Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 10: 25-37
7/15/2007
Rev. Philip A. Bouknight
Every child is taught about the Good Samaritan and I think
that as we grow into adulthood, we tend to view this passage solely for its
parabolic nature. We forget that
parables were used not as instruments in and with themselves.
Rather, they were tools that enabled Jesus to expound upon difficult
aspects of our life together in Christ.
In this case, the matter truly at hand is how do we understand our faith?
A lawyer asks the question…“What must I do to inherit
eternal life?” We must remember
that there was no distinction between civil and religious law for the Jew.
This gentleman does not come before Jesus asking a question to which he
does not know the answer. As a
lawyer, and one who has been charged with the study and interpretation of the
law of God, his inquiry is for the purpose of testing Jesus.
So when Jesus turns the question back over to him, he doesn’t just quote
the Ten Commandments, he summarizes them, noting that God’s desire in the law is
that we would love him.
Furthermore, he rightly recalls one of the cornerstone texts of Jewish faith to
interpret the fullness of what it means to love God.
Deuteronomy 6: 4-5
Hear,
O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Notice that the lawyer
also adds and with all your mind and by the way, you should love your neighbor
as yourself. One must not forget to
summarize the second part of the commandments.
His answer was well put and Jesus credited him with the ability to answer
the question. You have given the
right answer he said; do this, and you will live.
Now remember, I told you that their was a greater issue of faith at
stake.
Jesus’ answer
affirms that knowledge of God and God’s desire for his people is
essential to faith. He even gives
the lawyer the answer to his question for eternal life.
Do this, and you will live.
This insinuates though that the lawyer, who has knowledge of God’s law, is
failing to live it out. The larger
issue at stake is this…faith cannot be separated from action.
Wanting to justify himself; wanting to prove that he was righteous and
faithful, the lawyer asks “So who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then gives a parable which includes a nondescript person.
He says, a certain man
was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Notice that his description of the man is devoid of race, nationality or
even religious affiliation. It is a
man who is hurt; a man who cannot be identified through the manner of his dress.
His clothes were taken. His
possessions were taken. There is
nothing in the parable to tell us where the man was from.
He could have been an Israelite.
He could have been a gentile.
He could have been a citizen from one of the neighboring countries that
were enemies to the Jews. We do not
know who he is.
We only know the situation that he is in.
We are however,
provided great detail about the other characters in the parable.
The priest crosses over to the other side and passes him by.
Priests would have obviously known the law and that one must care for the
alien (or foreigner) that resides in their country.
They had a duty to care for their own people if they were in need and if
the man were dead, he would have had the obligation to bury him and then undergo
rites of purity for handling someone who was unclean.
Many would read reasons into the parable to say
why this priest passed by, but all of
them are speculation. The simple
fact of the matter is…he passed by.
Then a Levite comes
across the man and does likewise.
Being a religious man and one who is descended from the priestly tribe of Levi,
he would have the same knowledge of God’s law as the priest and he would have
been under the same obligation to assist.
Instead, he passed by.
Along comes a
Samaritan. Samaritans weren’t
exactly kosher. They did not follow
the Jewish understanding that God could only be worshiped in the temple in
Jerusalem. Instead, they set up a
temple of their own. They did not
recognize what we now call the Old Testament.
They only adhered to the law; the first five books of the Jewish
scriptures. They did not believe in
the resurrection and they did not await a messiah who was a direct descendant
from the line of David. They simply
expected the arrival of another great prophet like Moses.
To the Jews, Samaritans were regarded in the same light as gentiles,
possibly even worse.
So along comes this
Samaritan and the parable takes a turn.
Remember that Jesus is making the point that faith is more than
knowledge. It isn’t passive.
It requires action. The
verbs used to describe the priest and the Levite are passive.
They are somewhat indifferent to the condition of the man.
Now when Jesus talks of the Samaritan, he switches to active verbs.
Listen to how many verbs he uses in describing what the Samaritan did.
The Samaritan didn’t walk across to the other side.
Instead, he came near the man.
He went to him
He bandaged his
wounds,
He poured oil
and wine on them.
He put him on
his own animal,
brought
him to an inn,
and took care of
him.
There are six active
verbs in one sentence signifying the abundance of compassion that was given.
He pays the innkeeper two dinarii which was the equivalent of two days
wages and then promises to pay more upon his return if there was a need for it.
Which of these three, do you
think was a neighbor to the man?
They Lawyer couldn’t
even respond acknowledging that it was a Samaritan who had done this.
He simply said, the one who showed him mercy.
Go and do likewise said Jesus.
Go and do likewise. Dear
lawyer, it isn’t enough to know of
God’s love. Faith is when you act
in that love for the sake of God and one another.
There is no mention of any kind of reward for the Samaritan.
He has nothing to gain and everything to lose.
His knowledge of God made him act out of compassion.
He had learned that God was compassionate and that loving God meant
having compassion for another; regardless of race, regardless of nationality,
regardless of religion, regardless of reward.
One is compassionate, because God is compassionate.
I will not ask you who
is your neighbor. You know very
well that it is every man, woman and child that walks this earth.
Instead, I want to ask you the fundamental question that is at stake in
Jesus’ teaching. How do you
understand your faith? Knowledge of
God is only the beginning of faith.
Attendance at worship is only a springboard
for faith.
Saying the Creed does not necessarily mean that you live what you
believe. Praying the Lord’s Prayer
does not mean that you are helping to bring about what that prayer invokes.
Live your faith.
Let your life be defined by active verbs, not passive ones.
Do not pass by the opportunity
to serve God in every part of your life; with all of your heart, with all of
your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind.
To love him is to serve him.
To serve him is to proclaim his Word; that God is
alive and
active in his people.
Go
to the people
Bring them to the one
that can bandage their wounds
Bring them to the one
who will anoint them with oil and wine
Put
them across your shoulders
And bring them
to this inn.
Care
for them by handing them over to the innkeeper; our God.
Then, as you live out
your faith in the midst of this world, you will experience a foretaste of that
which is to come; God’s Kingdom, eternal life.
Do this and live.