A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to
the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus
asked, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” The lawyer answered,
“You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered
correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But the lawyer, wishing to justify
himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus
replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers,
who stripped and beat him, and ran away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a
priest was going down that road, and when he saw the beaten man he passed by on
the other side. So also a Levite, when he passed by and saw him, crossed to the
other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to that place, and when he
saw him, had compassion. He went and bound up the man’s wounds, pouring on oil
and wine. Then he placed him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and
took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay
you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer said, “The one who
showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”
*****************************************************************************
There’s a drawing – a meme – going around religio
us and
social media recently. Jesus is standing with several religious leaders. And he
says “You use scripture to tell people what love means; I use love to tell
people what the scripture means.”
So here we are. Another sermon on the “Good Samaritan’.
On Peace Sunday.
Well, I didn’t want to do yet
another Good Samaritan sermon . It’s one of those we hear so often - and yet, some of it will be another Good
Samaritan story - because it’s an important story.
But there are problems, too, as we
approach it. First, when we hear a story
like this it is so familiar we assume we know what it means. Second, how many
would remember that this story was told as an answer Jesus gave to a lawyer –
and the complete shock value of the hero being a ‘dirty foreigner’ – a gentile
dog? Third, is the story an allegory? It can be used as one, but is that all it
is? Fourth, can it be removed from its religious context. Is it only a story
about social action?
The lawyer was a highly respected
person in the religious system. Pharisees and religious leaders would look to
men like this to tell them the tiniest interpretations of the Law of Moses. The
question he asks is “What does one have
to do to inherit eternal life.” The lawyer tries this to test Jesus, to see if
he can trip him up, and implies that inheriting eternal life is based on
something we do.
Custom of the day dictates that a question is answered with another question. So Jesus responds: “what is written in the law”. The lawyer gives the classic rabbinic answer, a combination of texts from Leviticus and Deuteronomy summing up the law. Jesus agrees that this is the correct answer.
But the lawyer now looks foolish. He has asked an obvious question and got an obvious answer. So, recognising that he looks silly, the lawyer “wanted to justify himself”. So he asks “And who is my neighbour”.
Jesus’ answer “Do this and you will live” has in it the
understanding of ‘always’ do this. But
Jewish law includes limitations on what is required, and who is a neighbour.
The lawyer is clearly trying to justify himself.
And Jesus does what Jesus does so
well – he answers by telling a parable.
In his notes on this text, John McDiarmid
says that this story is “the classic genre of the “story of three”. Everyone would
know that the first two characters would get it wrong, and the third would get
it right. The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was well-known, the plight of
the man would arouse sympathy; the reaction of both the priest and Levite would
horrify the lawyer, who likely assumed that a Pharisee or similar would do the right
thing. The disciples probably assume the hero of the story is going to be an
average Jew like them. So the shock of what comes next cannot be emphasised
enough. The Samaritans were the sworn enemies of the Jews. Some Jews prayed
that Samaritans would not inherit eternal life. Jesus holds up a Samaritan as a
model of integrity, as an example of what love for neighbour means – and then tells
the Jewish lawyer to go and do the same thing. The story was told to answer the
question - that the one who is our neighbour is the worst of our enemies. That
is the one that we are to love as ourselves.
What about the characters?
The Man who travels a notorious trouble
spot – is mercilessly beaten up by adversaries is just like us. In the current
political climate where Christianity is completely abrogated by some to support
violence, incitement to violence, the suggestion that Jesus would support such
actions against ‘enemies’ – the ‘Christ militant’ who carries a Bible and a gun
- don’t we feel a little as if we are being spiritually mugged. I personally do
resent my faith being appropriated by such persons and such misinterpretations.
The Priest and Levite, representing religious law, but who do nothing
to help. Easier to turn aside, not to
look. The religious leaders on the evangelical side, who have stayed mute –
until now it is so horrific they cannot remain silent. Jesus gets mugged, and
they have passed by, done nothing. Till now.
The Samaritan - Is it Jesus? Is it us? Is it perhaps the “stranger
“coming over the border - who then turns and assists us wherever possible. The one who comes with nothing, who is branded
a dangerous enemy by some, but who then creates a business, and employs others, helping those who also
need it – stepping across boundaries of race, religion, colour – to bring
wholeness to people who have been ‘mugged’, one way or another.
In this time, as we watch with
mounting horror a political scene we never thought we would see again in our
lifetimes – the co-opting of Jesus to justify violence, to turn away the one
who is neighbour, to threaten to shoot and kill which in fact disregards actual
legitimate law – we take two Sundays to focus our attention.
First, today - the last Sunday of October designated as
Peace Sunday – and what a story to tell on Peace Sunday – that the ones who may
be discriminated against – labelled enemies – are actually our neigbours. This
means that the Palestinians are neighbours to the Jews, according to the Jewish
religious law of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Depending on who and where we are,
it’s almost as shocking today as it would have been to the hearers then. In
this story Jesus focuses right in on how peace is brought about. Recognising
who is the neighbour. Standing for the
neighbour, even if it means personal cost.
Two weeks from today we will recognise
those who gave their lives in war, most particularly two world wars. Often,
though, in recognising their service we miss the message they also want us to
hear. That remembering those who served is only of value if we also talk about
war, what causes war, the devastation it brings to those people who are still
our neighbour, according to Jesus. Most people who have seen war, or
participated in war, don’t want it to happen again.
And the third question is – what do
we do about it? How can we prevent violence and the outbreak of war again?
Jesus tells us, in this story, that even people we have identified as ‘enemies’
– those of a different colour, a different nationality, those running and
labelled ‘illegal’ – there is no such thing in my mind – Jesus tells us that
they are all our neighbour, and if we follow him, we treat that person as
neighbour.
The lawyer in Jesus’ story realises
that to go beyond the law he has been raised with means letting go of those
things – and that it has to be a lifelong commitment – not a one-shot deal.
Jesus points out that love helps us interpret the scriptures, not the other way
around.
Following Jesus is hard. Doing what
Jesus asks is hard. But following and
doing is how peace comes about. It takes a step at a time – conscious
reflection and redirection of ourselves outward. Because we are human and not perfect, it’s ongoing.
But we, like the lawyer, need
sometimes to be shocked. Most of us inherited the Christian faith from our
parents and grandparents, who pretty much inherited it from theirs..
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German
pastor and theologian who lost his life standing against the Nazis, is the
author of the book called ‘The Cost of Discipleship’. He said this:
“Silence in the face of evil is
itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to
act is to act.”
“It is only because he became like
us that we can become like him.”
May we, as we reflect on these days
of peace, become like the one we profess to follow. Amen.
Sources:
1. John
McDiarmid “Not Another Sermon on the
Good Samaritan”
2. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer ‘The Cost of Discipleship’
No comments:
Post a Comment