Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
The parable of the Good Shepherd is one I think that is difficult for many of us
as modern listeners, or at the very least it is for me. We hear it and immediately
think that we are condemned or justified by our actions. By whether or not we
are the first one on site, helping the stranger, the one we do not know, who is
having some kind of trouble or, at the very least, a really bad day.
At the end of our lesson today, Jesus tells the lawyer, the man questioning him about who his neighbor is according to the law, to “go and do likewise.” But what Jesus is telling this man to do is probably not the action you may have thought it was.
Because when Jesus asks the lawyer, “which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?,” the lawyer replies with “the one who showed him mercy.” This is the action he is called to emulate. To show mercy.
And what it means to show mercy is revealed in Jesus’ parable, and specifically in the roles he assigns to the characters in it.
The first two characters who find the man beaten on the side of the road are a priest and a Levite. People that to the lawyer were respectable. They were people he would look up to. They were people he would be proud to call neighbors.
But they are not the ones who do the saving. They aren’t the ones who stop. Instead it is a different person this lawyer may have thought. A man who we are told is a Samaritan.
Now we have encountered Samaritans before. A few weeks ago, Jesus and his disciples were passing through Samaria. But when the Samaritans saw that Jesus and his disciples were heading to Jerusalem, they refused to help them. And so James and John ask Jesus if they can call “fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” But Jesus rebukes them for saying so.
This whole scene seems a little odd. The Samaritans refused to be hospitable, and James and John understandably are righteously indignant. But Jesus seems okay with it.
That’s because Jesus understands the nuances of the situation. Because Samaritans were Jews too. But they were Jews who had married Gentiles back when the Jewish people were exiled from the land of Israel. And like most people in a state of in-betweeness, they were looked down on by Gentiles for being Jewish and by the Jews who worshiped in Jerusalem as being in a perpetual state of impurity.
At the end of our lesson today, Jesus tells the lawyer, the man questioning him about who his neighbor is according to the law, to “go and do likewise.” But what Jesus is telling this man to do is probably not the action you may have thought it was.
Because when Jesus asks the lawyer, “which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?,” the lawyer replies with “the one who showed him mercy.” This is the action he is called to emulate. To show mercy.
And what it means to show mercy is revealed in Jesus’ parable, and specifically in the roles he assigns to the characters in it.
The first two characters who find the man beaten on the side of the road are a priest and a Levite. People that to the lawyer were respectable. They were people he would look up to. They were people he would be proud to call neighbors.
But they are not the ones who do the saving. They aren’t the ones who stop. Instead it is a different person this lawyer may have thought. A man who we are told is a Samaritan.
Now we have encountered Samaritans before. A few weeks ago, Jesus and his disciples were passing through Samaria. But when the Samaritans saw that Jesus and his disciples were heading to Jerusalem, they refused to help them. And so James and John ask Jesus if they can call “fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” But Jesus rebukes them for saying so.
This whole scene seems a little odd. The Samaritans refused to be hospitable, and James and John understandably are righteously indignant. But Jesus seems okay with it.
That’s because Jesus understands the nuances of the situation. Because Samaritans were Jews too. But they were Jews who had married Gentiles back when the Jewish people were exiled from the land of Israel. And like most people in a state of in-betweeness, they were looked down on by Gentiles for being Jewish and by the Jews who worshiped in Jerusalem as being in a perpetual state of impurity.
They were outcasts. Disrespected. Disregarded on all sides. So a Samaritan is not someone who the lawyer talking to Jesus would have had any respect for. Or any inclination that he could be capable of such a kind action.
And yet it is one of these Samaritans. One of these supposedly unclean people who does exactly what the law prescribes. That does what a neighbor is supposed to do.
He looks on this man, beaten and left for dead, and chooses not to care who he is. He chooses to overlook the fact that this man could be just as prejudiced against him as everyone else. He looks past the fact that if their situations were swapped, this man might not do the same for him.
He overlooks any animosity that may be between them. He has mercy.
You see, being a neighbor isn’t just about helping those you know around you. It’s not even just about helping those we dislike. It’s about being there for others, even though they might not be there for us. It means being kind to everyone, even those we dislike. Even those we’d rather not have any association with.
That is what this reading today is calling us to be like. To help those around us who may despise and reject us. To those who may hate us. To those we may hate back.
This is a tall order indeed. But Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything He did not do Himself.
Because we, as the human race, despised and rejected God. We failed to do what He asked of us, and we instead ran of and worshiped other gods we had made for ourselves.
But even through we spat in His face, time and time again, God was still there for us. And in spite of all that we had done, He still loved us.
In fact He loved us so much, He was willing to come down and dwell with us. To be in the dirt and the grime with us. And even when we continued to reject Him, in spite of His love for us, He chose to die for us so that we might be able to live, regardless of anything we had done. He chose to have mercy for us.
And we are called to love all others this same way. Even those who despise us. Dislike us. Hate us.
And, we are called to do the same for those we may dislike too. The ones who get under our skin. The ones who it seems we can never do anything right for.
Being a neighbor means having mercy on others. Just as the Samaritan did for the man on the side of the road. And just as Jesus Christ did for us. So when you encounter someone who needs your help, especially if it is someone who you don’t want to give the time of day to, remember that Jesus did the same thing for you. And so be quick to show the love for others that Christ Jesus showed you.