As I have lived on this earth, I
have come to realize a characteristic of human beings. It is the quality of "selective"
hearing. I'm sure all of you ladies know
what I'm talking about with spouses and kids.
Maybe some of the gentlemen can relate as well. In one of my preaching instructions earlier
in school, I was taught to: tell the congregation what you are going to tell
them; then tell them and finally tell them what you told them! But we are dealing with this characteristic
of human beings in a rather profound way this morning with Jesus and the Jewish
Attorney of the Jewish Law.
This gentleman seems to be in his
own high regard and is approaching Jesus to apparently show Jesus he's not as
'smart' as the lawyer thinks that Jesus thinks he is! Strangely enough, Jesus lets the man answer
his own question by responding to a question WITH a question. Don't you hate
that! A pastor once asked a rabbi, "Why in the Hebrew tradition does the
teacher always answer a question with a question?" He answered. "I
don't know. Do we always do that?"
But as all things with our Lord,
he knows how to take the opportunity of a teachable moment. He tells the story
of the Good Samaritan as we have come to know it as we have grown up in the
Church. What we may not have realized is
some of the subtleties of this story.
There was a bit of selectivity in the Jewish observance venue of Jesus'
day that Jesus had no problem pointing out by again letting the listener answer
his own question.
But here comes that
selectivity. They only read in practice,
the earlier part of that chapter and left out the uncomfortable part that came
a few verses later: " When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat
them. The foreigner residing among you
must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were
foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your
God." (vss
33 & 34) Not content to leave well
enough alone apparently, the doctor of the law says: "but who is my neighbor?"
Jesus begins
what we call the parable, (or literally story beside a story) of the "Good Samaritan". A
man was going down the 17 mile stretch from Jerusalem to Jericho. In that short
distanceCthrough a
very barren and arid terrainCthe
ground drops 3000 feet. It is an ideal
place for robbers to hide and ambush travelers. As fate would have it, robbers
attacked him and stole his clothing and beat himCleaving
him to die. Now is when this gets
interesting.
A priest happens byCthen a LeviteCa
liturgist, a professional charged with the maintenance of the Temple
worship. They both go way over to the
other side of the road. What is wrong with this picture? This is somewhat a
scandalCsurely
these religious men should have done something! I know…excuse! Even today we can
always come up with one of those for something we don't particularly want to
do! Perhaps they
were afraid that the robbers were still near. Perhaps they thought the man was
already dead and to touch him would make them ritually uncleanCso they would be unable to serve in the
Temple.
Whatever it wasCthey ignored him..and no doubt Aself-justified.@ Certainly everyone was expecting an
anti-clerical twist hereCsurely
an Israeli lay person comes by, Ayou know those clerics! Hypocrites.
The laity, now they are the true believers, the good guys@Cbut
IHS throws them a curve.
A Samaritan comes by. They must have thought: "a who?"
"what?" Now this must have been
quite a jolt. A Good Samaritan? Jesus
always seems to have a Ajolt@ in his stories; a cosmic reversal; an
unexpected twist! It must have taken Atemerity@
for Jesus to put a Samaritan in the story!
The Jews felt about the Samaritans like the German Jews feel even
today about Nazis and other "groups" pitted against other
"groups" seem to feel about each other these days: avoidance,
distaste, dislike or even unbridled hatred!
Some history: the Samaritans were a half breed peopleCJews left in the land during the
Babylonian captivity, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the First
Temple. They had intermarried with the
Assyrians from years earlier. They had
opposed the rebuilding of the Temple and said they were the only legitimate
heirs to Jewish worship. They had their
own Temple on Mount Gerizim. Jews considered them as heretics, apostates who
denied the faith. Despicable people whom they looked at odiously. You know that Aodious@ look.
AWho does
she think she is@. ADon=t lower yourself to his level.@
The Samaritan heretic, the one generally treated despicably by the
Jew, takes care of the Jewish manCdisinfects
his wounds and takes him to an inn and leaves about two month=s rent with a promise of more if it is
needed. And IHS asks Awho was neighbor to the man?@
The lawyer replies, and you
can almost see him gritting his teeth trying to get the words out: Athe man who showed mercy.@
You can almost hear the people thinking: "is it
getting warm out here?" Is Jesus
hitting a bit close to home?
The lawyer had really been askingCWho is not my
neighbor? What are the limits to my
responsibility? That is a question each person who believes in Christ must ask
constantly. It would be nice if we could
choose to be neighbor to the people who we like and who could do us some good! But that would make us no different from every
other person born into the world without God=s
love in them. IHS calls us to love
people we don=t like
and people it is of no earthly advantage
to know. Indeed, it is the contrast
between erosCthe love
that demands its own interest and agape the love that is generous in its
interest in others. But love, true love
is not some weak sentiment. Song of Solomon (8:6) says Alove is as strong as death@ (NIV) It is able to conquer all
other things. Sometimes that is tough
love. Parents often have to administer
tough love. It is very hard on the
parent, but is for the ultimate good of the child, although the child may kick
and scream at the penalty of his or her actions and say horrid things to the
one painfully loving them. Even harder with another adult!
A question we must ask ourselves
isCAwith
whom do we identify in the story?@ I mean REALLY? I think we should be conscious that we are at
least in one sense Samaritans. We
have by our lives denied the faith in thought, word and deed and yet... In spite of our birth right to be sinners,
Jesus has redeemed us and made us Agood
sinners@...@good Samaritans@.
In the baptismal covenant we
pledge our determination to love neighbor, and to strive for justice and peace
among all people respecting the dignity of every human being but honestlyCdo
we not often walk on the other side afraid to dirty our hands? Do we need to justify ourselves? Who are the Samaritans in YOUR LIFE? Whom do we feel Ajustified@
in despising, rejecting, pre-juding? When
do we side with the priest and the Levite? With _______ you fill in the
blank. With anyone different from us? Someone we feel treated us
unjustly or a friend unjustly? Everyone
is neighbor for the Christian. The
question is will we be neighbor! Martin Luther King Jr.:
"The first question which the priest and Levite asked was "If I stop
help this man, what will happen to me?" But…the Good Samaritan reversed
the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to
him?"
If God=s
love flows through us, is in usCit
must be acted out in the love of neighbor. In I
John 4:19-21 we readCAWe love because he first loved us. If anyone says, AI love God,@ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.
For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God,
whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must
also love his brother.@
As IHS saidCAGo
and do likewise.@
As NIKE once saidBAJust do it!@
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