Do You?

Loving God and Neighbor: Do You?
Luke 10:25-37
7.10.16

During the month of July we will be exploring the gospel passages in our Revised Common Lectionary. In these passages from the book of Luke we will be examining what it means to love God and neighbor in our everyday lives and here at Monmouth Grace UMC. I believe this is such an important thing to explore as we begin our time together- Loving God and Loving Neighbor are the basic tenets of this thing we call faith. Our mission as those who claim the name Christian is to make disciples and transform the world so all the things we do in this place and beyond need to be done with and in love.

Today we will journey through the story of the Good Samaritan. Now I don't know how familiar you are with this story but for me it is one that I grew up being able to recite. Yet even within the familiarity I am still amazed by what God puts in place when each of us loves and cares for the neighbor in our own context.

We begin today's passage seeing Jesus again being questioned and tested by an expert in Mosaic or Jewish law.  I don't know if this man was looking to embarrass Jesus, if he had been sent to mock Jesus, or if part of him was genuinely interested in the answer. But we can gather from his reaction that he wasn't expecting to be the one providing the answer to his own question. Yet even within this exchange we can see that Jesus is somewhat impressed by this man since his answer aligns with the teachings Jesus is trying to get across.

Not to be outdone this expert asks Jesus to explain who is the neighbor. Within Jewish circles neighbor was interpreted as “one who is near”, those who are physically near or of the same mindset-essentially a fellow Jew. The experts need for clarification shows his desire to know more, he shows that he has struggled with the heart of the Law, to understand it fully in practice not just in word.

I think all of us need to ask ourselves what we mean by neighbor. I can give you the definition from Merriam Webster: a person who lives next to or near another person, a person or thing that is next to or near another” But that isn't what Jesus or God wants us to define it as. Jesus offers a parable, an easy story, told in such a simplistic way that all within earshot can understand.

We are introduced to a plethora of characters- the one who is injured, the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’”

Love is not passive in this story and it shouldn't be in our lives either. First off I don't want to place blame or judgement on the first two men. Many times we want to paint them as self indulgent jerks who literally turn their noses up at the one in need. Yet when we examine the geography we see that their response, or rather lack of, may have stemmed from something else entirely.

Jerusalem is located along the ridge of coastal mountains in Palestine. Jericho is located in the plain of the Jordan River hundreds of feet below sea level. The distance was about 17 miles but the road descends thousands of feet through desert and rocky country. Robbery was an active pastime and many feared going between these two places because of the danger associated with this road.

The priest and the Levite may have been worried that this man was a trap and if they went to his aid they would have been mugged. Or that if he was actually dead they would make themselves ritually unclean by touching him. By ignoring this man they wouldnt be obligated to do anything to help him or the situation. We can see many parallels between their inaction and the inaction of leaders in our time as well but regardless the parable does not, and we are not supposed to focus on these two men, our focus is on the Samaritan.

Unfortunately we live in a world that has taken this term and revered it, it’s he aim of perfection when you live a Christian life. But that is not what Jesus wants us to focus on. What we are supposed to focus on is that despite their differences geographically, politically, and possibly religiously, this Samaritan decided to do the uncomfortable, the stranger, the one in need. Samaritans were particularly hated in the Jesus’ day for a number of reasons. There were probably a number of people in the audience who were apalled that the outcast was the caring  person in this story and that the other two neglected to show mercy….but THAT is the point.

It's easy to offer help to those we know. This story is to remind us of our mission as people of faith. We are called to be a people of action. We are called to use our hands and feet to show those around us whose we are. We are called to enter into the uncomfortable places of the world so that it can be transformed in the name of Jesus. We are called to change the world in tangible ways, through interactions and relationships. So I ask you to ask yourself do you love your neighbor-do you?Would you take the same actions putting your own physical safety at risk? Would you so willingly put money out for someone you don’t know? Would you, could you shoulder the responsibility of caring for someone you didn’t know at all?

In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Rev Martin Luther King Jr wrote” But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

And this is our reminder today beloved. We are called in this place on Wyckoff Road to act. With everything that has happened in the last few weeks in our nation what is our response as a community to each other and to those around us? This week has been particularly hard for me as a person of color and as a young person. Senseless violence, natural disasters that have ravaged communities, so much hurt and pain. It would be easy to lose hope, it would be easy to live in fear for the lives of so many I hold dear, it would be easy to throw in the towel...but that is not what it means to be a person of faith. During these times beloved, we are called to cling tighter to the Holy One. We are called to respond in some way.

So what can we do to love our neighbor? What can we do to promote healing and wholeness in a world that is in so much pain? Maybe we can’t organize a national protest but we can all do something and for each of us that will look differently. If you are a teacher maybe that means encouraging your administration to host a talk back with local police, or letting your students of color know that your classroom is a safe place. If you are in a managerial position maybe it means encouraging your senior staff to host racial sensitivity workshops, or creating places of intentional conversation. Maybe it looks like collecting supplies to send to communities affected by flooding in West Virginia. Maybe it looks ike writing a letter to our senators and governor, maybe it looks like inviting your physical neighbor over for dinner, maybe it means looking inward and challenging the things and systems you have found comfort in for so long, maybe it means seeking out the joy in your every day. There are so many possibilities and I encourage you to explore them and ACT.

Beloved it is through action that healing can begin and understanding can occur across lines that divide. I know that God weeps for the state of our world, but it is our job, our task, to identify neighbors as all those around us, all those we encounter, despite their physical proximity or similarity, because every person is a child of God, beloved and special.

May we aim to understand and redefine who our neighbors are, and learn to love them completely just as they are because in those moments God's kingdom grows wider and wider in this world.