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ISSN 2195-3171

8th Sunday after Pentecost, 07/14/2013

Sermon on Luke 10:25-37, by Samuel Zumwalt

 ²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ²⁶He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" ²⁷And he 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 answered correctly; do this, and you will live." ²⁹But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, 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, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" ³⁷He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

SOUGHT AND RESCUED

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The easiest way to read this text is as a script for how to live a good life. Find somebody who is difficult and then love her or him. The problem with a moralistic reading of the text is that it makes the death of Christ unnecessary by putting us in the driver's seat for getting right with God. Such a reading eviscerates the Christian faith and reduces life to the simple sermon preached by Ringo Starr on his 70^th birthday this week: "Peace and love." As nice as they sound, slogans never change the world. Slogans just make it easier to think we're good because we're trying to be good or at least feel good.

So let's instead take the harder approach to the text.

The lawyer, or religious scribe, knows the Word of God inside and out. When Luke says that the lawyer wanted to put Jesus to the test, it means the guy was as hostile to Jesus as Satan, who also put Jesus to the test in the wilderness after His baptism. So, this is not a simple theological discussion at Bible study. The man wants to trap Jesus as an inept or false teacher of God's Word. The man thinks of himself as the expert and Jesus as the one being examined. "So," asks the lawyer, "how can I be sure that God will raise me up from the dead with the righteous?"

Like any good rabbi, Jesus answers the question with a question: "What does God's Word say?" And the man gives the textbook answer by quoting from the famous Shema in Deuteronomy 6:5, a passage recited everyday by devout Jews, and by including a passage from Leviticus 19:18 about loving the person close to you in the same way that you love yourself. Love God with all your being. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus' response affirms the man's answer: "You are correct, sir." Jesus knows the textbook, too. But the religious scribe has not been able to trap Jesus. So...he continues to state his theological position as the correct answer by asking, "And who is my neighbor?" Then, Jesus moves from a straightforward interpretation to a story that illustrates that which is most important. The question is not "who is my neighbor," but "how will you be neighbor?" Of course, if you remain in the driver's seat, then Jesus' story will drive you right off a cliff by the sheer impossibility of it all!

BEATEN AND LEFT FOR DEAD

The most popular preachers in America today are often popular because they give people three ways to improve their life every week. If you add in hard-driving Christian rock and roll with a good beat that you can dance to, it's a formula for packing in crowds of young and not-so-young people who like to be in their company.

One typical sermon might go like this: "The lawyer was a hypocrite like the priest and the Levite in the story. They talked a lot about God but didn't do what God wanted. None of us wants to be a hypocrite like them, so let's think about three things we can do to be better neighbors. First, we're collecting an offering this morning for the battered women's shelter. If you can't give money, maybe you could be a volunteer at the shelter. Second, if you have anger issues, have been a victim of abuse, or know someone who's in trouble, we have several support groups that you should sign up for or tell someone about. We also have a Christian counselor on staff. Please check the schedule of small groups and the staff directory on our website. And, third, this week, be on the look out for someone who needs your help. Even if you are busy, just consider that God has sent this person to interrupt your life. Be a Good Samaritan and care enough to get involved. Please pray with me. "Lord, help me to learn how to be a better neighbor like the Good Samaritan. And let all God's people say ‘Amen.' Now the band is going to lead us in a song."

But here's the strange part, that same sermon could be preached in a church like ours with a pipe organ, traditional hymns, and weekly communion. The style of worship and even of music can be dramatically different from church to church, but the sermon can be just as amazingly moralistic and sub-Christian from place to place. A sermon that focuses on what you need to do to have a better life makes it about you rather than God!

The harder reading is to see ourselves as the one who has been robbed, beaten, and left for dead. It is especially hard for us men to see ourselves as the one in the story who needs to be befriended, cared and provided for, and unable to do it ourselves. In fact, if you scratch beneath the surface, I suspect that everyone in this room would rather be anyone in the story but the man in the ditch. We don't want to be beholden to anyone. So that if you give us a gift, we're pleased, but then we're already thinking about when and how we're going to return the favor: "I'll buy next time." "We're going to invite you over real soon." "When's your birthday?" "Gosh, I feel terrible. I didn't get you a gift."

That's why do-it-yourself religion is so popular. It fits into our quid pro quo world ("I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine.") "Surely, if I put my mind to it, then I can be like the Good Samaritan and not like those hypocritical religious people in the story."

It's interesting to note that the verb Jesus uses to describe the Good Samaritan's compassion in v. 33 is only used of God elsewhere in the New Testament. Jesus' point is that the religious scribe, the lawyer, doesn't see himself as in need of God's mercy. It's like what Jesus told us about those two sons in Luke 15. Neither the prodigal son nor the older brother really loves his father. They're both just after what the old man has, and that makes them needier and more pathetic sons than either of them wants to admit!

The confession we say at the beginning of our worship is hard to take seriously. Because we are self-obsessed and self-possessed, we easily remake the biblical God in our own image. We want to believe that God puts our happiness above all else including what's best for everyone else. We want to believe that God is neither jealous nor judging. We want to believe that God's love means only affirmation and acceptance. And, if the truth be known, we want to believe that if things feel right to us then that must be good enough for God. Like Ringo Starr, if we're for peace and love, isn't that good enough?

Jesus isn't just a teacher like Buddha or Moses or Muhammad or like John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Jesus is God in human flesh. His death isn't just a tragic mistake that we ought to try to get past to happier thoughts. It is the essence of God's compassion and mercy for sinners like you and me. We have a down-to-earth God who has to come down to earth in flesh like ours in order to save and redeem us from the unholy trinity of sin, death, and Satan. As Martin Luther put it, Jesus takes our sin and death and gives us the free gift of His eternal life and right relationship with God the Father.

When we are baptized with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are joined to the death and resurrection of God's Son Jesus. We who are beaten and left for dead by sin, death, and the devil are rescued, raised from the dead, and given the compassionate and merciful promise of God that we, by grace, are children of God for Christ's sake! Because, in this life, we continue to be caught in the struggle between our old sinful flesh and the new child of God in us, we need God's compassion and mercy not once but day by day. Living in the covenant of our Baptism means daily dying to self and daily being raised from the dead with God's Son Jesus! We both need and have a loving Lord Jesus!

BECOMING LITTLE CHRISTS

Holy Baptism begins with a one-time washing with water but it is a way of life. Every day the child of God returns to the waters of Baptism by renouncing the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises. Every day the child of God confesses that God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - makes us and owns us, saves us and redeems us, and forgives us and renews us. As Paul says to the Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (2:20).

When we remember that Christ has rescued each one of us along our own Jericho Road, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to those around us who are beaten and half-dead. The sad thing is often they don't even know it yet. Like the religious scribe, people around us may think of themselves as really quite OK just the way they are. They may have convinced themselves that the God they have made in their own image simply has nothing but affirming things to say to them no matter what. They may believe they are neither in sin nor in need of a Savior. They may believe that their faith in God is a get-out-of jail-free card that glosses over their need to be rescued from sin, death, and evil.

Sometimes, frankly, all we can do is to tell people we are concerned about them and that we love them and that we will be there when they need us. But if someone is hell-bent on messing up her or his own life, we really can't stop them. Sometimes loving interventions work - as when families and friends confront an addict - and sometimes the person just hasn't hit bottom yet. Sometimes you just have to let people go down the Jericho Road of their lives sadly knowing they're going to get it and they can't see it!

Martin Luther taught that the gospel is never coercive. You can't make somebody repent and believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ! We offer the sacraments of Baptism and of Christ's body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, but we can't make people admit they need a Savior or force them to cry out for God's compassion and mercy.

Remembering our Baptism into the Lord Jesus' death and resurrection and receiving His body and blood in bread and wine, we go into the world as His hands and feet! So this week, we have the opportunity to care for the homeless families that stay in our gymnasium once each quarter. We have the opportunity to invite children and adults to gather with us for worship. We have the opportunity to say to a friend, "I love you, and I think you're really messing up your life and your family's lives, too." We have the opportunity to be little Christs to our neighbor in need as have the Italians on the island of Lampedusa who have welcomed and cared for those sub-Saharan African boat people.

"How will you be neighbor?" That was the point of Jesus' parable. And then Jesus enacted the parable for you and me by His life, death, and resurrection. And He calls His sisters and brothers to follow by giving our lives away in humble service daily!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.