July 11, 2004
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church July 11, 2004 Luke 10:25-37 ALL OF OUR SCRIPTURE READINGS THIS MORNING BRING FORTH A RESPONSE TO THE PLEA ONCE MADE BY THE PSALMIST: MAKE ME TO KNOW YOUR WAYS, O LORD; TEACH ME YOUR PATHS. LEAD ME IN YOUR TRUTH, AND TEACH ME, FOR YOU ARE THE GOD OF MY SALVATION. (Psalm 25:5-6a) AND THEN THE PSLAMIST CONCLUDES: ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS, FOR THOSE WHO KEEP GOD’S COVENANT AND DECREES. (Psalm 25:10) ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE PAVED WITH STEADFAST LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS AND LEAD TO ABUNDANT LIFE. IN OUR FIRST READING THIS MORNING, TAKEN FROM DEUTERONOMY, WE ARE REMINDED THAT GOD DESIRES TO GRANT ABUNDANT LIFE TO THOSE WHO TURN TO THE LORD THEIR GOD WITH ALL THEIR HEART AND WITH ALL THEIR SOUL. SO OFTEN, THOUGH, WE MIGHT THINK IT IS TOO DIFFICULT TO WALK IN THOSE PATHS THAT LEAD TO ABUNDANT LIFE; TOO DIFFICULT TO TURN TO THE LORD OUR GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART AND ALL OUR SOUL. BUT WE HEARD GOD SAY:
IN OUR READING FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE THIS MORNING, JESUS WAS ENCOUNTERED BY A MAN WHO WAS A LAWYER. NOW, THIS MAN WAS NOT A LAWYER AS WE THINK OF LAWYERS TODAY. THIS MAN WAS CONCERNED WITH THE LAW THAT IS FOUND IN THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE JEWISH LAWS WRITTEN IN THE BOOKS OF MOSES. HE WAS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THOSE RELIGIOUS LAWS. HAVING STUDIED THEM FOR MANY YEARS. HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THE LAWS REQUIRE. HE KNEW THAT GOD GRANTS ABUNDANT AND ETERNAL LIFE TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW GOD’S COMMANDS; THOSE WHO TURN TO THE LORD WITH ALL THEIR HEART AND WITH ALL THEIR SOUL. THIS BEING THE CASE, HE APPROACHED JESUS WITH THE INTENTION OF PUTTING JESUS TO A TEST. "TEACHER," SAID THE LAWYER, "WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?" JESUS REPLIED BY ASKING ANOTHER QUESTION: "WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE LAW? WHAT DO YOU READ THERE?" THE LAWYER ANSWERED; "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." JESUS SAID: "YOU HAVE GIVEN THE RIGHT ANSWER. DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." THEN THE LAWYER FELT THE NEED TO ASK ANOTHER QUESTION. HE ASKED: "WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?" JESUS ANSWERED THAT QUESTION BY TELLING THE LAWYER THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. AND THEN JESUS ASKED THE LAWYER A QUESTION THAT GOES DIRECTLY TO WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL OUR HEART AND SOUL, ALL OUR STRENGTH AND MIND. NO LONGER IS THE QUESTION, "WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?" NOW THE QUESTION HAS BECOME, "WHO IS NEIGHBOR?" "WHICH OF THESE DO YOU THINK WAS THE NEIGHBOR TO THE MAN WHO FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE ROBBERS?" THE LAWYER HAD TO ANSWER, "THE ONE WHO SHOWED HIM MERCY." GO AND DO LIKEWISE," SAID JESUS. TO ASK, "WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR," IMPLIES THAT WE CAN BE SELECTIVE IN CHOSING WHICH PEOPLE ARE TO BE MY NEIGHBORS AND WHICH ARE NOT. WE CALL THIS DISCRIMINATION. JESUS HAD CHOSEN THE CHARACTERS IN HIS PARABLE WITH DELIBERATE CARE. THE MAN WHO FELL AMONG THE ROBBERS WAS A JEW. THE MAN WHO ACTED AS NEIGHBOR WAS A SAMARITAN. WHEN EVEN THE JEWISH PRIEST AND THE LEVITE DID NOT HELP THEIR FELLOW JEW, IT WOULD REALLY BE ASTONISHING FOR A SAMARITAN TO COME TO THE VICTIM’S AID. THERE WERE DEEP-ROOTED RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC, AND CULTURAL ANIMOSITIES BETWEEN JEWS AND SAMARITANS. IN JESUS’ DAY, THE JEWISH PEOPLE CONSIDERED THE SAMARITANS TO BE UNCLEAN, SOCIALLY OUTCAST, AND RELIGIOUSLY HERETICAL. HAD THE SAMARITAN OFFERED THE JEWISH VICTIM A GLASS OF WATER, THE JEWISH MAN WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE REJECTED IT WITH BITTER INDIGNATION; HAD HE BEEN IN GOOD HEALTH INSTEAD OF BEING HALF-DEAD. I’M SURE WE CAN IDENTIFY SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO THIS IN OUR PLACE AND OUR OWN TIME, CAN’T WE? BUT THE SAMARITAN WAS MOVED BY MERCY, WITH A COMPASSION THAT OVERCAME ALL RELIGIOUS ANIMOSITY AND ETHNIC HATRED. HE TREATED THE HALF-DEAD VICTIM WITH EXTRAORDINARY GENEROSITY AND COMPASSION. PERHAPS THERE ARE THREE HALF-DEAD PEOPLE IN THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN.WE ARE TOLD THAT THE MAN LYING ON THE ROAD WAS LEFT, PHYSICALY, HALF-DEAD. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE? WERE THEY ALSO HALF-DEAD? TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE, BEING RELIGIOUS OFFICIALS, HAD TO MAKE A VERY PRACTICAL DECISION. BOTH MEN HAD TO DECIDE WHICH WAS MOST IMPORTANT: THEIR RELIGIOUS PURITY, OR THE GIVING OF AID TO THE WOUNDED MAN. SHOULD THEY HAVE EVEN TOUCHED THE WOUNDED MAN, THEY WOULD, ACCORDING TO JEWISH LAW, HAVE DEFILED THEMSELVES. HAD THEY DONE SO THEY WOULD BE UNABLE TO PRACTICE THEIR RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITIES. ON THE OTHER HAND. THERE WAS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE MAN WHO WAS LYING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WAS A DECOY. THE ROAD BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND JERICHO WINDS THROUGH SOME VERY BARREN COUNTRYSIDE AND WAS INFESTED WITH ROBBERS WHO OFTEN HARMED PEOPLE AS THEY TRAVELLED. CONCERED ABOUT THEIR OWN SAFETY, THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE MAY HAVE DECIDED TO SIMPLY PASS BY, AVOIDING THE MAN WHO WAS LYING ON THE ROADSIDE. THEY BOTH HAD TO MAKE SOME PRACTICAL DECISIIONS. WOULD THEY DECIDE IN TERMS OF THEIR OWN SELF INTERESTS, OR WOULD THEY DECIDE IN FAVOR OF GIVING AID TO THE ONE WHO APPEARED TO BE SERIROUSLY WOUNDED? PRACTICAL DECISIONS ABOUT SELF-INTERESTS VERSUS THE INTERESTS OF THE OTHER WHO IS NEARBY. AREN’T THESE THE KINDS OF SITUATIONS WE FIND OURSELVES ENCOUNTERING FROM TIME TO TIME? OUR SCRIPTURES TELL US WE CAN’T ESCAPE BY SEEKING GOD’S ANSWER FROM ON HIGH, EVEN WHEN WE THINK WE ARE ON A RELIGIOUS MISSION LIKE THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE.FOR AS WE HEARD IN OUR READING FROM DEUTERONOMY THIS MORNING, GOD’S WORD IS NOT "TOO HARD" OR "TOO FAR AWAY" OR "IN HEAVEN." THE GOOD NEWS IS "THE WORD IS IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART FOR YOU TO OBSERVE." THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE ONE’S FAITH ACTIVE IN LOVE, AS LUTHER WOULD PUT IT, IS AS NEAR AS YOUR NEIGHBOR IN NEED. IT IS IRONIC, ISN’T IT? GOD USES OUR LIVES TO TOUCH OTHERS WITH GOD’S LOVE BY BEING NEIGHBOR AND BY SERVING THOSE IN NEED. AND ISN’T THAT WHAT AN ABUNDANT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT? LIVING AN ABUNDANT LIFE MEANS THAT WE UNDRSTAND THAT NOT ONLY ARE WE TO TRUST GOD; WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD TRUSTS US AND THEREBY ENABLES US TO TRUST OURSELVES. WE CAN TRUST OURSELVES KNOWING THAT WHEN WE ACT AS NEIGHBOR ON GOD’S BEHALF, WE ARE ALWAYS SUSTAINED BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT. THE QUESTION ABOUT WHAT HAD TO BE DONE TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE, AND THE ANSWER IT RECEIVED, SUMMARIZED WHAT THE JEWISH LAW, THE TORAH, MEANS WHEN IT SPEAKS ABOUT WHOLEHEARTED LOVE TO BOTH GOD AND NEIGHBOR. THE QUESTION, ABOUT WHO THE NEIGHBOR WAS, WAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN BY A STORY: A STORY THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING. THE FIRST WORDS ON THE LAWYER’S LIPS WERE, "WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?" THE LAST WORD HE WAS HEARD TO SAY WAS, "MERCY." GOD EMPOWERS US TO SHOW MERCY. HE EMPOWERS US TO BE NEIGHBOR INSTEAD OF ASKING SELF-SERVING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHO OUT THERE IS MY NEIGHBOR. GOD TRUSTS US AND SENDS US FORTH TO BE NEIGHBOR AS FULL PARTICIPANTS IN GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION FOR THIS CRIPPLED WORLD. DUETERONOMY REMINDS US THAT THE TASK TO WHICH GOD CALLS US, THE TASK FOR WHICH GOD EMPOWERS US, IS NEITHER TOO HARD OR TOO REMOTE. THE WORD IS VERY NEAR, IN OUR MOUTHS AND IN OUR HEARTS. THE WORD IS THERE FOR US TO OBSERVE AND ACT UPON, TRUSTING GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK IN OUR LIVES. SOMETIMES THAT’S NOT EASY. SOMETIMES IT IS RADICAL. BUT NONETHELESS --- NONETHELESS --- WE HAVE TO SAY THANKS BE TO GOD THROUGH WHOSE HOLY SPIRIT WE FIND OURSELVES FULLY ALIVE, NEVER HALF-DEAD. AMEN. |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |