Sermon 8th Sunday After Pentecost - The Good Samaritan
Sermon:
Text: Luke 10:25-37
Grace and Peace to you from God our
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who will not walk past us on the road.
I am reminded of a Television Show I
saw back in College that had an episode that was close to a 21st
century retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was called “Who
wants to be a Superhero,” and in the first episode they featured a race amongst
the 10 candidates to become a “superhero.” In turn each of them had to run
through a city block from one location to a end spot within a certain amount of
time. The path they had to take took them through a city park next to a big
fountain, next to the fountain was a little crying girl they had to go right
past. Of the 10 candidates, 2 stopped to help this little girl find her
parents, and it turned out that it was these two who won the challenge. The
message was a superhero always stops to help those in need, regardless of what
else is pressing them.
The parable is one
of those texts we see all the time, so much that it has even invaded our
language. Even though it’s often used simply as someone who does good. Looking
at the text it’s so much more than that. Again, we are still just a half a
chapter away from Jesus setting his face towards Jerusalem, on the road he
stops for a little while to teach and a lawyer stands up asking him, “What must
I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers him by asking about the law, the
man then quotes from Deuteronomy 6, for the Jews the most important verse of
the Torah. “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 then from
Leviticus 19:18, “and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus tells him, essentially,
do that. But, the man can’t stop there, he needs to know now who is his
neighbor, how far do I have to go? And so, Jesus tells this parable. A man is
beaten by robbers and they leave him on the road right on the edge of death.
The
first person through is a priest, he sees the man, but does not stop. Sometimes
it has been talked about that the priest couldn’t because of purity laws and
the like, but that’s a misunderstanding of 1st Jewish laws, the
priest could have stopped, and probably should have, but well, he just didn’t.
The second man through is a Levite, one of the tribe of Israel charged with
keeping the temple, just below the level of a priest. Again, he could help this
man, but he doesn't, he just walks past on the other side.
Now,
up to this point, the people listening to Jesus may be a little shocked that
the priest and Levite don’t stop, but they aren’t too shocked. But, Jesus’ next
answer is shocking for a whole variety of reasons. First, they are not
expecting Jesus to say Samaritan at all. The parable style Jesus is using here
is not original to Jesus, there are other examples of parables set up in this
method, a priest does something, a Levite does something, and then usually an
Israelite does something. So, the crowd is expecting Jesus to then talk about an
Israelite. But, then Jesus says, “But a Samaritan while traveling came near to
him.”
The
Samaritans are an offshoot of the early Israelites. Both are descendants of
Abraham and Isaac, but they veered off during the Babylonian exile. While the
Jews were taken to Babylon and their religion was framed by that, especially
based around the destruction of the temple, and what to do with that. The
Samaritans were the ones who stayed in the northern land between Jerusalem and
the Sea of Galilee, and they moved away from the temple and began to worship in
a different manner.
It’s
the equivalent in many regards to the way Roman Catholic’s and Lutheran’s
viewed each other during the middle ages, only much, much, deeper resentment
and anger.
So,
When Jesus says, “But a Samaritan while traveling came near to him.” All of
their hair stands up on end, they just tingle in anger and frustration. “What
is this Samaritan going to do!” He’s probably going to take whatever may
be left on this poor man, he’ll probably just kill him because that’s what THEY
do. We talk about demonifying people and races, the ancient Israelites have
done that very well with the Samaritans, and the Samaritans back in return.
“But
a Samaritan while traveling came near to 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.”
Can
you hear the silence that must have fallen? And then Jesus asks, Who was a
neighbor here? And this lawyer, who probably can’t name a single thing that he
thinks is redeeming about the Samaritans, has no choice but to answer, the one
who showed him mercy. “Go and do likewise.”
“Go,
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.”
That’s
become a little more daunting of an answer I feel. It means not just helping
some people, but helping everyone. It means stopping constantly to help people,
here, there and everywhere in between.
But,
Jesus has gone to Jerusalem, it is luckily not up to us to find a way to
inherit eternal life, Christ has given us that gift through his death. But,
that doesn’t eliminate Christ’s call to Go and Do like wise, to love the Lord
our God, and our neighbors as ourselves.
It
means that we will still be walking upon roads, following Jesus, and we will
face challenges, sometimes that challenge will just be too much for us, we
simply cannot stop, or who the person is makes it simply too difficult for us
help, and we become the priest and Levite, not bad people, but to consumed by
other things to stop or help. Sometimes we do stop, we do become the Good
Samaritan, and we can step beyond our prejudices and fears and help even those
we see as completely different than us.
But,
sometimes following Jesus means we end up as the person on the side of the
road.
Life
has destroyed us, the pains of loss, insecurity, guilt, have ripped us asunder.
Those we trusted tear us down, the places we thought secure are torn open. And
we lay on the road, and simply watch people walk by.
But Christ does
not walk past us. Christ stops and picks us up. Following Jesus means that we
try our best, sometimes we will succeed, sometimes we will fail, but Christ
will never let us down.
Let us pray,
Lord, help us to
be Good Samaritans, help us to respond to your saving act on the cross, by
loving you and our neighbors. Help us to not walk by those in need, and bring
us to safety when we are in need. And when we try, but are destroyed in return
and end up on the road ourselves, come near to us and comfort us in our need.
Amen.
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