Acting Justly, Loving Mercy, Walking Humbly

SERMON: JUSTICE, MERCY, WALKING HUMBLY

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 and Micah 6:8 (from THE MESSAGE)

"... a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

The scholar said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, the scholar then asked, “And just how would You define ‘neighbor’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

Micah 6:8

"And what does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God."

I want to begin by asking you three questions ... and no, you don't have to shout out the answers .... but you will, in your mind, readily choose one of the two possible replies, at least to the first two questions. The third one may stump you a bit.

1. Would you rather be rich or poor?

2. Would you rather be healthy or sick?

3. Would you rather be righteous, or religious?

Now, I submit that you have to think about the third question, far longer than the first two, simply because the words are not as familiar .... you may even be asking yourself, "What is the difference between being righteous and being religious? Isn't it the same thing? Well, no, it is not...definitely not.

Micah's greatest verse, chapter 6, verse 8, contains one of the clearest, most succinct series of words in the whole Bible. One cannot easily escape the meaning, or pass over it lightly, without giving it at least a token thought.

But, when we jump to the 10th chapter of the Gospel written by Luke, we see evidence that will clearly show us something about the difference between being righteous, and being religious!

Jesus tells the story in a way that leaves no doubt as to how to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

The story goes like this .... a man was traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho, and was attacked, viciously beaten, robbed, and left naked and half dead.

Enter the priest. What is a priest? Of course, he is a supposed 'holy man.' He is one who is to look out for the poor, the afflicted, the lonely, the discouraged, ... in short, the losers in life's lottery.

The first time we heard the story, we suspected that the priest would surely help the hapless victim, lying naked and bleeding on the road, in plain sight.

We expect him to get on his cell phone and call 911, and stay there till the ambulance comes, in the form of a medical helicopter, and immediately transport the traveler to the newly opened Mayo Clinic in Jerusalem, where a team of the world's top experts is standing by to care for their new patient ..... but no.

We expect him, if he doesn't have a cell phone, to at least stop by and pull the victim out of the middle of the road so a bus won't run over him .... but no ....

Well, if he can't do that, maybe he will recruit the next couple of people to help him get the man to somewhere in the shade, and maybe give him a drink of water .... but no, not even that.

The priest, the religious man, actually crosses the road to AVOID the victim, probably with his nose in the air, thinking, "I'm much too important to get involved in a tawdry affair like this ...."