Grace to
you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our theme
this Lent is “Connect.” Last week I
talked about “connectors” in scripture – those little phrases that string
together the narrative like “Once, Then, Now, While this was happening, On the
next day, etc.” Today our piece of the sacred story starts with a similar
connector: “Just then.” So as we pay
attention to these connectors, we wonder: What happened “Just then” before the
lawyer stood up to test Jesus?
This is
when we are all sad that we do not have pew Bibles. Though if you want to get out your smart
phone to pull up your Bible App, please do – it’s Luke, chapter 10. If you do, you can check out the verses
immediately before our “Just then,” …/// Here, Jesus is rejoicing upon the
return of the 70 returning. The 70
disciples had been sent out to minister to many places and they returned,
surprised of the great power the Spirit of God had done through them –
specifically to cast out demons! -
Remember last week’s reading, when Jesus cast out a demon that the disciples
could not? So Jesus rejoices – in verses
18-24, I’ll read just 19-20:
19 See, I
have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless,
do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your
names are written in heaven.”
Jesus is
celebrating with the disciples and praising God for the work God is doing to
bring in the kingdom. To heal the world,
and “Just Then”… a lawyer stands up.
What do
you think he was thinking, that lawyer? What
is he trying to do? Is he challenging Jesus, or is he trying to connect with
Jesus? Is he setting up a road block, or
inviting Jesus to explain further? Something
else entirely?
You have
probably heard this parable before – the parable of the Good Samaritan. Parables are great fun for they give us a
story to unpack again and again in new ways for every new time. Today we look at the connection of the
parable to the people who were listening to it.
The context of this parable isn’t simply that a lawyer or scribe is
asking Jesus a challenging question.
That question is asked “just then” after Jesus has been rejoicing with
the 70 disciples who have just gathered together again after doing powerful
ministry among the people. Was this
lawyer one of those disciples? That’s
what I am going with today. Rather than
the lawyer being an opposing force, what if he is one of those 70 disciples who
has just had the awesome and life-changing experience of casting out demons
with his own hands? What if he is
simply, being lawyer-like, trying to pin down that experience in words and
rules he understands and can defend in court?
What if he is looking for the way to spread this good news further? To explain it in plain terms?
Ok, Jesus…
make it clear: what must I do, precisely, to harness this most amazing power I
have seen working through my very own hands, this “Eternal Life”? How do I make this feeling last forever? How
do I give it to more people? What’s the
formula? How can I codify this
transformation happening, even now, in me?
And Jesus
tells him a story.
But we
cannot attempt to grasp this parable without knowing who Samaritans are. For us, due to our Good Samaritan laws, “Samaritan”
is generally thought of as a positive word.
But, let me remind you… a only a few verses ago, in chapter 9, verses 51
and following:
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up,
he set his face to go to Jerusalem.52 And
he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the
Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his
face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it,
they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and
consume them?”[k] 55 But he
turned and rebuked them. 56 Then[l] they went on to another village.
These
Samaritan villages rejected him. And it
was a sore point for the disciples. This
is not a new sore point.
Samaritans
were the people who worshipped the same God (Yahweh), but came from the
northern tribes of Israel, the kingdom which was destroyed before the southern
kingdom of Judah. The people from the
Southern tribes were called Jews. These
are all descendants of Abraham. But the
Jews, when they came back from the Babylonian exile, did not recognize the
Samaritans as people worshipping God rightly, as, of course, they were. So the nation of Israel was split, along
kingdom lines… that kingdom that God had not wanted in the first place,
remember?
Religiously,
Samaritans are the first cousins of the Jews of Jesus’ day. And like often happens with tribes, it is
easier to let the differences divide us, no matter our many similarities.
And so
when the lawyer stood up in the midst of the rejoicing over the 70 who had just
had such a beautiful experience of God’s restoring work… He speaks the same
sentiment that Peter spoke on that mountain top at the transfiguration, “Tell
us Jesus, how do we make this last?”
And
Jesus’ response is… less than satisfying.
Did he really have to bring up the Samaritans?
How do
you make this last? Jesus says…You know
the law and the prophets, what do they tell you?
Love God,
love your neighbor, replies the Lawyer.
Do this
and you will live. Says Jesus.
But this
is not enough for the lawyer.
Who is my
neighbor?
Well,
everyone knows the answer to that… “You shall love the alien as yourself, for
you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).
It is a
basic tenet of the Jewish Faith, and therefore the Christian faith.
But who is
a “neighbor”? Who is an “alien” the one we have never met? The one who lives next to us? The one that is so strange to us… the one we
despise and reject?
And then
Jesus tells the story. Not about the
Samaritan in the ditch, that would not have been so surprising – we all know
that the one in the ditch needs a neighbor.
Jesus
tells the story starting with the men in front of him, Jewish man. And says, suppose one of you was in a ditch,
robbed and beaten.
Now
imagine who would come along to help you.
Would it be a priest? A
levite? A scribe? All Jewish authorities… well, not these,
Jesus says.
But
imagine you are in a ditch, Jesus says.
And another man comes along who is not of your tribe. The one person you would rather die than
take help from.
Who
would that be for you?
·
The brother you haven’t spoken to in years
·
The junior high bully who wouldn’t leave you alone
·
The investment banker who cheated you
·
The people who ignored you in a time of need
·
The politician you most despise
The good
brother, the good bully, the good cheat, the good politician…That’s the Good
Samaritan.
…
The theme
for us this Lent is “Connect.” Jesus
invites those faithful, dedicated disciples to consider with whom they may be
denying their human connection. Us
too. Jesus invites us, to think about
what that kind of re-connection would mean for our lives.
Who are
our neighbors?
·
The person across the street we just can’t stand?
·
The one who has more than us? The one who has less?
·
Those we serve at The Closet?
·
The Muslims who came to visit us last week?
·
The Jews from whom we came as Christians?
·
The ones who are suffering hate at the hands of others?
And in
re-defining “neighbor” one more time, Jesus invites to connect with God. This is God’s will, that we might connect
with God and each other. It’s as simple as the lawyers first answer, and as
hard as the parable lets on.
It’s as
simple as serving with Martha’s heart and listening with Mary – not thinking we
have to choose between one and the other.
And as hard as not resenting our sister may be.
As we
connect with God this Lenten season in prayer, fasting and giving, may God
transform the connections among us at Bethlehem, and between each of us and the
world.
Amen.
