July 25, 2004 P8c The Good Samaritan.
I want you to silently ponder something: this man wanted to DO something
to gain an inheritance. How do you NORMALLY get an inheritance? Now; is that
something you DO, -or- is gaining an inheritance possible because of who you
ARE already?
When the expert in the law answered Jesus' last question, he said a
mouthful; and perhaps realized the weight of his words. He had come to test
the validity of Jesus, to find limits for his responsibilities, and show what a
good person he was to his friends. Instead, his own authenticity was shaken,
he realized he had fallen far short of God's requirements, his restricted
neighborly- love was hypocritical: at best.
Constantly loving the Lord with all of your emotions, your spiritual life,
your daily activities and your intellect is NOT truly possible. And to love
EVERYONE around you? Impossible!
This man (like we sometimes do) wanted to justify himself apart from what
he was hearing from Jesus. So Christ shows us not what, but:
Who Real Love Is!
The Priest and Levite made excuses to avoid this situation. This naked
man, what social class does he belong to? Without proper clothes, how can I
tell if he's my neighbor? Bruises. His skin color is uncertain, so how do I
tell what race he is from? Would I live near such a person? Perhaps he is not
a neighbor . ?
And what if the robbers are still nearby? What about the accusations of
helping an undeserving person? If he is dead, I will be unclean if I touch him!
No, I am late for important meeting. How much money will I spend if I help -
I fear of money loss. No, no! I won't be involved with THOSE kind of
people, he shuddered. Love is for MY people.
Perhaps the expert in the Law chaffed most at the idea of being helped by
a Samaritan man. Samaritans were close to Jews, but had different beliefs.
Sometimes it's hardest to get along with people who are almost alike, but not
quite. Samaritans were daily cursed in synagogue prayers and considered on par
with pigs.
That feeling was mutual: Samaritans despised Jews. To be helped by one of
THEM, a Samaritan - why, it would be better to die!
How much different are you today? Do you have excuses not to love some
people? Not the from the viewpoint of the Priest or Levite. Or even the
Samaritan. But the wounded man. Are there people you'd rather NOT receive
help from? Mexicans? Blacks? What if someone poor offered you a meal; would
you be too proud to accept the food? What if several Asian teens stopped
beside your car with a flat tire? Would you rather not be helped? Have you
EVER told someone: "I don't want YOUR help?" JESUS is the Good Samaritan!
You are that wounded man in the parable. You are one of God's chosen
people. Sin constantly robs us; it wounds us to kill us.
You see, like the Law Expert, we are also not always eager about salvation
by grace alone - for ourselves or for others. We want to believe when we help
others, we are earning God's inheritance. We want to believe we can be perfect
before God by what we do.
The Law says: love God with ALL your heart (emotions). Aren't there
times when you get mad at God when things don't go your way; or when bad
things happen? When you cheer at a Newell-Fonda ballgame, are you constantly
loving God with ALL your heart? Do you passionately love the Lord as you
sleep? Yet to love the LORD constantly, with ALL your heart means these things
and more. What of the others on the list: perfectly loving God with ALL your
soul, in every one of your daily activities, with every part of your mind?
Jesus is the Good SAMARITAN in the parable. Hated by all people; yet He
came to rescue the dying world by a cross. When YOU are robbed and beaten and
left for dead by the world, Satan, or your own flesh and conscience - Jesus
loves you. He attends to your sin-laden wounds. He takes you to a place of
care. He lavishes care upon you for your spiritual health. Then His love
twice-overpays your healing; not with two silver coins but with far more
precious Word & Sacraments. And promises more when more mercy, forgiveness &
love are needed.
The so-called expert in the Law had come to test Jesus, but he himself
flunked the test! It is an eternally fatal mistake to believe that we can love
God (or our neighbors) in constant, perfect holiness. Yet he believed he only
needed a little polishing up in his attitude toward his neighbor.
"Whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need but shuts
his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?" asks the Holy Spirit
in First John 3.
When the mirror of the law was held up to him, he ignored his failures,
omissions, and sins when it came to his relationship with the Lord. In order
to inherit a piece of land, someone must die. For us to inherit the land of
heaven, our Brother died on the cross. Christ did. It's ours.
As children of God, forgiven by Christ, we have the inheritance. God has
also blessed us with prosperity in the physical realm. As the Word of the Lord
today from Deuteronomy 30 reminds us: it is the Lord God alone who "delights
in us and makes us prosperous".
When someone does something nice for you, you should naturally want to
repay a good deed. That's fine; even high-class. But are you scratching
someone's back as a friend only to BE scratched back? Bribing someone in
advance? That's a sin.
It will never EARN any favor with God when we help others in need. It is
God who gives us the (prosperity) means to help others. It is God who puts us
in places to help (on our journeys to Jericho and elsewhere). It is God who
opens our eyes and hearts to see others in any need. God uses you and me
following the model of Jesus, the true Good Samaritan.
At best we can say that we are only imitating what our Master did: we are
helping others robbed and bruised by Satan, and left for eternally dead. "HE
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into His Kingdom"
of forgiveness. God fills us with the compassion of the Christ: we can reject
it, OR we can rejoice in it and share it.
When we help others in their physical needs, we are reflecting God's love
toward us in Christ. And we pray that "they may see our good works, & glorify
our Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 Martin Luther said it well: "GOD does
not need my good works, but my neighbor does!" and "Good works are actions
that flow from faith and from the joy of heart that has come to us because we
have the forgiveness of sins through Christ." What Luther Says 4847. "Good
intentions are of no value." WLS 4857.
When Jesus gives the command to us: "Go, and do likewise" that is a law -
of love. Christ's rich and abundant mercy, shown in the cross and given to us
by the Spirit in the gift of faith, is flowing into your heart when you hear
His love. "Without faith, we cannot please God" (Hebrews 11:6) and our "doing
likewise" is pitiful, sinful, and an attempt at justifying our life before God
or others.
But with faith, we joyfully "go and do likewise" to others. God's
strength gets us thru prejudices against other races, classes, cultures. Faith
helps us to reach out to a world around us that can't or won't pay us back.
This love fills the hearts of all Christians - especially your heart.
When we fail to love God or each other perfectly, eternal life is still ours by
the cross. We have our eternal inheritance by who we ARE as children of God,
not by what we do. What we DO tells the world who we are.
Jesus used the mirror of the Law to drive that man (and us) to repentance.
Then He gives us His loving Gospel to empower us to do what He commands:
serve others around us; no matter who they are!
The man who tested Jesus was an expert in the Law. God desires that you
become an expert in the Gospel: in order "that you may live a life worthy of
the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in your knowledge of God, being strengthened . so you may have
endurance and patience. and mercy." (Colossians).
As people who have already inherited eternal life by grace, we are filled
with compassion described in this parable. As He fills you with strength, you
will reach out and act. May we hearken to Christ's words as saints in the
Lord! For He ahs claimed us as His own. Amen.
Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy
First Evangelical, Fonda
