Oridnary Time Week 8

Psalm: Psalm 82 or Psalm 25:1-10
Old Testament: Amos 7:7-17
  or Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
Epistle: Colossians 1:1-14

Today we have the very timely parable of the Good Samaritan in our Gospel reading from Luke. The funny thing about this story is that although it was timely when Jesus spoke the words, I don't think there has ever been a time in human history when this parable didn't need to be spoken to a group of people. Right off the bat, we have to say just how radical this message is. Humanity is inclined in our very nature to define who is in and who is out. We are predisposed to set up boundaries, groups, and families, and then to war and oppose whoever we deem to be outside our group.

The man's question to Jesus is actually a fair one. 110 times the NASB uses the word neighbor in the Old Testament, predominantly in the Law and perhaps most emphatically in Lev. 19:18, "You shall love your neighbor has yourself." A form of the Hebrew word (רֵ֫עַ - rea) is used 186 in the OT. So to an expert in the Law, this question was probably familiar and he had debated and discussed this with his teachers and peers. After-all, if we can define who our neighbor is and isn't, it makes following the Law easier.

The difficulty for us today is that we are so far removed from this worldview. We don't debate who are neighbors are in the same way. We certainly define groups and outsiders, like I said, but it isn't wrapped up in the same theo-political milieu as it was then. (Or is it? Modern civic religion?) Not only do we not understand the significance of the question, we can't understand the radical response Jesus gave. And because most of us have grown up in the church, we have heard this passage preached and taught on since we were about 3 and it has lost all it's meaning.

First a brief rundown: A man gets beaten and robbed on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho, first a priest and then a Levite pass him by rather than helping, finally a Samaritan walks by and helps him and pays for his needs. Pretty straightforward and we are all familiar with the story. There are a few important details however. First, the route is significant. The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was notorious for being dangerous and a place where things like this happened. But we also have to wonder why the man was leaving Jerusalem. His identity was never specified, but of course Jesus' audience would have presumed he was a Jew. First, because they were Jewish. And second, he was leaving the holy city of Jerusalem. So in one sense the man can represent any person of any race, but also by the fact that he was leaving Jerusalem, we have to wonder if he was doing some type of religious obligation or pilgrimage there. That question is significant because the first two people who find him are religious authorities and supposedly the holiest of people.

Jesus chose two highly respected religious classes as the bad guys in this parable. That in itself is a bold act. The priest and the Levite have similar motives for not helping the man, although they are not defined. It could be because they thought he was dead and didn't want to defile themselves and become ritually unclean. But also, going back to the man's questions, the man was naked and knocked out. Back then and even today, dress and accents are two of the primary ways we identify where people are from. With this two things taken away, there was no way for the priest or the Levite to know if he was a Jew, and thus worthy of help, or a gentile. If he wasn't their "neighbor" then there was no need to help him. But they don't even investigate to see if they are required to help! They avoid the situation and thus avoid both violating the Law and being forced to fulfill it.

Next, along came the most unlikely of heroes for a story told by a first century Jew, a Samaritan. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated them right back. The dispute went back quite a ways and by Jesus' day they simply avoided contact with each other when possible. But the Samaritan does something radical. He crossed the boundaries of in and out, mine and theirs, us and them, and he became a neighbor. Rather than checking to see if the other person was worthy of help, he accepted him as a neighbor and in the process was accepted as a neighbor as well.

Finally, Jesus closed the parable with that pressing question, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man..." Proved to be a neighbor. The man asked a simple question about who is neighbor was. Jesus flipped the whole question around and answered by saying be a neighbor to all. By being a neighbor to everyone, everyone becomes our neighbor and is thus due our respect, love, and care. Again, this message is so radical and antithesis to how humanity is wired.

However, by the grace of God we can be made new in Christ. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." That is the hope of the Gospel! We don't have to be stuck in our old ways of being. God, in Christ, and by the Spirit is making all things new. Let us live into this hope and heed the words of Jesus to the lawyer. Let us follow the Good Samaritan's example and "go and do the same."

Grace and Peace.