Sunday, July 14, 2013

SERMON FOR SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013

Luke 10:25-37 

PREACHER: Pastor Carrie Smith

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Today’s Gospel lesson, commonly referred to as the Story of the Good Samaritan, is probably the most frequently used bible reference in our culture. While many may not remember the details (why did Jesus tell the story? where was the man going? how many passed by first?) the basics are well-known, and the phrase “Good Samaritan” itself is used liberally. News reporters especially love to throw the phrase around. A few days ago, a quick search of Google News produced these headlines: 

From Kentucky: “Video catches Good Samaritan coming to the rescue” (this about a man who chased down and tackled a purse-snatcher!)

In Texas: “Good Samaritan puts up 500K to free Texas teen facing prison time”

In New York: “Good Samaritan helps toddler who fell on Metro tracks”

In China: “Good Samaritans pay the price for rescue gone wrong” – this about two teenage boys who must pay a cash settlement after failing to rescue their friends. 

And then there was an article entitled “The Traffic Jam and the Good Samaritan”, which outlined the merits and drawbacks of letting other cars merge into your lane when you are in heavy traffic.

Judging from these few headlines, we can determine that in everyday usage, the term “Good Samaritan” means something like “anyone who does anything helpful for anyone else”, but may be especially appropriate if it’s something dramatic or life-threatening. Or, apparently, if you’re in Chicago traffic…

This simplistic interpretation of Jesus’ parable leaves a few things out, of course. In recent years, preachers have been anxious to emphasize how Christians today cannot truly understand what a joke it was to call someone a “Good Samaritan”. Pairing these words together was a bit like saying “The Honest Illinois Governor”. Samaritans were neither good nor ritually clean nor in any way a neighbor to Jews of good standing. In other words, when Jesus told this parable, he made sure the person who stopped to help was not only the last person you would expect to see doing such a thing—he was also the last person from whom you would want to receive such help. 

While I agree that the oddness of the “Good Samaritan” moniker should probably be more often emphasized (especially to those who write the news headlines), it seems to me we face a much greater challenge in understanding this parable today. To make my point, let’s try a little experiment.

Please take out the scrap paper that was handed to you with your bulletin this morning, and then find something to write with. First, I want you to draw a large tic tac toe board. In the middle square, write your name. And now, in the other squares, as quickly as you can, list the names of your neighbors—the people who live on all sides in your neighborhood. Go!

 OK…now raise your hand if you were able to fill in every square. Keep your hands up if you know all their last names, too! 

Now, a further challenge: Put your hands down and circle the neighbors you have actually talked to in the last week. 

Now, put a star by those neighbors you would feel comfortable asking for help—and by help, I mean more than a cup of sugar. Let’s say a ride to the airport, or watching your kids at the last minute, or helping out when you have a medical emergency.

…

So, how did you do? Are you surprised with the results? Is there room for improvement?

…

My hope is that you are seeing, as I do, that our challenge in understanding the Parable of the Good Samaritan today has less to do with who the Samaritan was, or even who our neighbor is, and more about what it means to be a neighbor.  

What does it mean to be a neighbor today? We may not pass by on the other side if we see our neighbor lying in the ditch—but how many neighbors do we actually talk to before we drive into the garage and close the door? You may know your neighbors’ names and even their kids’ names—but do you know their struggles? Their joys? Their dreams? Do they know yours?

In the last few years of our dismal economy, I’m sure some of you may have had the experience of a neighbor being suddenly gone, with only a “foreclosed” sign left in the yard. Did you know they were struggling? How long had they been carrying that burden alone, hiding it from the neighborhood?

When the lawyer in today’s Gospel lesson asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he expected a legal interpretation about who could be considered a neighbor—and, more importantly, who could be left out. But Jesus, in his usual way, turned the original question on its head and instead told a story about how to be a neighbor. Who was the neighbor to the man in the ditch? “The one who showed him mercy” answered the lawyer. And Jesus said, “Go, and do likewise.” 

Go, and do likewise. These were challenging and confusing words for the lawyer, and they are the same for us today. You see, I think we are so much more like the lawyer than we’d like to admit. We, like the lawyer, want Jesus’ lesson to be about how to identify our neighbors. And, because we’ve heard the story before, we think we already know the answer—Jesus says, “Everyone is your neighbor! Even the person in the ditch. And even the Samaritan.”

So we nod and say enthusiastically, “That’s right, Jesus—and that’s why we would never pass by someone lying in a ditch, no matter who they are. We will be Good Samaritans, if we ever have the opportunity!”

And then we drive home, and into the garage, and push the button for the garage door that separates us from the pain, and grief, and sorrow of our actual neighbors. Being a “Good Samaritan” is reserved for the dramatic or extraordinary moments; but being a “neighbor”—even to people we don’t like—is no more challenging than a quick wave and a card at Christmas. So, Jesus says everyone is a neighbor? No problem! We got this.

This morning, on a day when our country is reeling from a court verdict which makes us all question what it means to be a neighbor, it is right for us to ask: What does Jesus mean when he tells us to “Go and do likewise?” 

Remember, the lawyer’s original question was “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Said in a different way, we might understand his question as “I know there’s something beyond this rat race. I know there’s a different way to be in the here and now, as well as in the hereafter. Tell me how to do it!”

When Jesus’ first answer—that the lawyer should do what he has already been taught (love God and love your neighbor)—wasn’t satisfying, he gets specific:

Let me tell you a story, says Jesus.

Let me tell you about what it can be like when people stop seeing each other as either Jew or Samaritan, insider or outsider, gay or straight, black or white; as either neighborhood watch or a threat to the neighborhood. You may find that love casts out your fear.

Let me tell you about what it can be like when you stop judging people from a far, and instead get close enough to hear their stories. You may find that they share your pain. 

Let me tell you what it can be like when you let others close enough to show you mercy and love. You may find out the neighborhood is bigger than you imagined.

Let me tell you what it can be like when you get in the ditch—or open the garage door, or better yet, the front door—and love your neighbor as you would love yourself. 

Sisters, brothers, neighbors in Christ: Jesus sends us outside of our tiny little boxes, all in a row, and into the messy ditch of life with others. Is this kind of Good Samaritan, “all-in” love a scary thing? Absolutely! But we know that “perfect love casts out fear”. And as followers of Jesus, we believe this is the kind of God we serve, after all—a God who did not keep us at arm’s length, and who did not pass us by, but who came near to us in Jesus Christ, our savior, our healer, our comforter, our brother, and our neighbor. 

So when we “go and do likewise”, we go boldly and with confidence, knowing that Jesus is already there. He’s already been down this road. He’s already been to the ditch, and to the courtroom, and to the hospital, and to the funeral home, and to the cross with us. Thanks be to God!

Now, to end this sermon today, I will leave you with one more challenge. Turn that scrap paper over, and make another tic tac toe board. Put yourself in the middle again. 

And now, this time, please fill in the squares with the names of the people sitting around you in the pews. To your left and right, but also in front and behind you! Don’t worry, I’ll give you a moment.

If there are any empty spaces, I would ask you to take a moment during the passing of the peace to fill them in. Talk to your neighbors. Find out their names. And if you already know their names—take it one step further. How are they doing? How can you pray for them? How can they pray for you? People of God—go, and do likewise. Amen.