Pastor Slaughter

7-10-2022

Pentecost 5

Theme: How Can I Be A Neighbor?

Text: Luke 10:25-37

He knew what was best. He was well versed in the scriptures and knew God’s law. He had a sharp analytical mind after all…he was a lawyer. He wanted to test Jesus. Jesus had done miracles, spoken with authority, people were flocking to him. Did Jesus really know what he is saying? Does he really know his Bible?

So he poses a question to Jesus. It was a question coming from the law that he knew so well. He asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus responds with a question. “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” And the lawyer demonstrates his knowledge and quotes from the OT and says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”  And Jesus said, “You have answered correctly, do this and you will live.”

What happens when we look at God’s law? What happens when we hear the Bible tell us to “do this”? We recognize we haven’t done this all the time. And there is a part of us that wants to justify our actions. I didn’t do this because… I did that but… We try to justify our actions. We come with reasons and excuses for why we didn’t keep God’s law to demonstrate our innocence. We look for the loophole in God’s law.

Given the choice between God’s two great commands he focuses on the command to love his neighbor. This command required evidence in order for someone to claim they had kept it. But knowing the evidence in his life could easily be used to demonstrate his guilt, the lawyer did what lawyers do best and looked for a loophole in the law.  He asks, “And who is my neighbor?” In other words, “Who were the people I am required to love in order to be justified?”

So Jesus tells this heart wrenching story about a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers came. They stripped him. Beat him. And went away and left him for dead.

And a priest happens upon his Jewish brother and passes by on the other side. Then a Levite, a temple assistant, sees his Jewish brother, and he passes by on the other side. We can almost hear the excuses running through the head of the priest and the Levite as they avoided the man in need because we have used them ourselves… “It’s his own fault this happened.” “He got himself into this mess; he can get himself out.” “If I stop and help, I might put myself in danger.”

They saw this helpless man but viewed him only as a hinderance from the task at hand. The only way they could pass by on the other side is if they lowered their expectations of God’s law. “Yes, he needs my help but…” “I can’t help him because…” They minimize the requirement of the law to justify their actions.

Then Jesus tells us of the third man, a Samaritan. The Samaritans were a group of people who had been brought into the region Samaria by the Assyrians eight centuries earlier. They retained remnants of the Old Testament faith but differed in some essential beliefs from the jews. Over the years an intense hatred had developed between the Samaritans and the jews.

As Jesus said the word Samaritan the Lawyer must have cringed. A tense feeling must have been there from that long standing hatred toward the Samaritans. But then Jesus tells what this Samaritan did for this man. He saw him and “he felt sorry for the man.” He had compassion on the man. He went over bandaged his wounds. As if that weren’t enough, he put him on his animal and took him to an inn and took care of him. If that weren’t enough, the next day he gave two, denarii which was two days wage worth of work and gave it to the in keeper to take care of him. And if that wasn’t enough, he told him that if he spent any extra that he would repay him.

What a stark contrast. He didn’t try to lesson God’s law to avoid showing love to his neighbor. Instead, he showed what it was like to be a neighbor. He had less of a reason to stop, to help a Jewish person who hates Samaritans. He had much further to travel. According to the world he should have hated the man lying there. According to the world he should have kicked him passing by.

This story must have been a slap in the face to lawyer. How his heart must of sank has he heard Jesus’ answer. He wanted to justify himself. He wanted to prove that he did what was necessary to inherit eternal life. I mean who can justify themselves before God? Who can ever rightly claim that they are good enough for God on their own? So, we try to minimize what that requirement is. To make that requirement as small as possible.

So, we place limits on God’s command when it comes to loving our neighbor. We put limits like who we love, when we love, and how we love. We put limits on who we love. I am going to love the people like me but not my worst enemy, a Samaritan. We put limits on when we love our neighbor- we love someone when they deserve it or when they love me back. Someone on side of then the rode who didn’t do anything do deserve any help. We put limits on how much we love them. I will love someone as long as it doesn’t cause me hardship or isn’t a burden to me. The Samaritan who went away beyond what most people would do.

I really think this lesson if very fitting for the times we live in. We hear and see this extreme polarization in our land. There are just some people who are hurting, who are angry. And we can’t limit loving our neighbor to just the people we like, the people who will love us back, or how difficult or hard it maybe for us. Hearing this section of Scripture, hearing how the Samaritan showed love to his neighbor and the lengths he went to show that love, leaves me on my knees confessing my sins to the Lord.

Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” The Lawyer responded, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Jesus changes the lawyers question from “who is my neighbor?” which puts limits on who love to really looking for those he doesn’t have to love to “How can I be a neighbor?” which focuses on how we are to act to others.

How can I be a neighbor? How can I love my neighbor as myself? This is hard because we sin. We have anger in our hearts towards someone. We resent something that someone did or said. And if we are honest, that anger and resentment toward others is just plain exhausting.

How can we love our neighbor? I want you to think of this lesson in a slightly different way. I want you to picture it as, you are the one who was robbed, beaten, naked, and left for dead. And I want you to picture Jesus as the Samaritan. Jesus looked at us and had compassion on us and he became true man. If that wasn’t enough, he went to the cross and paid for all our sins (yes for those times we failed to show love to our neighbor) by his innocent suffering and death. If that wasn’t enough, he rose again so that our salvation isn’t dependent on what we do but on his mercy.

Jesus not only showed us what this kind of love looks like, but he enables us to seek out and show that love to our neighbor. By his mercy (not giving us something we deserve but instead saving us) we are free from the shackles of anger and resentment caused by sin, and we are free to be a neighbor to others! To love others in the way that Christ first loved us who went above and beyond what we deserve, whose love knows no limits!
 

My family in Christ, here we have a picture which accurately portrays Jesus love toward us and also the fruits of those who are recipients of love who gladly hear God’s word. That word fashions us to be like the Samaritan here. Gentle, compassionate, merciful people. When this happens it produces people who seeks to show love, to be a neighbor to others, not to place limits on love but looks for opportunities to put that love into practice.  Amen.