July 10, 2016 [ Proper 10C ]
Luke 10:25–37 & Leviticus 19:9–18

Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is our job today to become like that Good Samaritan. And so we need to know who our neighbor is and how to help that neighbor.

Jesus supported the Law of Moses that says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But, as the Lawyer asks, who is our neighbor? The dictionary might say that “neighbor” is someone who lives in your neighborhood, perhaps next door or nearby in the “Nearhood.” But that is not the definition of Jesus. A “neighbor” is anyone who needs a neighbor, or using the words of the Lawyer in the Gospel reading, a “neighbor” is someone who shows mercy. Or rather than asking, “Is he or she my neighbor?” ask “Am I his or her neighbor?” “Am I a person of love and mercy?”

In the parable, the priest and the Levite both “passed by on the other side” of the road from where the stricken man was. They did not want to be near him, so they could justify themselves as not being near enough to be his neighbor. But being a neighbor has nothing to do with measurable distance, especially in our global world today. Our neighbor is someone who needs our love and mercy. In our global world today, even toward people far away, there are various ways that we can show that love and mercy. And isn’t that the message of the Gospel? We are never too far away from God for Him to show his love and mercy. And even if Heaven were far away, God sent his Son Jesus into this world, and sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives.

Another big teaching of this parable is that the Samaritan was a foreigner from the neighboring country, but still a traditional enemy of the Jews. The priest and the Levite did not help their fellow countryman, but the Samaritan helped his enemy. Before helping him, the Samaritan did not question the victim about his nationality or religion or political beliefs or his morals or his orientation or economic stasis, etc. etc. The thieves had striped him and taken any identification and left him half dead so he wouldn’t have been able to talk and answer questions anyway.

Do you get this point? This is probably the most important. Our neighbors are not always like ourselves. They are not always people we like, nor our friends. We often do not want to help them and do not care if they suffer or not! We might even be glad that they suffer! Or we might be reluctant to help them because of many different reasons. For example: Often in the church mail there are letters from various charities asking for help. They are legitimate and good organizations. But sometimes I do not feel very sympathetic to the letters about the staving people in Bangladesh or Indonesia who are not Christians. And when I realize my prejudice, my conscious is pricked. And so I have learned that real love and charity does not ask questions, except the question of how I can help. God gives rain and sun and food to both the rich and the poor, to the good and the bad, to believers and pagans and atheists. God knows what people need, and so he is the Great Good Samaritan.

Jesus is the Great Good Samaritan, and at the same time, he was like the man who fell among robbers. Or rather than falling, he was raised up between two robbers on the cross. He likewise was stripped and beaten. He was left to die on the cross and was buried. And in that way, he found us when we were stripped and beaten by sin and the devil and left half dead. He did not pass us by, but rather came to us. That is the Christmas story of the Incarnation. Immanuel, God is with us. He did not pass us by. He had compassion on us. He binds up our wounds through the soothing gospel oil of forgiveness. It is the wine of the Holy Communion. He carries us to the inn of the church and to Christian fellowship where we are taken care of until he comes back, at the time of his Second Coming. That is mercy. That is being the Good Neighbor.

At the end of today’s Gospel reading Jesus speaks to the Lawyer, and to us. “You go, and do likewise.” I think it is important that we have models to follow so that we can do likewise. We need to see the love and charity of other people and “do likewise.” We need role models, like our parents or our leaders or good friends. In today’s Old Testament reading from Leviticus, there is some advice of how to live with other people. It is set in the Law of Moses, but gives guidelines for how to “love your neighbor as yourself.” We see how this is done in the explanation of the Ten Commandments in the Small Catechism of Martin Luther. Not just “do not murder” but “make alive,” help and befriend your neighbor. Not just “do not lie and bear false witness” but support and build up your friend in what you say and do.

And so, if you want to be a good Good Samaritan, follow those who follow Jesus Christ and “go, and do likewise.”

Amen.

Lectionary Summary Jesus Is Our Good Samaritan The Law commands that “you shall love the Lord your God” with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27), and that you shall “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Love fulfills the Law because love does no harm to the neighbor. Christ Jesus is the Good Samaritan, who with divine compassion saves you from all evil. He takes your sin and death upon Himself and bears these in His body to the cross. He binds up your wounds with the healing balm of His Gospel, and He brings you into His Church, where He takes care of you at His own expense (Luke 10:34–35). By such mercy, He proves “to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers” (Luke 10:36). Therefore, “you go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). By “your faith in Christ Jesus” and “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:4–5), you have the same love for others as the Lord Jesus has for you.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

Sermon Index