Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

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Preached by Winton Boyd on November 9th, 2008

My hunch is that if we, as a group, were asked to name a story that most defines the lifestyle of Christians, the parable of the Good Samaritan would be among those stories. It is among the most familiar stories of the Bible, even for those who don’t read the Bible or go to church.

While a lovely story, the fact that we know it so well has its downsides. As we take a look at this story, we will see that part of its power as originally shared was the repeated element of surprise. While we think we know what it means, Jesus used the story to break open established ideas, challenge comfortable understandings of faith, and to insert new expectations and possibilities for those who follow God.

What I would like to do is simply play with some questions around the edges of this story as a way of seeing if they open up some insights. So I encourage you to keep the Scripture in front of you as most of the questions will flow from the text.

Our version today, The Message, uses the phrase to love your God with “all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence”? Do we think of faith in these terms very often? Do we think of it more as muscle, or intelligence? Do we combine passion and prayer with muscle and mind? If it is a faith like this that under girds the rest of the story – are we challenged or surprised by one of them? Are we balanced in our faith, or are we heavily weighted towards one or two of them? Remember, it is from a faith of passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence that these actions flow.

Who is “the man” in this story?  We are never told much about him. Who do we imagine this person to be?  The original listeners with Jesus would have heard “there was once a JEWISH man…” Luke’s listeners or readers would have heard/read, “there was once a GENTILE man…” Do we imagine this man to be like us, different from us? Do we imagine ourselves as the man? As Deb Holbrook so eloquently stated in her sermon a few months ago, the same stories are heard very differently around the world. How does this shape our sense of what this means?

Many of us know that the first two travelers represent the religious authorities of the day. We have no doubt heard that their response, or lack of response, was no doubt guided by certain rules and regulations. What part of us is like the Levite and the priest? What limits us – fears, regulations, obstacles, time constraints, financial concerns, etc? What are the sophisticated and culturally affirmed ways of avoiding the stranger for us? Avoiding tender care of others? If we were to step back from our “story” and look at it like we look at this biblical story, what would we think of our reasons then?

But who do we imagine is the third traveler? It is here that we see Jesus’ first surprise. [Because we call this the Good Samaritan story, we already know who it will be.] This is not at all what Jesus’ listeners would have expected. They knew that the third person would actually be an Israelite – someone like them, vindicating them in their pursuit for validation as God’s people. By using a Samaritan, Jesus actually shocks them.

No doubt they would have lost the notion of helping a stranger and focused on why it was that Jesus used THAT kind of person. They might not have even heard the end of the story in the midst of their murmurs and whispers amongst themselves while Jesus was still talking – ‘did he say a SAMARITAN?’ So, while the story for us is about tender care of the stranger, we have to ponder, “what was this story really about for Jesus?” The power of helping strangers was not a new concept for his followers. The tradition was full of them. Huh, what is this about then? Is this a story about loving your enemies? Being chastised for the easy judgments we make about each other? A coy attempt to signal his message was not at all limited to people “like him” but would be open to everyone. Really. Everyone?

This whole event takes place on the Jericho Road – a treacherous route of 17 miles that descends 3300 feet. It was full of blind corners, bandits, and environmental challenges. We don’t know why the man was going there. Did he have to be on that road? Was there some flaw in his character? Some arrogance or naivite? Some death wish? Could HE have made better choices? Maybe? We don’t know. What we know is that the road then, and now, is real. For reasons we understand and reasons we don’t, the road to Jericho is littered with beaten, hurting, cold and barely conscious victims. In yet another way, the story seems to suggest ours is not to judge, but to offer mercy. Ours is to go beyond the standard boundaries to show kindness.

Like you, I sometimes have trouble with Jesus’ stories. In this case, I wish the story went further in two ways.

The Samaritan in the story seems to act on his own. While he gains the help of the innkeeper, he seems to be fully in charge. In our experience, don’t we know that most of us need a community to encourage and support us in the pursuit of mercy and kindness? Isn’t that why a church community matters to us? Maybe there is a community emphasis here I am missing? Maybe the fact that the Israelites would be helped by a Samaritan – their neighbors and rivals — was a statement about community. But I wish it said more. I know from experience that without community, spirituality for most of us has neither passion or muscle, and that we have a hard time praying or thinking clearly. We flourish in community…

It is clear that the religious scholar – the one who asked Jesus the question in the first place – understood Jesus’ point. When asked who was neighbor, he said, “the one who treated him kindly.” He knows that neighborliness is about actions, regardless of our identity. And yet, it appears from the text that Jesus is trying to get the man to say a word he would NEVER say, “Samaritan.” This would have pushed the scandalous nature of this story even further. Jesus lets him off too easy, it seems. Maybe, however, if this is a story of surprises and challenges, it is okay that it is coming to a conclusion not yet finished. One gets the sense that the religious scholar, and all of us, would continue to be surprised and challenged and pushed beyond our comfort zones.

The story asks US to cross the road. If good things, important and passionate and faithful things are to happen in our lives – we must cross the road. If we look back at critical decisions we have made, they have often involved stepping out in faith, taking a bold step into unknown territory. Likewise, much of the good that comes from our lives comes from our willingness to live with passion, conviction, muscle, prayer, and intelligence. Whether pushed, or lured, crossing the road to live with mercy is a call we know.

We are at a crossroads in our country, we are at a crossroads in our church. During election week, and on pledge Sunday, we pray for the mercy to be neighbor. We pray for the honesty to see ourselves in all our smallness – and we pray for community and faith and trust. We pray for the open spirit to be surprised and challenged by our God. Amen

Luke 10:25-37 (The Message)

Defining “Neighbor”
25 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”
26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

33-35″A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

36″What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
37″The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
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