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Preached at All Saints Chapel Free Catholic Church
on Sunday, 11 July 2010
Proper 10-C
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most familiar parables in the Bible. We teach this story to our children, with the idea that they too will become “Good Samaritans.” It is cited widely in our Churches and society as the ideal for true Christian expression.
The story begins when a rich, young lawyer, seeking to justify himself and his selfish world view, cynically asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus reminds him of the great Commandments – Love God and Love your neighbor. But the young man, asks the kind of question that only a lawyer would think of – “Who is my neighbor?”
His agenda is to demonstrate that he is really no different than anyone else; that he is as religious as anyone else; that he is just as pious and devout as anyone else. His agenda in this interview with Jesus is to trap Jesus into making a statement about what is really required to have eternal life, so that he can say, “Well, looks like I’m in!”
But Jesus turns the tables on the lawyer, and does not give him a declarative statement about how to have eternal life or even a definitive statement on just who is his neighbor. Instead, Jesus tells the story that we call the “Good Samaritan” and then asks the man, who was the neighbor? The lawyer responds by saying the man who helped the victim of this crime. Jesus then says, “Go and do the same thing.”
We often rehearse the Great Commandments = Love God and love your neighbor; but then we often go on with little or difference in how we actually demonstrate that love – either for God or our neighbor. But Jesus is telling us today… “Go and do the same thing.” And in telling us this, he is actually showing us the path to eternal life; because the path to inheriting eternal life is not in knowing the Commandments, but rather in doing the Commandments.
And we can only DO the Commandments – even the Great Commandments – if we have adopted the proper view of life which directs all our attitudes and actions.
In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus presents for us three basic views of life. These three views of life capture the whole of life itself, and its expression in the lives of ordinary people.
The First View of Life which we can draw from this story is this: “What’s Yours is Mine…So I’ll Take It.” This is View of Life held and demonstrated by the robbers and thieves who attacked an innocent man. These bandits had little regard for the other man’s life, schedule, possessions, or anything else. There was no respect for him at all. They simply saw him as another opportunity to get something for themselves. They saw his gold as their gold…so they took it. They saw his food as their food….so they took it too. They saw his clothes as their clothes… so they took them. They saw his time as their time, so they took that too. They even saw his life as theirs…and almost took that too, stopping just short of killing him in their attack. They had no respect for this man’s property…no respect for his dignity…no respect for his reputation….no respect for his time… no respect at all, for him, or anyone else, or anything else…including themselves! They were only interested in satisfying their own desires, and stopped just short of murder in the exercise of their view of life – “What’s yours is mine, so I’ll just take it.”
This view of life – “What’s Yours is Mine, so I’ll Take It” is the view that most of the world has, especially today. Our society is one of greed and violence, of recreation and self-indulgence, of personal rights over personal responsibility. This view is reflected each and every night on the television News. Wars are fought because nations have no respect for other nations. Crimes are committed because people have no respect for others property. Law suits are filed, many times to shift the burden of responsibility for own stupidity and ignorance and neglect to someone else, and then to seek compensation for those damages. Reputations are destroyed through gossip and slander, fueled many times by envy and jealousy for what another person has or has accomplished.
“What’s Yours is Mine so I’ll Take It” is the law of the jungle…the survival of the fittest….the dog eat dog approach to life and business and personal relationships. It is the mindset that says, “I’ll stop at nothing to be successful…stop at nothing to achieve my own goals, and stop at nothing to satisfy my own desires and agendas….no matter who gets in the way – even God. It is a complete lack of respect for others and even for self; a complete lack of personal responsibility that blames others for our misfortunes and difficulties; and a complete lack of any compassion decency beyond our own little worlds. That’s the way the robbers thought, and that’s the way many in our world today think – including many so-called Christians, who, despite knowing the Commandments, don’t DO the commandments because they have the wrong view of life.
The second view of life is this… “What’s Mine is Mine, so I’ll Keep It.” This is the view of the Levite and Priest, who passed by the injured man. They were too busy, or too important, or too selfish to give a little aid and comfort. What is more, these two men knew better. They were religious men, trained in the Law and worked in the
This is also a very prevalent attitude in today’s world, and especially among many of the society’s Christians. We are so consumed with our own selves, and our own level of comfort, and our own desires, and our own entertainments, and our own philosophies that we refuse to share ourselves with others – including God. My time belongs to ME… my talents belong to ME… my treasures belong to ME! It is the mindset that refuses to get involved, that sits back and waits to be waited on and served. It is the attitude that complains and gripes and snipes and gossips, but refuses to get involved in a positive way. It is the attitude which says “My Way or the Highway”. It is the attitude that leads many to do something, even for God or the Church, only if their’s something in it for them – especially recognition and appreciation.
What’s mine is mine so I’ll Keep It is the attitude to life that says thanks to God for this plate of food, and then complains that it’s not right… the attitude which acknowledges and even calls for things to change, and then complains because things do change. The attitude which insists that something be done about this or that, but refuses to get up off their own backsides to lend a hand or help get something done about this or that. The attitude which says I’m too busy to help, or I’m too important to help, or I’ve done my share, or you don’t appreciate my efforts. And when others do try to get involved, or make a difference, or be helpful, this approach to life causes some to criticize that it’s not being done right…because that’s not how I would have done it. Never mind the fact that I’m not going to do it…. But it’s not right because if I were going to do it, I’d do it another way…
Unfortunately, this is the attitude we too often see in our Churches and among those who profess to be Christians. Many are so comfortable in their over-fed, over-entertained, over stimulated, air conditioned little worlds looking for Heaven that they can't or won't get up off our behinds and make a difference in our world. We like to talk about all the things that are wrong with our neighborhoods and our world, and we even go so far as to say that something really ought to be done. But we don’t do it. And when someone comes along and tries to do it…. We don’t like how they’re doing it. We don’t like whose doing it. Then, we even go so far as to say, “Why are they doing it?” after we had said, “Someone really ought to do it.”
It has been said, that the first 7 words of the Church are “We Can Do All Things Through Christ.” And that the last seven words of the Church are “We never did it that way before.” Churches are planted and started with the first phrase…. and closed with the second. Sure we can do all things through Christ… just so long as we don’t have to get involved, just as long as we don’t have to make any commitments; just as long as we don’t have to attend every week, just as long as we don’t have to give anything, just as long as we don’t have to make any changes in our lives or attitudes or activities or agendas or way of life…. Just as there are plenty of great programs and wonderful activities and plenty to eat. Sure… it’s easy to do all things in Christ when others are doing it.
What’s Mine is Mine so I’ll keep it is the mindset that sits back, selfishly and comfortably, hanging on to their hope of eternal life, whilst waiting for someone else to do what needs done. This view of life can be summed up by a funeral notice that I read some time ago… which goes like this…
“The church is bowed with grief at the passing of one of our most valuable and faithful members…Mrs. Someone Else. This death creates a vacancy in the life of our parish that will be difficult to fill. Mrs. Someone Else had been a member here for many years, and during all those years, did far more that a normal person’s share of the work. Whenever volunteers or even leadership were needed, everyone looked to Someone Else. Whenever there was a job to fill, no matter how big or small, one name was at the top of everyone’s list – Someone Else. This beloved and faithful member was a wonderfully unselfish person, sometimes appearing super-human. But a person can only do so much. Everyone expected too much of Someone Else… and now she is gone. Gone too is the excuse that so many used for so long when asked to help or do something… “Let Someone Else do it…”
The third view of life is this: “What’s Mine is God’s So I’ll Share it.” This is the view of the so called Good Samaritan. It is the view that says, “I may be busy, I may be in a hurry, I may be poor, I may be tired, but not so much so that I can’t help or get involved or do what God really wants me to do.” It is the view of life that says all that I have and all that I am has come from God, and belongs to God…so I’ll just share what God has given me… including my time, my talents, my treasure, my heart.
This is the view of life that Christians are called to have. This is the view of life that is unselfish, is kind, is patient, is understanding, is involved, and has respect and love both for God and for others. It’s the view of life that says nothing is too hard, nothing is more important, nothing will keep me from living the way God wants me to live, doing what God wants me to do, and making a real difference in my community and even in the world.
This is the view of life that focuses on MY impact in the world around me, not on MY eternal life in Heaven… and the by product of this view and all my efforts, through Christ, then is eternal life.
Why? Because this is the view that understands what God really wants from us – which is … our heart… our whole heart… and nothing but our heart!
Many of you have heard me say that if the sum total and only goal of Christianity is Heaven, then Christianity is pretty thin. There has to be more to it than just feeling good about ourselves because we got our sins forgiven so we get to go to Heaven. Even in this interview with the lawyer, his focus in HIS place in Heaven and having some smug assurance of eternal life. But Jesus doesn’t give him some 3 point plan for salvation or eternal life; rather, he demonstrates how we should celebrate this salvation by striving to take what we know of Christ, incorporate the great commandments into our mindset, and then apply it all each and every day right here where we are… and that in the end, we will receive the reward, which just happens to be Eternal Life.
However, this view of life, this understanding that what’s mine is God’s so I’ll share it, has to be developed in folks. That’s because for too long, the focus of our faith HAS been this nebulous distant hope of eternal life in heaven… all at the expense of our life and our responsibilities in the here and now on earth. Some folks are so bent on heaven that they’re absolutely no earthly good at all; and that is NOT what Jesus had in mind.
However, once we begin to make that shift in our thinking and view of life, and when we give our whole heart to God, then all the rest gets just a little bit easier to do… even obeying the Great Commandments.
We suddenly find that we DO have time for God…and we stop telling ourselves that we’re too busy. We discover that we DO have time for others…. and we stop telling ourselves we’re too tired. We find that we DO have the capacity and talents to make a difference – be it big or small in the world around us… and especially in our Church, and the “CAN”T” word begins to go away. After all, didn’t God give us our lives and the time and the capacity and talents, so that we CAN be what he wants us to be.
Look… our job is not to build the kingdom of God in Heaven… that’s being done already by none-other than Jesus Christ himself.
After all, he said that he was going to prepare a place for us… and I don’t see anywhere in the Scriptures that He needs any assistants or subcontractors in doing that.
But he did say, “Go into all the WORLD and make disciples…” He did say, “The Kingdom of God is within you…” Our focus needs to be all that’s going on all around us, right here and now… and when we’re finished trying to make a little piece of Heaven right here on earth – in Jesus’ Name, we are then rewarded with eternal life in the place that Jesus has prepared for us in Heaven.
We have to recognize that all we have, our time, talents, jobs, homes, families, and the all the rest come from God, for the Scriptures say in James 1:17 – “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes from the Father…” God owns it all…our time, our house, our talents, our money, our cars, our careers, and our very life and existence. Everything! He owns it, he has loaned it to us, and he wants us to share it…
Now, it is at this point, that most Preachers would start waxing lyrical and stress the idea of how God owns your money too, and how you should start getting involved by giving your money back to God. But I’m not going to do that… that’s a matter between you and God. I’m not interested in your money… and by the way…neither is God. I’m more interested in YOU, and God is more interested in your heart; because if God owns your heart, then he also you’re your wallet. That’s why I never preach on money.
Does God own our heart? Have we given him our life? Does the commandment to “Love God with ALL our Heart, ALL our Soul, and ALL our Strength” have real meaning for us? Does it motivate us and control our actions, attitudes and priorities; or is it just a nice little phrase that we can proudly recite – just like the Lawyer – and then go on in our own, selfish, disinterested way whilst singing songs of heaven? If we have indeed place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we will recognize God as the owner of everything in our life, and we are supposed to live by the view of life that says, “What’s Mine is God, so I’ll Share it.”
What made the Good Samaritan so Good? He gave of himself to get involved in the life on some else, and didn’t let himself get in the way. Complete appreciation for his position in God, complete appreciation for the commandments of God, and complete demonstration of both… a complete and unselfish Love.
That is the path to eternal life that the Lawyer did not want to explore…. And neither do so many folks today. Do we? Our Faith in Jesus Christ and a surrendering of self to him as Lord and Owner and Savior has got to be more than a nebulous search for eternal life… it has to be a practical demonstration of all that know right here on earth – in loving and serving our neighbors as ourselves and loving God with our whole heart, and making a little bit of Heaven right here on earth.
If we can do that, then maybe – just maybe, someday in the future, when you ARE in heaven, someone here will write or tell a story about YOUR life … as a Good Samaritan.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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