Bazaar United Methodist Church

Bazaar, Kansas

June 21, 2009
Luke 10:25-37

Good Samaritans All

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27 He answered, " '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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37 TNIV

So Jesus and the disciples are out and about as usual. And, as usual, one of the teachers of the law has a question for Jesus. Now note that this is not a simple question for which the man wants an answer, no. He is here to test Jesus. Can Jesus give a right answer? Is this guy the real deal or yet another imposter? This is one of the lawyers out setting a trap for Jesus, hoping Jesus will mess up in front of a large crowd.

But the lawyer gets the tables turned on him. He calls Jesus, "Teacher" and Jesus does what good teachers are known for doing. . .turning the question back to the questioner. "What does the Law say? How do you read it?" So the lawyer replies "'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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait just a doggone minute. This guy, this lawyer, was stuck in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. He didn't have the New Testament. You mean all that stuff was in there before Jesus? I thought that was just Jesus stuff? I thought that all the God stuff before Jesus was about wiping out entire nations, about war and killing. I thought God before Jesus didn't have much love. I thought all the love stuff came with Jesus. Didn't it?

Well if that's what you thought, then you were wrong. Because the lawyer quotes from the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the books attributed to Moses; the books of the Law. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6 (v 5) and Leviticus 19 (v 18). The command to love comes from God who is One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One God.

But back to the scripture. So the lawyer states his case for love and Jesus replies, ""You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live." But the lawyer wanted to justify himself. How many of us spend time trying to justify ourselves and our actions to other people? At any rate, trying to justify himself he asks, "Who is my neighbor?"

So Jesus tells this story. There was a man going down from Council Grove to Cottonwood Falls who was attacked by thieves. They left him stripped, beaten and half-dead on the side of the highway. A UM District Superintendent saw him but he was already running late and he had to give the opening prayer at the district meeting so he passed on by. Then the local pastor saw him but she wasn't sure whether he was really hurt or just pretending and she was afraid so she, too passed by. But then came an undocumented Hispanic worker in a battered pickup truck. He stopped, helped the man into his truck, cleaned him up and put him up with a friend in Cottonwood Falls, promising to pay for the man's needs when he came back in two days.

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" Jesus asks

"The one who showed him mercy."

"Go," Jesus says, "and be like him."

Do we have it in us to show love to everyone we meet? Can we show mercy, grant grace, give honor to everyone? Remember the question the lawyer asked. What must I DO to inherit eternal life? Jesus gives us the answer. There are things to do. Live a life of love. Love God. Love people and, yes, that includes yourself. All of the "don'ts" will be taken care of if we will live by these two simple "do's." If you don't remember anything else I have preached in seven years I hope you remember this. Because this is what matters. This is what is important, of first order, the law of love. And, quite frankly, love cannot be accomplished without prayer.

We cannot love those we live with adequately if we are not praying for them. Neither can we love ourselves, knowing all our own foibles if we are not spending time with God in prayer. And we certainly cannot be in love with God if we are not spending time with God in worship and prayer and meditation. One cannot be in relationship if we don't spend time together.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus shows us ourselves. He shows us the plight of all humanity broken and bleeding in a ditch and in the person of the Good Samaritan, Jesus shows us self-giving love.

All of us know the essential lessons of this ancient parable. We are to help people in need. Regardless of their religion, their race, their national origin, we are to stop and try to help. But where does the power for such selfless love come from?

It comes from the recognition that once upon a time when we least expected it or deserved it "while we were yet sinners" Christ lived and died in our behalf. It is our broken and bleeding body over which the hero of the parable hovers. Unless we see that we have been recipients of that kind of selfless, agape love, we will never be able to share such love and compassion with others.

Allan Emery tells in his book, Turtle on a Fencepost, how a well-known leader of the community was found dead drunk and in public. Allan's wealthy father sent a chauffeured limousine to pick the man up and bring him to their elegant home.

Allan noticed with concern that his mother had prepared the big guest room. There were fresh flowers on the dresser. And, to Allan's horror, he saw that his mother had made up the handsome four-poster bed with real linen hemstitched sheets and monogrammed linen pillowcases.

Allan protested to his mother that she knew nothing about drunks; that they got sick and the man would throw up all over the bed, sheets, and antique bedspread.

Looking at her perturbed son, his mother said seriously, "When he wakes up, he'll feel sick, lonely and ashamed. It is important for him to see immediately that he is our honored guest and that we gave him our best." She knew this man in his disgrace would need all the encouragement he could get.

Compassion is not easy to find in this world. Here was a gracious lady who knew that behind every story there is something which we do not know. She was willing to see the man beyond the drunk and grant him grace. Would you? Would I?

Years after President Calvin Coolidge died, this story came to light. In the early days of his presidency, Coolidge awoke one morning in his hotel room to find a cat burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up, asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved charm he wanted to keep. Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet-which he had also persuaded the dazed young man to give back!-declared it to be a loan, and advised the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! (The young man did so and the loan was eventually paid back.) Grace upon grace. Mercy upon mercy. Love scattered, compassion shared.

One pious father always closed grace for the evening meal with these words, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and bless what thou hast provided."

"Papa," his little son said one night, "every evening you ask Jesus to come and be our guest but he never comes."

"My son," replied the father, "we can only wait. But we know that he will not despise our invitation."

"Well, then," asked the little fellow, "if we expect him to come and have dinner with us, why don't we set a place for him at the table?"

And so to save further embarrassing questions, the father permitted the boy to set a place at the table. Just then a knock came at the door. When they opened it a poor helpless waif stood shivering in the cold. The son thought for a moment and finally said, "I guess Jesus couldn't come today, and so he sent this poor boy in his place." With little further conversation the little beggar boy was brought in and set at the empty place at the dinner table.

Does compassion lie close at hand for you? Is love your natural reaction? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said "If we could only read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."

Compassion truly is the most powerful antidote for hatred and bitterness that the human heart can find. And compassion is the way of love. It is the hallmark of love, the pathway of love.

As we part ways we all continue on this great adventure of Christ-like living. We remember that we are not alone. We may not be traveling the road hand in hand, but we are still on the same road. And God is with us. Paul says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) While we are on the road we are to practice love and compassion. "Go forth and do likewise," Jesus says. Let's go. Amen