Pentecost 7 Luke 10:25-37 Jesus is My Neighbor
Leviticus 18:1-5, 19:9-18 Colossians 1:1-14 Luke 10:25-37
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The lawyer was looking for assurance that he was doing enough good work to enter into heaven. When you ask a Law question of Jesus, you will get a Law answer from Jesus. He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
The lawyer knows our Old Testament lesson for
today. He knows if you want to do something to inherit eternal life, then this
is what God requires you to do; Love God with your whole being and love your
neighbor as yourself. “Do this, and you will live.”
The lawyer however was not satisfied with this answer. Our Lord’s statement, “Do this and you will live” is too general; it needs more defining. The lawyer does not know if he has done enough to fulfill the requirements of the law. He does not know if he has helped enough of his neighbors to be certain of a heavenly reward. Seeking to justify himself, he asks Jesus, “Who then is my neighbor?”
The lawyer has dedicated his life to working for the synagogue and he serves the Jewish people daily. He was sure that Jesus would define "neighbor" as his Jewish friends. With such a narrow definition, he could “love his neighbor” and be assured a reward in heaven. But the lawyer was creating his own definition of “neighbor.” He was not considering that God created all people.
So Jesus tells the parable:
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And 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?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."
You can be sure that the lawyer went away shocked and disappointed when he learned who was his neighbor. Today the answer to “Who is my neighbor?” is still the same. Your neighbor is whoever happens to need your help.
Your neighbor includes everyone you meet, whoever God places in your path. You may be able to pick your neighborhood, but you can't pick your neighbor. You can't define your neighbor ahead of time; you can only be a neighbor when the moment comes.
That includes the neighbor in your community, where your work, at home, here in the congregation and anyone you meet in your travels. Whoever God puts in your path, no matter what his or her race or language or economic status is your neighbor. You are to love your neighbor as yourself and they, in turn are to love you.
But you and I know it doesn't work that way. Try being the Samaritan for a week. Look around and you will soon find someone who needs your help, someone who is less fortunate than you are. Be a neighbor to everyone who crosses your path, whether you like them or not, and whether you know them or not.
Love him as you love yourself. Help him without grumbling or complaining. And while you love him, love God, too. As your money and possessions begin to dwindle down to nothing, you will find yourself beginning to resent your neighbor. You will soon discover that you want to be like the priest or the Levite instead. And you will resent the God who has given you the command. That's where the Law will take you. It commands that you love God and love your neighbor with no exceptions. Do this, fulfill the law with all of its requirements and you will live.
Asking yourself if you have obeyed the law always leaves you short. You have not loved God with your whole heart and mind and soul and strength. And you have not loved your neighbor as yourself. And your neighbor has not always loved you fairly either. Therefore if this is the only way to inherit eternal life; to love God and love our neighbor, then we are all doomed. In fact when you try and love this much, you wind up hating your neighbor and hating God. The truth is that we cannot show enough love, enough mercy and enough compassion to satisfy the requirements of the Law.
Our lesson does not tell us what the Lawyer did next. The Law leaves us in that predicament as well, still asking, “What can we do to inherit eternal life?” And as long as we ask the same question, we will get the same answer.
So, instead of asking Him what must we do to inherit eternal life, let us ask Jesus how we poor miserable sinners who have fallen so short of God’s Commands be saved? That answer is found in God’s mercy rather than in God’s Law.
God is merciful and compassionate. He showed His love for you in His Son. Jesus came to be your neighbor and He found you in the ditch - broken, bloody, beaten, and dead in your sin. Jesus is the One who had compassion on you. He bent down, got down in the ditch of your sin and death. He poured the oil and wine of His forgiveness into your wounded soul. He brought you to the inn, the Church, where He provided for your care. If ever there was One who was a good Neighbor, it was the One who gave up everything He had for you. He was the One who gave His body and Blood to save you.
Jesus took your place as the broken man we see in the ditch. Look closely at this man who was beaten by those He came to save. This man who came speaking words of love was cursed, mocked, and left for dead upon the cross.
He isn't much to look at—He has no beauty or majesty that we should be drawn to Him. He is the One who is still despised by many. He is the One from whom men hide their faces, who turn away and try to deny He is there. Since He obeyed the Law as only He could do as our God and Savior, death could not hold Him. Therefore through His sacrifice on the cross, you have been made alive with Him. Jesus paid the price both spiritually and physically so you could stay at the Inn of His Church and be healed both in soul and body.
Therefore let’s stop and ask the original question again, not as lawyers, but as Christians. What must we do to inherit eternal life? The answer is nothing. Jesus has done everything necessary for our salvation. He has even placed that knowledge in our hearts so that we believe and are saved. Remember, it's an inheritance; it is a free gift, paid for with the blood of Jesus. You inherit eternal life by being born into the family of God and staying in the good graces of the one who gave us His last will and Testament.
You are born into the Kingdom of God as baptized children of your Father in heaven. You are in the Father's good graces, not by what you have done, but by what Jesus has done for you. And you come into His presence at His Supper and share in His grace with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven. Because you know that you are His children, it is right for you to worship Him, in prayer, praise and thanksgiving.
So as Saint Paul; tells you, “May you be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” In Jesus Name, Amen.