The Good Samaritan

Christianity starts with a new birth. It continues forever as a new life. New life begins immediately after the new birth, subverting and supplanting the old life until the new life is the only life when the last vestiges of this life fall away. If the new life does not replace the old life, then we have reason to question whether the new birth was really a new birth. Without the new life, the new birth is a false labor pain. The difference between birth pangs and a kidney stone is what comes out at the end. The trouble with us is that we keep thinking new life must be like old life. The old life was guided by rules. Our natural sinful natures were only kept in check by a long list of rules, beginning but not limited to the Ten Commandments. New life is not governed by rules but relationships--especially our relationship with God. The difference between a rule-oriented old life and the relationship-oriented new is like the relationship between spending time doing our taxes and spending time romancing our wives. So how does Jesus describe this new life to others—especially those who live in a rule-oriented uptight world dominated by Pharisees? Jesus explains it by a “living” form of communication—stories. Jesus used parables—a Greek word which means “to lay beside for comparison” to convey his meaning. Parables do not tell us how we should live. Instead, they are moral tales which tell us why we live in the new life. Let’s start with one we know—The Good Samaritan. Luke:25-30 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?":25-29 This expert in the Law is an expert on the old life. He doesn’t even know what eternal life is. He thinks new life is an extension of the old one. He therefore assumes that something he does, some behavior based on Old Testament principles—will cause him to please God and he will be granted an external extension of life as he knows it. The Old Testament doesn’t actually teach that the laws make us holy, or give us eternal life. That was a mistake they made. To the man’s credit, he had actually memorized that the Old Testament. He knew what it did say. He knew that the whole of the Law was summarized in two key passages. The first was Deuteronomy 6:5 “You will love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and all your mind.” Every good Jew recited this every day. The second was Leviticus 19:18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”The first part usually was ignored, but the loving your neighbor part had been taken out of context and used as a guide. He knew the verses. He memorized the verses. He just didn’t get the verses. We know this because of what he said next. “Who is my neighbor?” This is an attempt to justify himself. Here’s a secret that everyone who ever worked with the law knows--laws are full of loopholes. If we define “neighbor” as everyone in the whole world, then we had better be nice to everyone. But if we can narrowly define neighbor to mean only some people, we can get by with being nasty to some, and still feel justified. If my definition of “neighbor” is only the guy who lives beside me, or the guy on my pew, then I am free from the burden of caring for the fellow on the next block. I can go even further. Any special privilege that I seek for myself will probably fall on them as well. So if I fight with my country to annex a bit of another country, am I not killing others to love my “neighbor”? If we steal the fortune from a rich man and give to people who are poor like us, then am I not loving my neighbor? We can excuse all kinds of criminal behavior by saying we love our neighbor. In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was called the “red road” because of all the banditry on the road. Anyone who stopped on that road to help another was putting his life in danger. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Priests and Levites were the religious people of their day. They traveled this road often, usually hurrying home from work in Jerusalem, or back home afterwards. On the campus of Union Seminary in Richmond, a student conducted an experiment. He hired an actor to portray a sick, homeless man, with a critical problem. He positioned himself on the sidewalk going to the seminary between classes. Very few students stopped. Some ever stepped over the man in a hurry to get to class. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' Samaritans were half-breed Jews who worshipped in a semi-pagan way. The Jews despised them above all other people. There is only one inn on the road, and it would have been filled with Jewish people who would also despise the Samaritan. "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, h"The one who had mercy on him."Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 30-37 We can recast this story in our time. Let Jerusalem to Jericho be a street in downtown Charlotte or the sleazy side of Lancaster or Kershaw. Let Priests and Levites be ministers, deacons, or choir directors. Let the Samaritan be a Muslim, or a gay man, or a black man—whatever. The result is still the same. It all makes sense. The Bible chooses its words carefully. Leviticus does not say love your fellow man. He says love your neighbor—the person you encounter along the way. He or she might be near you. He or she might be someone far away with whom you just happen to have heard. A neighbor can be in Africa, if we know them or of them. But if we see a person bleeding on the road, they are our neighbor, for sure. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not a rule. This teacher of the Law thought loving was something you had to try to do. Love is a characteristic of the new life—a fruit of the spirit. We seek out opportunities to help. If we have not really been born again, then we will not experience His compassion, nor share that compassion with others. Jesus gave us this extreme example to remind us of what a new life in Jesus is like. I do not tell you to love your neighbor as yourself. I only tell you that it is a trait of the born again. If you do not have that desire, then telling you won’t help. You need to be born again. But if you have that desire to be good Samaritans, then I offer three words of advice. ---First, you can never give to a person without taking something away. The Good Samaritan helped a man who was helpless by the road. This was good and appropriate. But suppose the man was not helpless. Suppose the man had only been slightly injured? Then the Good Samaritan’s actions would have taken away from him as much as he gave. He would have taken away his independence and self respect. The next week, when the Samaritan returned, he might find the same man lying in the road, looking for a free ride to the inn. We must have compassion, but if we help those who don’t need our help, we cripple them. We make them unable in the end to fend for themselves. We would have done them evil instead of good. ---Second, don’t be afraid to rest. Even Jesus when could not help everyone at all times. He had to get away sometimes. Trust God to show you what you can do and feel no guilt about the rest. Buddhists tell stories about people of unusual compassion—Bodhsivatas. One such story tells of a monk so selfless that, when he saw a sick, hungry tiger on the road, he lay down beside it so the tiger could eat him. It was a great act of compassion. The problem was, he could only do it once and in the end, the only one happy he did it was the tiger. ---First, don’t be afraid to be taken occasionally. There are many unscrupulous people in the world who will take advantage. You can’t stop them. You want to weed them out, but you never will completely. Remember that there is no sin in being fooled, but there is sin in letting a legitimate need that we can meet go unmet. John tells us I John 3:17 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” This church has proven itself to be compassionate. Of all the things a church may be known for, that is the one that pleases me the most, because it reflects the quality of the new life in the community. I pray that we will continue to look for ways to express that compassion, as we have in food drives and relays for life, and in so many other ways. Let’s carry that same spirit over into our personal witness as well. That person who you see behind the drug store counter is your neighbor. They may be lost without Christ. That person you stand behind in the line at the fast food restaurant is your neighbor. I wonder how their marriage is doing? That teacher who gives you a hard time is your neighbor, too. Let’s not bear a grudge. We are all on the same ball of dirt together, and our lives affect everyone on it. But if you are born again, you know all that. Just walk in the Spirit that you already know.