The Big Picture

Deuteronomy 30: 9-14, Psalm 25: 1-10, Colossians 1: 1-14, Luke 10: 25-37

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.  Amen      (Psalm 19:19) (Please be seated.)

I believe it is an essential part of human nature to ask, “How am I to accomplish that?” My recent work experience, being in a new job in which I am without the support of familiar supervisors, has certainly put me “outside of my comfort zone” and made me realize how much I relied on the guidance of their experience. I find that I must rely much more on my own interpretation of the government rules, regulations and guidelines for providing health care, and often am setting guidelines for others when I would be much more comfortable having someone give me specific directions or tasks to accomplish.  I find that I really must study and understand the intent and look at the “big picture” of our health care system to assist our staff in providing the proper level of service for our clients.

I believe that this search for the “correct or proper” way to relate to God has been a recurrent theme in the history of the Christian Church and even in the centuries before the times of Jesus. I propose that this search for a “correct relationship to God” has been, and remains, at the core of many if not most of the divisions and dissentions among people of faith.

There is no lack of instructions for us to follow. In the Bible itself we have the 10 Commandments given to Moses to clarify our relationship and actions toward God. There is also the entire book of Leviticus, which is filled with daily actions and prohibitions to assist in proper worship of God, sacrifices deemed worthy, and the maintenance of holiness and purity of worshipers. The epistles to the early Christian churches also are filled with instructions on how to act toward one another as well as those outside the early followers of Jesus’ teachings.

This tradition of adding to and interpreting has continued throughout history, with the establishment of traditions, creeds, canons, statements of faith and liturgical actions.

So how does one wend their way through the increasingly complex instructions and often conflicting ideas of practicing their faith? Whose interpretation of a right relationship are we to believe, especially when the interpretations appear to conflict with one another?

One way to test an instruction is to test the authenticity of the one who is giving it. A second way is to compare the answer with the “big picture” of God’s message.

The gospel story we have read today, I believe, is the perfect example of this question and the perfect answer to the forms of faith and worship. To begin with the question is asked directly and succinctly. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  No matter what the motivation for this question, it goes directly to the heart of our spiritual wellbeing.

The responses likewise meet the criteria for being an authentic and important answer. First, who is giving us the answer? There is no one more qualified to teach us than Jesus. Because of his unique relationship to God and to humanity, Jesus is the ultimate authority of how to maintain that relationship. More than Moses, more than Paul, more than any of the modern interpreters and exhorters of religious life, Jesus is the one I trust to inform me of how to maintain a spiritual life.

The answer meets the second criteria for being an authentic and important answer also. “Love the Lord 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.” This central thread of Love and Compassion run throughout the entire tangle of spiritual interpretation and instructions. Unlike many others, this central thread can as easily be applied to the “big picture” as it can be applied to individual situations. This for me is the final test of authenticity.

The answer applies to individual situation of our reading from Deuteronomy. Moses had led the Children of Israel from bondage in Egypton a journey through the desert which lasted 40 years. The principles for behavior and instructions for relationship with God had been chiseled in stone and the heavy tablets had been carried with them through all the time spent trudging through the desert.  In his final instructions, Moses is reminding them that God is even closer than the pillars of smoke and fire which showed them the way in the desert, and even closer than the solid written tablets of the covenent. The Children of Israel specifically and we today are reminded that God is in our mouths, God is in our hearts.

We are no different than the Children of Israel. They liked to have everything laid out before them in absolute terms.  But once again, the answer is not in the specific actions but is in the focus or direction of our lives, the acceptance of God’s spirit in our lives. Ezekiel 36:26 describes it well; “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

(God’s Spirit is in our words, God’s Spirit is in our actions, God’s Spirit is in our compassion).

Compassion – is the result of a heart of flesh.

Compassion – is what Jesus was addressing in the parable of the Good Samaritan

Compassion – compels action

The second question the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” can actually be restated as “Who do I have to love?”  “And exactly how much do I have to love?” We often are like that young lawyer in that we want life to be reduced to specific actions we can live with easily. We want to love people who love us, or at least love people who we feel are loveable, or do nice things for people who can possibly do nice things back for us.

Jesus story though teaches us a better way. Jesus’ story teaches us the basics of always responding to God and our immediate surroundings with compassion.

Compassion is based on need not worth!

“A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.” This is an unknown victim. There is no way to tell his position in life – he was naked, he had been beaten and was completely covered with blood and dirt. He was just “some guy”. Some guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, he needed help in the worst way.

This desperately wounded man is bypassed by two of the most respectable, religious representatives of the community, a priest and a Levite (an assistant in the synagogue). They pretended that they didn’t see the dying man. They were both busy, their hands were clean, their clothes were proper, and they must not be soiled by blood and mud.  But, they weren’t monsters. They were regular people. They just didn’t want any trouble.

“But a Samaritan came near him; and when he saw him he was moved with pity.”  It was shocking for Jesus to say this to his audience, here was a Samaritan helping a Jew who had been ignored by his fellow Jews. The Samaritans and the Jews at that time had a mutual distrust bordering on hatred. Today we call this story “The Parable of the Good Samaritan”. In those days the words “good’ and “Samaritan” would not have been used in the same sentence.  But, Compassion feels something! And when the Samaritan looked at the suffering of this unknown man half-dead lying by the side of the road, something happened – his heart churned, possibly his stomach churned as well. But, he had to help him, the feelings of compassion made it impossible to walk away.

Compassion not only feels something but Compassion Does Something!

 

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”  It probably wasn’t convenient. Compassionate actions are often not convenient. The Samaritan most likely had his own needs and his own schedule. But Jesus made a point of how active the compassionate response was. In that short statement are six action verbs. 1) He “went to him”. 2) He “bandaged his wounds”. 3) He “poured oil and wine on his wounds”. 4) He “put him on his donkey”. 5) He “brought him to an inn”. 6) He “took care of him”. This man went the extra mile to help. He even left money with the innkeeper to insure that the wounded man would continue to be taken care of. There is nothing more the Samaritan could have done to show his compassion for the wounded man.

Finally, Compassion Demonstrates Our Relationship with God

At the conclusion of the story Jesus asks one additional question “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the one who fell among the thieves?”  The lawyer can’t even bring himself to say the word “Samaritan” so he responds “The one who showed him mercy”; “The one who showed him compassion.”

This lawyer is left without any excuses. We also are left without any excuses. That question “Who is my neighbor?” has been turned around and is now even for us restated, “What kind of neighbor am I?”

 What must I do to inherit eternal life? The ultimate authority has given us the ultimate, coherent answer.

Love – Have compassion – Perform love. The actions are not the justification nor are they the motivation. Actions are the result of the Love and Compassion.

The Old Testament prophet Micah echoes the message, “God has shown you what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? - To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

“Go and do likewise.”

Amen

Doug Clay