The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The man who comes to our Lord at the beginning of today’s Gospel text has it all wrong. He, like so many in our world today, is overly focused on himself and his own actions. And so, he asks the Lord:

“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25).

To begin with, the logic of the question is completely misguided. What does anyone ever “do” to inherit something? Inheritance is a gift, not something which is earned. The more logical way to ask the question would have been: “What must I do to earn eternal life?” But the man, being an expert in the Law, knows that eternal life is a gift—it is an inheritance, just as the Promised Land was an inheritance given to the Israelites by the Lord. And yet, the man can’t shake the human tendency to insert himself into the gift. “What must I do?”—as if it is all about him.

How often do we see this exact attitude in our world today? It’s more prevalent that you may realize. Culturally speaking, we tend to think exactly like this lawyer. Without maybe even realizing what we’re doing, we train our children to think that good people go to heaven. I know this is true because I have heard more than one child at our own school say as much this past week. We constantly tell our children to “be good” rather than teaching them about honoring the Lord. We are obsessed with determining who is a “good person” and who is not. And our standard of good is always based on the same thing—have you done the right things?

The man’s real problem is that he is looking at the wrong thing. He is looking at himself instead of looking at Jesus and His Word. Our Lord says that Christians are different. He says to His disciples privately:

“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it” (Luke 10:23-24).

So it is that the Christian life looks different than the life of the pagan and apostate world. This is because the Christian life is lived by looking away from self. And through our Lord’s subsequent parable of the Good Samaritan, He shows us the vital and central point of how the Christian life is lived, namely, that: The Christian life is lived in the dynamic of Law and Gospel. This dynamic directs our eyes away from ourselves to Christ’s promises and our neighbor’s need. There are multiple layers of meaning in our Lord’s parable which illustrate this point.

First, our Lord shows us the Law. A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell among robbers who beat him and left him for dead. Subsequently, three men encountered the half-dead man on the road. The first two, a priest and a Levite, passed by, refusing to help the poor man. But the third, a Samaritan foreigner, had mercy on the man and cared for him at great personal expense. Our Lord asks the man, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” (Luke 10:36). The answer could not be clearer: “He who showed mercy on him” (Luke 10:37a). And the Lord, echoing His earlier answer to the man’s previous question, re-affirms: “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37b).

How many of us have done this? How many of us are a perfect neighbor to those who are in need? Too often, I fear that our attitude is much more like the priest and Levite who are annoyed to be inconvenienced by someone else’s need. We have lives of our own. We are always in a hurry. We don’t have time to stop and help someone else in need because we are already approaching maximum capacity for our own energy and time. When someone asks for help on a project, we have to consult the calendar to see if we can squeeze it in. When a person dares to actually answer our pleasant question of “How are you?” with a real answer, we become instantly annoyed and frustrated. How dare this person break social convention to force themselves on me. The point is, by our Lord’s standards, we are terrible neighbors. We begrudge those in need because we are too busy focusing on ourselves and our own lives. Suddenly, our Lord’s words: “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28) leads us to the realization: “I have not done this.”

But the eyes which turn away from self and look to Jesus are invited to see something more—something infinitely beautiful in this parable. For the certain man heading from the heavenly city of Jerusalem to the cursed city of Jericho is me. I have walked away from the dwelling place of God by virtue of my many sins. I have fallen among the robbers of sin, death, and the devil, who have taken everything from me and left me for dead. The Law, represented by the priest and the Levite, cannot save me. All they do is further show me my sin. But then a foreigner comes. One who is like me but is different. This man is Jesus, the Good Samaritan, who had compassion on me. He bandaged my wounds with the oil and wine of His Sacraments. And He brought me to the inn of the Church, in whose care I have been left until He returns to make me whole and grant me the gift of eternal life.

This is the answer to how one inherits eternal life. It is not by virtue of the Law. It is the Gospel and the Gospel alone which grants me eternal life. On my own, I am left for dead on the side of the road. I have not loved by neighbor as myself, and I certainly do not love the Lord God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. I am hopelessly left for dead on my own. But Christ Jesus has come as the Good Samaritan to save me from sin and death. At the cost of His own life He has given me life and entrusted me to the care of the Church until He returns to make all things new. This is the pure gift which, sadly, many have failed to see. And yet, I have been given to see it—to see Jesus as my Good Samaritan.

And so it is that this Gospel leads us back to the Law: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). This command of our Lord is not a burdensome command. For our salvation is not contingent upon our ability to show compassion and love like our Lord. And yet, out of joy and thankfulness, the Christian is compelled to be like Christ and to show mercy to others who are in need. At times, we fail to do this well. Quite often we do it with a bad attitude. Sometimes we fall short completely. Such is the nature of sinners. But here in the inn of the Church, we are shown our sin, offered the absolving Gospel, and given strength in Christ to get up and try again.

This, dear friends in Christ, is the dynamic of the Christian life. While the world is so focused on goodness and right behavior by their own standards, Christians are focused on living in the dynamic of God’s Law and His Gospel. You are a sinner, but Christ has earned you forgiveness at great personal cost. That forgiveness compels us to joyfully have compassion on others as Christ has done for us. But then we fall short. We sin often. And we run back to the promises of the Gospel wherein we are strengthened to get back up. Notice how the Christian life is not focused on self. The only time that a Christian focuses on himself is to examine his heart and sins. Otherwise, the Christian life is lived in the dynamic of Law and Gospel, looking to Christ’s promises and our neighbor’s need.

God grant it.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.