’s bar buddies Lenny, Carl and Moe talk him into thinking that all Muslims are terrorists bent upon the destruction of the US. Homer decides to investigate and overhears parts of a conversation between Bashir’s parents. Bashir’s father is a demolition expert whose next assignment is to blow up the old Springfield Mall. Homer only overhears the exploding part, not the asked to explode part and of course assumes the worst. In a heroic display of idiocy and ineptness Homer manages to save the old decrepit mall; throwing the explosives into the river where they float downstream and blow up the new bridge to the Duff Brewery. Upon seeing this Homer laments and then when two semis of beer exit the plant and promptly drive straight off the ruined bridge howls.

This is a common refrain and story-line in today’s world and seen in many different forms, not just the all Muslims are terrorists’ line. We have many people who are labeled as outsiders or unworthy rather than neighbors. Instead of helping those in need there is often language of condemnation. This world has become one of division and sides. We divide ourselves over everything, conservative, liberal, straight, gay, white, black, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, first world, third world.

A different voice is needed. I was humbled to be able to attend Pastor Andrew’s memorial service this week. The service, planned by Pastor Andrew in these last month’s, spoke well of his message, and this church’s message, of “All are Welcome.” This message is seen in large letters upon our driveway entrance signs, but it is one that is not often heard.

The story of the Good Samaritan is more complex than it is often portrayed; we use the phrase “that person is a Good Samaritan” for anyone that assists with someone in need. But within the parable it is more than just a good person helping someone in need, it is someone reaching past religious and national divides. It is a reinterpretation of the interpretation of the law of Israel. The Good Samaritan story gives voice to the new message of “All are Welcome,” in fact it creates and commands it.

The beaten man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and therefore we assume an Israelite, and the Priest and the Levite are also Israelites. So the question arises: why did they pass the beaten man on the road? Let’s start first with the person who began this exchange with Jesus. The lawyer, as the word is translated, is one who is an expert on the laws of Israel. When Jesus turns his initial question of “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” back upon him, the lawyer answers with statements from the law. “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.” The two sections of this statements come from the heart of the Hebrew Bible. “Love the Lord” comes from Deuteronomy 6. “And your neighbor as yourself" comes from Leviticus 19. To the Lawyer, and also the priest and Levite, the law is top priority. If we look elsewhere in Leviticus, we find laws about touching and handling blood and dead bodies. The man on the side of the road is most certainly bloody and could be dead. And so for the priest and the Levite according to these laws the beaten man is impure, unclean, and at that moment an outsider, untouchable.

We often react to this story as: “The priest and the Levite just walked past that poor injured man? Wow, they are Jerks!” But, the Lawyer as he hears this story from Jesus most likely does not react as we often do. He is probably thinking to himself, “Well, that was a good choice by those two, they could have risked becoming impure and unclean.”

But then Jesus turns the story upside down on this Lawyer. He has set up this story of a man beaten, bleeding, possibly dead upon the road and as the Law states it is sad for him, but the priest and Levite cannot risk their cleanliness in helping him. And the Lawyer agrees with him, but then Jesus inserts a third traveler upon this road; A Samaritan, Samaritans were those who stayed in the northern kingdom after it was exiled by Assyria. They continued to worship in the northern kingdom instead of in Jerusalem at the Temple. To the priest, Levite, and this lawyer this Samaritan was a person who worships in the incorrect manner, one to be condemned and removed. And to the ears of the Lawyer this Samaritan does the unthinkable, he violates the Law and also breaks down the wall that separates these two peoples in stopping, bandaging and caring for this beaten Israelite man. Making not only himself unclean by touching blood, but making the Israelite even more unclean through touch from an outsider.

Jesus calls upon this lawyer to not just see the Samaritan man as his neighbor, but to look beyond purity laws and put the love of neighbor as greatest. Jesus calls him out on his statement about loving the neighbor and then wanting to restrict who is neighbor. This story is not about simply being nice and helpful to those in need but about changing the very core of how you consider who to help. Jesus is changing the very method of interpreting and understanding the Law.

What then is Jesus calling us to do? To show mercy to those in need, to help those who are different than ourselves, to care for the outsider? Yes, and so much more. Jesus is calling us to examine ourselves and look at the core of why we do things.

There is a Sunday School song that I learned when I was a child, “We love, because God first loved us.” That is very much true here. A common thought about mission is that we are to go out into the world and bring God there. But Jesus is calling us to see these people as our neighbors. We are to see that God is already present with these our neighbors. We are called to love these, our neighbors, just as God loves them.

Mission is not bringing God to people, but seeing that God is already there.

Mission is not choosing who you should assist based on who you yourself think God loves, but realizing that God loves all and shows mercy to all.

Mission is being like Bart and befriending those different than ourselves rather than being like Homer and giving in to stereotypes and rumor; laws, written or otherwise.

Mission is about realizing that just as God loves the man beaten on the road and the Samaritan, God also loves the priest and the Levite.

Mission is knowing that just as God loves those in need around the world, God also loves us.

Mission is knowing that “All are Welcome.” Conservative, liberal, straight, gay, white, black, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, first world, third world, to God all are welcome.

We can only “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] strength, and with all [our] mind,” and [our] neighbor as ourselves,” when we realize that we ourselves are loved. We can only show mercy when we see that we ourselves have been shown mercy.

That passage, vs. 27 in our text, has been in my mind even more so this last week. This verse was one of the many texts picked by Pastor Andrew to be read at his memorial. Comfort is found in this text. Not only is it a command to us, it is a promise to us. The reason for why we can obey this command is the one giving it. In Christ, God came to us in our broken states, transforming how we understand the law.

We are injured, damaged, hurt people. We are often lost, stuck on the side of the road not sure where to turn. It is then that we need to know that we have shown that mercy. No one is an outsider or an outcast to Christ. We have been shown mercy and love and so we are to show mercy and love to our neighbor. We have been given the ultimate love. I can think of no better reason to love.