Sermon for Sunday 11th July 2010 - Kim

Sermon for Sunday 11 July 2010 – Luke 10: 25-37

Back in the late 1970’s, I worked in a London and it was not unusual to hear the blast of a bomb or an incendiary device going off. It was the time of the IRA bombing in London. Every day I would go to work and there would be a roll call of staff making sure that everyone had arrived safely and if one went off as we on our way home, again someone would ring to make sure we had arrived home safely. When I was on the train, as we approached London, there would be a reassuring message over the PA system to advise us that the rail company and the police were doing everything they could to ensure our safety and could we please look out for suspicious packages and report them immediately. The fear on the faces of fellow passengers was clear. Suspicious looks, apprehensive glances, people on edge. Anyone with an Irish accent was viewed with suspicion and some people even moved seats upon hearing one. The presence of armed police at Stations, Historical landmarks, and around Oxford and Regent Street was, I am sure, intended to reassure people as well as intimidate would-be bombers. Clearly the vast majority of our Irish community then, as is the vast majority of our community now, of all races and creeds, against violence. Yet remembering how commuters treated one another brought home to me the significance of today Gospel reading.

This parable of Jesus is as controversial today as it was to those who first heard him. Jesus’ audience would have been very familiar with tales of hapless victims, robbed or murdered on that very road. Even today it isn’t the kind of road to take the family on an afternoon drive. Jesus had their attention. Jesus talked about violence and danger - He talked about crime, racial discrimination, fear and hatred and we have plenty of that today. We also see neglect and concern, we see love and mercy. We know very well what the parable says, but what does it mean? Jesus talks about the wounded man’s condition, that he was unconscious and naked. These details are skillfully woven into the story to create the tension that is at the heart of the drama. The Middle Eastern world was made up of various ethnic-religious communities. You could identify the stranger ahead of you in two ways. By their accent and their clothing. In the first century the various ethnic communities within Palestine used an amazing array of dialects and languages in addition to Hebrew. Not without reason was the north known as the Galilee of the Gentiles. No one travelling a major highway in Palestine could be sure that the stranger he might meet would be a fellow Jew. But a short greeting would reveal his language if their clothing had not already given their nationality away. But the man in this story had been stripped of his outer clothes and is unconscious. He was reduced to a mere human being. No identifying clothing, unable to speak. So who will help him?

The thieves saw him as someone they could exploit not someone made in God’s image. It did not matter what happened to him, as long as they got what they wanted. "What's yours is mine-I'll take it". God gave us things to use and people to love. We live in a culture that has got it round the wrong way. Jesus never exploited a person, always gives back more than he asks for. Always leaves a person in better shape than when He found them. If he wounds, he also heals. We must beware of looking at people and thinking "what can he do for me?" We may not mug people to steal their money, but we can so easily hurt people with our words and actions.

To the Priest and Levite he was a Nuisance to Avoid. Jericho was a priestly city, a place where many of the priestly families lived in the warm mild climate it had all year. Before 1967, many of the oil rich sheiks from the Gulf States would spend their winters in Jericho. By comparison, Jerusalem is cold and exposed in winter. So Jericho was the place to live, and priests and Levites would regularly frequent this road on their way to and from the Temple. Of all people one would have expected them to help this poor man. As the privileged elite of Jewish society, the priest was most probably riding, as no one with any status in the community takes a seventeen mile hike through the desert. The poor walk. Everyone else rode. So what excuses might the priest have offered had he been caught on a security camera travelling by on the other side? "I've got to remain pure in order to serve God" When confronted by a stripped and unconscious person the priest faced a dilemma. How could he help someone who might be a sinner? His religious laws forbade him go within four metres of a dead person in case he became defiled. Then he wouldn’t be able to perform his duties. His peers would have applauded him for not stopping so that he could perform the higher work for God. Perhaps he thought, “It's not my problem”. Maybe it was. Why didn't the religious leaders do something about the dangerous road? Perhaps he was afraid of an ambush. May be it was, maybe it wasn't. What mattered was the person in need. If we allow fear to determine our actions we will be unable to serve God. Maybe he thought “Let somebody else do it” The priest could have said, "the Levite coming up behind me, he can stop, I don't need to." But then the Levite could then have thought, "The priest didn't do anything, so why should I?"

We can always find somebody to point to as an excuse for our own neglect. Failure to act when we should is just as sinful as to act when we shouldn't. If we go through life wanting our own way, then other people will always be a nuisance because they will get in our way. But if we go through life with our eyes open seeking opportunities to share the love of Christ, then every nuisance, every encounter becomes a divine appointment, an opportunity to serve God.

To The Lawyer he was a Problem to Discuss. Jesus told the story in reply to a lawyer's question. The lawyer was an expert in religious law. Israel lived under religious law and he was then a professional theologian. The lawyer wanted to test Jesus on a point of law in order to win an argument. But Jesus turns the conversation round to teach a fundamental truth about concrete action. The lawyer was safe with theories, "who is my neighbour?" He was threatened with the reply "What would you have done in this story? What kind of neighbour are you?”

To The Inn Keeper he was a Customer to Serve. I am not criticising the inn keeper for he had his inn to manage. But I want to use the inn keeper to illustrate the fact that many Christians serve, or rather serve particular people because it is their job and they get paid to do it. Maybe the inn keeper would have helped the man without the Samaritan’s two silver coins, and the assurance of more if it was needed. We don't know. That was not the main point of Jesus story, but it is worth noting that the inn keeper took the money. So let’s follow through on the implications. How far are we willing to serve as long as it is convenient and won't cost us anything? Fine as long as it doesn’t interfere with what I have to do? Fine, as long as I can be reimbursed for that expenditure? Motive has a great deal to do with ministry. The Pharisees prayed, gave tithes and fasted - all acceptable religious practices, but the motive of some, says Jesus, was to gain the praise of people, not to glorify God. If I only serve because I am paid to do it then I am more like the inn keeper than the Samaritan, for I am treating you as a client rather than a human being. Of the five attitudes demonstrated in this passage, only one was acceptable, and that belonged to a foreigner. When Jesus uttered the phrase, "But a certain Samaritan...." I'm sure His Jewish audience were shocked. The last person you would expect to help a Jew would be a Samaritan. The concept of "ethnic cleansing" may be a recent addition to the vocabulary but the actions it describes have been going on for thousands of years. There was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus might just as well have been describing the action of a Serb toward a Croat in Bosnia, or a Greek toward a Turk on Cyprus, or a Palestinian toward an Israeli settler on the West Bank. Contrary to their expectation, Jesus elevates a despised Samaritan, as the one who did not permit racial or religious barriers to hinder him from helping this unknown victim.

To the Samaritan he was a Neighbour to Love. The Samaritan did not blame the injured person for the collective attitudes of either race, and use that as an excuse for doing nothing. As the Samaritan travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he had compassion and took pity on him. He was deeply moved inside. Pity is the word used to describe the way the Lord feels about lost sinners. Compassion describes the way God feels about us. When we show compassion we are demonstrating our family likeness. 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. The Samaritan could have excused himself. He was a foreigner in a hostile country. He was alone and vulnerable, but Agape, God's love does not look for excuses, it looks beyond obstacles. It does not ask why, but why not? He bound up the wounds so they would begin to heal. He took the man to the inn to recover and promised to return to pay the bill.

The next day he took out two silver coins 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.' He interrupted his schedule to help this man. It may have made him late for a business appointment, it may have delayed him from seeing his family. But he paid the cost. What did he have to gain from this personally? Nothing - except the joy and strength that come when you do God's will. When you serve in love without expecting recognition or reward. What did the Samaritan show? Compassion, initiative, sacrifice. Jesus said, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man?" When Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three was a neighbour, the lawyer gave the correct answer but he would not even bring himself to use the word "Samaritan". He was still resisting Jesus attempt to reach his heart. I wonder whether we have got the message?

Today, with continued anxiety over possible terrorist attacks, perhaps we would do well to ask the question - who is my neighbour? For Jesus teaches that we cannot separate our relationship with God from our responsibility toward those he brings across our path. The lawyer wanted Jesus to define the limits of his responsibility of neighbourliness. He wanted Jesus to identify those he had to be a neighbour to and those he could ignore. Jesus turned the question round. The question is not ‘to whom need I be a neighbour?’ But rather ‘what kind of neighbour am I?’ - to anyone I meet? I invite you to join a revolution this week. Break the spiral of fear and hate in our community with acts of compassion and mercy - especially toward those who are different, are outsiders, are strangers. Whoever the Lord brings across your path, your assignment from Jesus is really very simple: “Go and do likewise.”

Questions:
1.If you were to select three themes that this passage, what would they be?
2.Have you ever heard a person (Christian or otherwise) try to justify a less-than-Christian attitude or action? Why do we constantly try to justify our actions? What motivates justifying ourselves?
3.How did the lawyer justify his actions? How do you think the priest and Levite in this story justified their actions?
4.What does the parable of the Good Samaritan illustrate? What does it teach us about love? About mercy? About selfishness?
5.How are we to imitate the Good Samaritan by "doing likewise"? What is God speaking to you from this passage?