6th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37
’No don’t take my money, please don’t hit me again. Stop I beg you stop. Here take what you want, take my wallet take my money, but please leave
Hey, were am I?? Oh, I remember, the robbers, I see they are gone. Let’s see if I can get up and get out of here. Oh, Oh, I think I have a few broken ribs and a twisted ankle. I cannot climb out of this ditch. Maybe someone will come along. I can’t get out of here by myself.
I think I hear someone, yes it is. Hey down here, help help. That’s right I am down here. What are you doing. Don’t leave. What was that he said? ’He didn’t want to get involved. He was afraid of making a mistake. He assured me someone who knew how to help me would come along.’
Oh, yea he said something else. Said he was late for meeting at his church. Some church member he is. Oh I am sore.
Hey I hear some more noise. Help, help, help me I am hurt. He did the some thing. He looked, said something and left. I barely heard him. I think ho said I should have been more careful and a man in his position shouldn’t get involved in such matters. Someone else surely will come along.
He looked familiar. Yes he is involved in politics holds some important office. He doesn’t think much of the down and ousters. Figures everyone wants a free handout.Boy do I hurt.’
I hear another noise. Help, help me I am hurt. He is coming down here. He doesn’t t smell too good. I know him he’s the town drunk. Imagine that he’s picking me up. Now he is putting in the back seat of his car. Where are we going? to the hospital. Well. can you beat that, the town drunk is helping me when those other two men couldn’t be involved. Imagine that .,...."
I am sure all of you guessed that was a modern parable of the good Samaritan. The good Samaritan can be the most unexpected person who is willing to give of himself/herself in a situation which calls for action. A person who is willing to give with out thinking of the cost, the involvement, is what a good Samaritan is all about.
The other two men weighted their response and found that giving of themselves was to great a price to pay.
They gave so they could feel good not because they wanted to. give out of love. Giving of self can be a very selfish act as we weigh what kinds of rewards we can achieve. However in this parable. Jesus is speaking about giving without counting. or measuring the rewards. Giving from a caring. unselfish, loving heart. Giving because you enjoy and want to give of yourself freely.
The following will help this to become clearer.
"An old time preacher imploring his congregation to be the kind of loving. caring giving congregation which had a wide vision of the, future was calling for some movement some progress on their part.
An elderly deacon became emotionally involved and shouted his amens.
The. preacher shouted ’Brethren this church ought to stand up and run.
’Amen’ Amen . shouted the deacon.
’Brethren this church ought to rise up and fly!!! " shouted the pastor even louder.
The deacon responded with an even louder amen.
The preacher was now shouting at the top of his lungs saying . ’But brethren it takes money for a church to run, it takes money for a church to fly, it takes commitment of your entire self, it takes a sacrifice, it takes a willing heart, it will cost to make this church fly.
’There was a period of expressive silence that lasted several seconds. Then in a subdued tone the old deacon murmured . ’Amen let a walk "Let’s walk....’"
Isn’t it true. we want our church to stand for many things but when a commitment is needed, it is much easier to back down, to play it save. It is easier not to give of self, to hang back to calculate the cost as the lawyer wanted to do in our lesson. Jesus saw through his selfishness and demanded he give freely of himself now.
This is one level of looking at this parable. This morning I would also like to look at some other levels of this parable
The. first being the question the lawyer asked Jesus. He asked "Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He is looking for the good life the meaningful life, the satisfying life, the life which God intended for him to have the life that is in a right relationship with God and all of his creation.
He is asking," how can I get out of the ditches of brokenness separation hatred and self righteousness. How can I pull myself up from this kind of life to a life which is not separated from God and other".
Jesus answers him by asking what does the law say and the lawyer repeats the law. Jesus tells him to do it, but he still doesn’t understand so he asks another question about the identity of his neighbor. And in this parable Jesus speaks to the obvious question of neighbor and the implied question how shall I my life, How do I get myself out of the brokenness of this world? In Jesus answer he tells the lawyer that he cannot get himself out of the brokenness of this world, he cannot save himself, he cannot pull himself up by his bootstraps, he must wait for the good Samaritan, he must wait for the Messiah, he must wait for Jesus.
Can you see this very subtle point Jesus makes as we see this parable from the point of salvation. His question stated, "Teacher what shall I do, notice the I. He wanted to know how he could have the good life and in a subtle way Jesus told him that by himself he cannot achieve the good life,but only through the savior. And then the savior would show him what was meant by the good life, it is a life of service, sacrifice, and giving of one’s self. Jesus showed him two truths in one parable. Jesus saw him missing the point, missing the only way for salvation.
It wasn’t what he could do, but what Christ can do for him. After he felt the love, the service, the caring of Christ, then in the parable Jesus commands him to do likewise to love his neighbor in the same kind of way that Christ loved him. Salvation doesn’t depend on a person’s actions, but on the loving of Christ. Jesus saw that the lawyer didn’t understand at all why he come because he was so wrapped up in himself so he couldn’t see Christ as the savior and the Messiah and he couldn’t a.love neighbor either.
From the book Rabbinic Stories for Christian Ministers by William Silverman comes the following, "a rabbi and soap maker who went for a walk together. The soap maker had some negative things to say about religion: "What good is religion? Just look around you. what do you see? Trouble, misery, wars - even after all these years and years of preaching and teaching about goodness, truth, peace. What good is religion with all its prayers and sermons if all this evil still exists?
The rabbi kept quiet as they continued their walk. Then they noticed a child playing in the gutter. The child was just filthy with dirt and mud. The rabbi said to the soap maker: "Look at this child! Now you say that soap makes people clean, but what good is it? With all the soap in the world this child is still dirty. What good is soap after all?"
The soap maker immediately answered him: "But rabbi, soap can’t do its job if it isn’t used!"
"That’s exactly right,’’ said the rabbi. And so it is with religion. It will not accomplish anything unless people use it!"
Jesus was saying that the lawyer didn’t understand what Jesus mission was all about. Jesus came to take the I out of salvation picture. Jesus came as Luther said, "as God’s Good Samaritan." Jesus came because we cannot pull ourselves out of the brokenness the bondage of sin which engulfs us each day. We cannot save ourselves no matter how much we try. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life" What shall I do to live the good life, what shall I do to live in contentment and harmony with God and us.
Jesus says nothing. You cannot save yourself, that is his job. Then after salvation is secured then Jesus says that life is lived in service to my neighbor. ,
Maybe the following legend concerning St. Peter will help to make this parable even clearer.
"Jesus and the disciples came to a rocky field. Jesus said, ’If each of you would carry away a stone it would clear space for grain to grow. All the disciples except Peter picked up the heavy stones. Peter felt the whole thing pointless so he carried off a pebble. The disciples were hungry. Jesus had mercy and turned the stones to bread for their lunch. Poor Peter. On the way home they again picked up stones. This time Peter staggered along with the biggest, dreaming of the feast which would be their reward. Jesus had the disciples carry the stones to the banks of the Jordan then he said, ’Let none do good for the hope of reward; throw the stones into the river. Poor Peter!!"
Service is not done for the reward we expect. The reward, eternal life, is given to all as a free gift, no string attached. Our service, our response, our sacrifice comes from a loving heart which has been loved so much by Christ that it cannot help but to love in return. The Samaritan received no reward for his service, ho loved period.
You and I are to love period because salvation has been given as a free gift, that is already taken care of for us by Jesus. He has removed us from the ditches of life. He has pulled us out of our particular ditches.
Pastor Richard Hoefler says in his book And He told them a Story" "we are all in one way or another ditch dwellers. And the tragedy is that we so often desperately try to save ourselves trying to avoid the embarrassment of admitting our helplessness. Sometime we think the answer is a ladder that will enable us to climb out--a ladder such as technology or science and education. Some think the answer is moral fortitude--becoming so good we will sprout wings and fly out like haloed angels. Many have just given up and applied first aid to our wounds with drugs and drink. But eventually you and I will come to the realization the ditch is just too deep and we must get help from outside ourselves."
And that is just the point Jesus is subtly making to the lawyer and to all those who think they can by their own efforts pull themselves out of the ditches of brokenness and bondage to sin. We are wounded by our sin, we are broken by the pain of life and we must we need to admit to ourselves that we need a good Samaritan to come and carry us out of our ditch. Then Christ will come take us upon his back, the back which shouldered the cross, and carry us out of our ditch into the light, the brightness, the glory of living for him and with him.
Then Jesus us will point out to us all the others who are living in their ditches and asks us to do likewise. We cannot carry them out and give them salvation, however, Jesus asks us to carry those out who are feeling the brokenness of this world, those who have been mugged, robbed beaten, broken, battered by the forces of this world in which we have no control. These we are to carry out. These we are to minister to, these are the ones in which we can become like that good Samaritan.
The lawyer asks Jesus "What must I do to got the good life?" Jesus answers,"The good life is a gift from God, and when you get it you will be like the Samaritan who helped even his hated enemy, the Jew."
Jesus is saying to the lawyer and to us, not how we should act, but how we will act when we stand in a right relationship to God. When we surrender ourselves to Christ when we allow Him to carry us out of our ditches, we are in the right relationship to God and we are made good neighbors.
Are you a good neighbor?
Amen
