SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2025 | AFTER PENTECOST - Proper 10 (c)

Notes

Deuteronomy:

. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, 10 when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Revised Common Lectionary (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2009).

Colossians:

11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Revised Common Lectionary (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2009).

Luke: Being a neighbor is not about proximity, but rather about the relationship of care we have for each other.

Good morning,

It seems like yesterday that I preached on Good Samaritan - luckily, it was at a different church, so even if I start repeating myself, you will not be able to tell! But I digress...

It is a famous story - a backdrop to the Good Samaritan laws that “offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or whom they believe to be injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law). They are present in places like the U. S., Canada. Australia, or India, while elsewhere (continental Europe or a good portion of South America) have Duty to rescue laws.

It is a story that is meant to elicit strong emotions in its hearers - compassion with the unlucky compatriot, outrage at both the priest and Levite for choosing not to help, and then a shock of surprise and amazement at the merciful actions of someone they consider a religious and national enemy. The help comes from an unexpected source, all the while those that are supposed to help do not.

The story humanizes the Samaritan, who is suddenly not just a stereotype and trope of national discourse, someone out there. Psychologically speaking, such stories may help in increasing people’s empathy and there is science to back that up.

Recent research at University of Leeds and University of Kent has demonstrated that imagining intergroup contact can be sufficient to reduce explicit prejudice directed towards out-groups. For example, “non-Muslim participants who

imagined talking to a Muslim stranger subsequently showed more positive implicit

attitudes towards Muslims in general.” (British Journal of Social Psychology (2010), 49, 129-142, TURNER, R. and CRISP, R. - Imagining intergroup contact reduces implicit prejudice). Interesting stuff, isn’t it?

In other words, stories have power and the Jewish lawyer recognizing the Samaritan as his neighbor is a good example of that - he got to think about the Samaritans in a slightly different context! Two important concepts are at play here:

Love and mercy are not about who deserves it, but who needs it.

Being a neighbor means crossing boundaries—of race, religion, and comfort.

The truth is that loving thy neighbor, even and especially if they are your enemy is a challenging piece of Jesus’ teaching - at its core, it is so simple and direct and that makes it so much harder for our minds to out-clause and out-exemption it if we are to approach it with integrity and fidelity as the followers of Jesus. As many truths of our faith, it has a way of taking a hold of us and challenging us.

Putting any exclusions or exemptions on Jesus’ command only dilutes and weakens the teaching and when you start doing that, before long, you may find yourself knee deep in your own self-interest and deception about how you are doing all that you can. And that’s no good.

It is one thing to rightfully acknowledge that there are limitations to how much we can fulfill this command, but it another thing entirely to deceive ourselves and to think that we are fulfilling this command. On the contrary, there is always room for improvement!

The world and its leaders are sometimes pushing a very narrow view of who this “neighbor” is and that can be very appealing as it takes some of that pressure off and makes it more achievable. A “right” kind of immigrant, a refugee up until the quota, a foreigner with the right manners and culture, a fellow citizen of the “appropriate” class and status, and so on and so forth. Suddenly, the pool of “neighbors” we ought to love and care for is rather small, more of a splash pool in one’s backyard, whereas God’s vision is more like the ocean, from horizon to horizon, including everyone!

Having empathy that doesn’t discriminate and mindset that seeks to help those that need it is dangerous - unfortunately, much of our present society is built on exploitation. The shareholder rat race relies on minimum wage desperate people doing the majority of work in many businesses - restaurant servers, entertainers, shuttle bus drivers, cleaning staff, assistants, and so many others are working long hours to simply survive with nothing to save for rainy days and one step away from falling into financial ruin. Don’t focus on those, the system is working as it is supposed for the deserving ones, the world whispers to us.

But if we heed the call of God to truly care for ALL our neighbors, the status quo is starting to get cracks in its shell of complacency and complicity. Then, that $2 cheeseburger or $1.99 eggs might stir something in our mind - how can it be so cheap in today’s economy? It is not made by robots! Or perhaps we might begin thinking about the “free” same day deliveries… We may realize that they are not done just by somebody, but by our neighbors that need to pay their medical or educational debt and do their best to support their families. “Love thy neighbor” then becomes so much more than helping somebody by the roadside, it affects all that we do and we are called to act like it and it can look like supporting small businesses with higher prices, but fairer work conditions or choosing to buy fair trade chocolate and coffee that wasn’t made with child slave labor on a different continent. These choices matter and create a tapestry of love and care for each other. And the good news is that you are also someone’s neighbor and the Holy Spirit is hard at work to stir love and care for you in others! God wants us to be one and until then, we are called to a free exchange of love and care for each other in preparation for it. Amen.