The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near 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.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37(
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Some time ago, I saw a video clip shown on television of an SUV which pulled onto a rooftop parking lot, and didn’t stop, but kept right on, riding up onto the roof of the car parked ahead, and then onto another car at its side.
It then backed off and drove away.
People do that you know, sometimes because they don’t want to look at what they have done. If they can drive away then perhaps they don’t feel as responsible.
They evade having to do something to put things right.
It might cost money.
In this case, the driver was picked up later and charged.
And he probably got a call from his insurance company telling him he wasn’t needed as a customer any more.
The attitude evident there, of not caring – absorbed in what you are doing to the detriment of anyone else – could have been the attitude of the priest and the Levite – both religious men – in the story that Jesus tells today.
By walking on the other side of the road, they couldn’t see too much, and could avoid responsibility. They could avoid having to do something. Avoid being inconvenienced.
If the man lying in the road were dead, and the priest touched him , he would have been forbidden from doing his temple duties for seven days. And that wouldn’t do, would it?
Jesus is telling this story to a lawyer. Not the sort of lawyer we are used to hearing about today, who deals with crime, or real estate transfers. He was someone who studied the religious law, and was an expert on it.
When he asks Jesus, “What must a man do to gain eternal life?” Jesus answers with his own question,” What does the law say?”
The man replies, “You must 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 you must love your neighbour as yourself.”
“Right,” said Jesus, “Do that and live.”
But the man was a not quite satisfied. He already knew the law, and had been testing Jesus, trying to show that what Jesus was teaching was against the law of Moses. But Jesus outwitted him.
He is puzzled about who Jesus might say was his neighbour. You see, in the law, in Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18, the Israelites are instructed, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself”
“ Your own people!”
So the lawyer would consider another Jew to be his neighbour. As would most Jews. But not a Gentile. So to push Jesus further, he asks, ” Who is my neighbour?”
And Jesus tells him the story of a man who is robbed and injured, and left for dead. And while this man is lying in the road, a priest walks by and seeing him, averts his eyes, passing on the other side of the road, and so does a Levite, a helper in the temple.
This priest, when expounding on the Scripture, to his listeners, might well remind them of the law regarding loving God and neighbour.
Yet here he is, walking by.
And it isn’t that the injured man is not a Jew, Jesus doesn’t even mention his race. It doesn’t matter. He is someone in need of care.
Along comes a Samaritan.
Now there needs to be a bit of an historical explanation here.
When the Assyrians defeated Israel, they dispersed the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom among the Gentile nations. They then brought foreigners into the land of Israel to re-populate the land. The result was a half-breed race (half Jewish, half Gentile) that populated the Northern Kingdom of Israel from then on.
On the other hand, when the Babylonians took Jews from the Southern kingdom into captivity, their doing so, resulted in their Jewish slaves being kept pure, racially, as it were. So when the Jews returned to Judah, they looked down on the mixed race Samaritans . And the Samaritans, were not so innocent anyway. They gave those who returned from their Babylonian captivity much grief and opposition as they attempted to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, its walls, and the temple.
Consequently, right up to the time of Jesus, Jews and Samaritans hated each other.
Now, the Samaritan gentleman who comes along, doesn’t seem to mind what race the injured man is. All he sees is someone needing help. He tends to him. He goes above and beyond what might be expected, even paying the inn-keeper to keep an eye on him until he is well enough to leave.
The lawyer who has been questioning Jesus is now going to be in a bit of a quandary.
Jesus asks him which of the three characters in the story, the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan, would he consider the injured man’s neighbour?
The man had to reply, “The one who showed him pity.” The hated Samaritan.
”Go and do likewise,” Jesus tells him.
Go and love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.
We know that, don’t we? If we were to use the old form of the Eucharistic service, we would have recited that today. We know it, as that lawyer knew it.
Now, according to Jesus, the lawyer sees that his neighbour could be the most unlikely person. Could be a person that was disliked, derided, even hated.
And he was called to show love to that neighbour.
Lots of people profess their love of God, don’t they? They will tell you they are good Christians and worship their God.
But how would you know whether or not someone loved God?
By the number of times they go to church?
That doesn’t seem to count any more.
“I never go to church,” boasted one wandering member. “Perhaps you have noticed that, pastor?”
“Yes, I have noticed that,” said the pastor.
“”Well, the reason I don’t go is because there are so many hypocrites there.”
“Oh, don’t let that keep you away,” the pastor said, smiling, “There’s always room for one more.”
If you can’t tell if someone loves God by their attending church, then how would you know?
By how they love their neighbour. That’s how.
I know one woman, a very militant Christian, who is always railing on about abortion, homosexuals, people with AIDs – she thinks they all got it by doing wrong – homeless people – they are all lazy – and the government that is too liberal minded – she even had a lot of kids to boost the number of Christians in the world – but she was always down on people.
Up with God, down with people.
Does she love God?
Well she knows the law, as laid down in the Bible, so she says she does, but the way she is about people would make you wonder.
The fact is that you can’t claim to love God if you don’t love people.
Funnily enough it begins with loving yourself.
Once you have accepted that God loves you, and that you are relieved of your sins, and can live a new life, then you can begin to love yourself.
And when you have accepted that forgiveness, and most importantly forgiven yourself, then you can begin forgiving others. You can stop judging them. You can begin to love them.
And loving them, you are loving God.
A test was given to some seminary students, young people studying for the ministry.
Each student was asked to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan – the same thing I have done today. They were to read it on a radio broadcast – or so they thought.
When a student was sent out of the seminary to walk to the place where they were to preach the sermon, it was arranged that a man would be outside and would feign a heart attack, dropping down and writhing in pain on the sidewalk.
And as every student, on their way to preach on the meaning of the story of the Good Samaritan – came across the ‘dying’ man, they stepped around him and continued on their way.
Just as the priest in the story was probably consumed with what he had to do -serving God in the temple – so that he could avert his eyes, so were those students.
It blows your mind doesn’t it?
If you don’t love people then you can’t claim to love God.
Another litmus test is provided us by Jesus himself.
In Matthew 17, and in Luke 6 Jesus uses the metaphor of fruit, and fruit trees. He says the way to identify a tree or a person is by the fruit they produce.
A good person produces good fruit, whereas a bad person produces bad fruit.
A person who is good at heart will do good things.
In John’s Gospel, still using the metaphor of fruit, but here talking about God as the gardener, Jesus tells us that the vine that is fruitful will be pruned so that it will be even more fruitful.
Imagine. If we follow Jesus, loving our fellows and loving God, we will produce good fruit, or good deeds, or bring much love, and as we do that, God will work in us to do much more.
He will magnify what we do.
I suppose that’s where we get that phrase in the Doxology, the statement we make at the end of every service, “ Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”
We will do much more than we can ask or imagine.
We will be amazed at what we can do!!
That’s what that means!!!.
Start small with good acts and God will enable you to do more than you can imagine.
What a promise!
What a challenge!.
What an opportunity!
Seize it today!
Amen.