Go and Do!
Posted on Jul 10, 2016 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.
I would bet I really didn’t need to read this Gospel story today, did I? After all, we all know the story. We know about the priest and the Levite who saw this beaten, wounded man by the road and passed by on the other side, even though he was a fellow Jew. We know that there was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans. We know that it would have been unthinkable in Jesus’ day for a Jew to want to be like a Samaritan. We know that it would have been a shock to those hearing this story for the first time to believe that a Samaritan would have shown kindness and compassion to a Jew. And we also know that in this story, Jesus completely redefined, or better, yet, blatantly reminded his fellow Jews of God’s definition of who our neighbor is, right?
Now, we might all know this story, and we might be wondering, what else is there. I mean the moral to the story is to be good to all in need. Go and be like that “Good Samaritan.” But I think there are two questions we need to ask ourselves about it. First, why did Jesus even tell the story and secondly, why do we find the lesson Jesus offers in this story so hard to do?
Now, according to Luke, Jesus tells this parable because there was a lawyer who had asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life.” This is a great question and one we all want to know the answer to. We all want to know how we can have an eternal relationship with God. But, this lawyer really isn’t concerned about his relationship with God, no this lawyer had a devious motive for asking. He asked this question to “test” Jesus. But Jesus wouldn’t fall for it and instead of giving some pious answer like “believe in me and all will be good,” he said, “That’s a good question. How would you answer it?” I love this response. You see, Jesus knows any good Jew, who knew the scriptures would know this answer. Keep in mind this lawyer has studied the law and in Jesus’ day the law that lawyers studied was God’s law. So when Jesus challenged the lawyer, the lawyer quoted from the Old Testament: “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.” To which Jesus responded, “Yes, says Jesus, that’s right. You know the answer to your own question. Then Jesus adds the kicker: ‘Do this, and you will live.’”
The lawyer gave the technical answer correctly, he know the law. But, now the lawyer wanted to justify himself, that is literally he wanted to “make himself right.” So, he attempts to test Jesus again by asking the second question. “Ok, Mr. Smartie-pants, Jesus, just who is this neighbor I am supposed to love?” And it is in response to this question that Jesus tells the parable of the Good.
In posing the second question, the lawyer was seeking a loophole. He really wanted to know who he didn’t have to be loving to. The very fact that he asks this second question suggests that he has not been loving his neighbor, but only himself, and he wants to keep it that way.
It’s easy for us to snicker at this lawyer, but sooner or later, all of us find ourselves receiving unwelcome answers to some question. Perhaps we go to the doctor with a physical complaint, hoping he’ll prescribe a pill that will fix things up. Instead, he tells us we need to go on a diet and start an exercise program. Or perhaps we go to a marriage counselor wanting her to straighten out our spouse, only to have her say that we ourselves are part of the problem that needs to be straightened out. Or maybe we’ve been engaging in some behavior we know is wrong, and about which we feel guilty, but we really don’t want to stop doing it, so we seek counsel from a pastor, or other professional hoping they will tell us that we don’t need to feel guilty, or will provide some other suggestion that won’t make us confront ourselves. But instead we are told, you are right it is wrong, stop it now. Most often, we leave these encounters and refuse to change.
This parable that we all know and love to talk about is not just a simple story of an example who we should be like. No, this story is intended to get us to confront the truth about ourselves. It’s a story about our need to change. It’s easy to make excuses for our behavior, for treating others badly, for failing to live up to our Christian ideals, for not trying to break sinful habits, and so on, but to the extent that we continue to ignore our ways and fail to at least attempt to change, we jeopardize our very relationship with God. To the extend that we do so, we fail to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind. If you want eternal life, says Jesus, then “go and do likewise.”
So, this is why Jesus told the parable, but what about that second question, why do we find the lesson Jesus offers in this story so hard to do? Well, I would argue that it is because this story is not about what we should believe, but instead it is about what we should do. Notice when asked the question, Jesus doesn’t say, believe in me, no, he says to gain eternal life, go and do likewise. Like the Samaritan, we are to go and be compassionate, we are to go “do” mercy, and ultimately we are to be like Jesus.
It is so easier to believe this story, but it so hard to live this story. The idea of loving our neighbors is easy, but doing it is hard and that is the challenge laid before us today. It’s not about what we believe, it’s about what we do. Today, our youth and the youth from West Immanuel Lutheran who stayed here last night are on there way to go and do likewise in this world and my prayer is that all of us be like them this week and go and do likewise.
Here at Salem we are in the midst of figuring what we ought to be doing and we have raised many questions. In response, we have said things like, we want to stay here so we can get started now. We want to stay here so we can be a Community Center, so we can be a “neighborhood” church and so we can be a resource to Lenexa. To all of this, I believe Jesus is saying, yes, go and do that. Go and be that. But the question is how do we do this stuff and what does it mean for us to do this stuff. Are willing to change to be a “neighborhood church? Are we willing to change be a community center to this community? Are we willing to change so that we might begin being these things, now? It’s easy to talk about, but it’s hard to do.
So, your leadership would like to hear from you. In your, bulletins today you received a slip of paper that ask you to share your thoughts about what it means to you to Begin Now, Serve as a Resource to Lenexa, Become a Community Center, and Become a neighborhood church. Take a few minutes write down your thoughts with us and then place your slips in the basket on your way out. And, take a few minutes after worship to join us in the Salem Café for a beverage and share those thoughts verbally with each other. As we have been called to do today, Go and do likewise.” Amen