A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at St. Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church on Trinity XIII, September 9, 2004. Please read St. Luke 10:23-37.
The problem with familiar parts of the Bible is that when we hear them read again, we tend not to listen very carefully to what is being said. Today’s Gospel lesson is the familiar parable of the “Good Samaritan.” Before someone says, “Oh, I know what this is all about – we should be kind to everyone,” I would like us to pause for a moment and consider Jesus’ purpose in telling this story. The parable is given in response to a question from a lawyer, someone skilled in the Old Testament law, about how one attains eternal life: “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke alerts us to the fact that the lawyer asked this question “tempting” our Lord, hoping that he would say something for which he could be criticized. Jesus wisely points the man to God’s word, saying, “What does the law say?” The lawyer rightly summarizes the law from the Old Testament itself – love for God and love for ones neighbor (Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18); but Luke tells us something more about the heart of the person making this inquiry of Jesus. “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” The Scripture text does not tell us this directly, but it appears that the lawyer’s conscience reminds him of his failure to love his neighbor as himself, and he wants to find a way to make God’s law compatible with his sin. He wants to know who does or does not count as a neighbor? Jesus’ parable answers the question straightforwardly – no one is exempt from the category of “neighbor,” even social outcasts such as Samaritans.
If we are not careful, we can make the same mistake as the lawyer in this story. We too may try to justify ourselves when confronted with our failure to obey God. Rather than repenting of our sin and asking for God’s forgiveness, we try to find an excuse to say that the Scriptures do not apply to us. We are told by St. Paul that part of the reason God gave the law of the Old Testament was to show us our sin: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20. See also Galatians 3:21-25). Before we can understand God grace in Jesus Christ, we must first be honest about our need for Christ. When God’s word is made to be something less than it is in order to be more palatable to the human taste, we are undermining God’s purposes for us. Through his word and through all things, even the circumstances of life, the Spirit of God is driving to Jesus Christ. In Christ, God makes us into a people who love him with our whole heart and love our neighbors as ourselves. Rather than being like the lawyer, trying to justify ourselves, let us look for the justification that comes from God alone, through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
