Sermon Tone Analysis

*Asking the Right Question*

*July 15, 2007  UCUMC*

*Luke 10:25-37*

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan arises out of a discussion between Jesus and an expert in the law – a Pharisee.

Here is a religious lawyer and he is asking a question on the nature of the law.

The revised standard translation of Luke sets the stage with these words: “*/Behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test./*”

Well, it's not the first time and probably won’t be the last time that a lawyer phrased a trick question.

It was the kind of question in which any kind of an answer would pose still further problems.

It was a test question: “*/Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life./*”

Now right away we know that this man was a Pharisee, because the Pharisees believed in eternal life and the Sadducees did not.

Jesus could tell that this man was an perceptive student of the law so he asked him: “*What is written?*”

In other words, “*use your own mind to discern the essence of the law*”.

Jesus, like a good discussion leader, throws the question right back in his lap.

He wants to make this man think through what he already knows.

\\ \\ The lawyer had a good answer.

He said: “*/You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself./*”

This was a direct quote from Deuteronomy 6.

It was part of the Shema, a confession regularly made in Jewish worship.

Jesus says: “*Excellent.

You are correct – I have no complaint with this.

You have not only penetrated to the essence of the law, your answer is concise and to the point.

Do this and you /shall/ live.

\\ * \\ So, the question had been asked and the answer given.

You would think that the man would be pleased and go on about the rest of his day.

But lawyers are never happy.

A lawyer’s responsibility is to define the limits of liability.

“*/But he, desiring to justify himself, asked/* ‘*/Who is my neighbor./*’”

In other words, where does my responsibility stop?

Who exactly am I responsible for?” \\ \\ At this point, instead of further defining the question, Jesus shifts gears; he tells a story.

A way of indirect teaching.

\\ \\ “*/A certain man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho/*.”

We can surmise that this man was probably a Jew because this was a road going right through the heart of Judea.

He had probably been up to Jerusalem to worship and now he’s going back to the City of Palm Trees.

It was a very long serpentine road starting at Jerusalem, the highest point, 2,500 feet above sea level, and going straight down to Jericho, nearly 800 feet below Sea Level.

The lowest place on the face of the earth not covered by water--the deepest city in the world.

\\ \\ The Jericho Road was a notoriously thief-infested seventeen mile stretch of rocky mountainous road.

Not only long, it was lonely; and it was crowded with caves and danger.

Since the road was so often traveled by religious pilgrims and businessmen and because it was so crooked, robbers frequented the road often.

In fact, the route was so ripe for pillage that it had been nicknamed “*The Bloody Pass*”.

By the time you rounded a bend the bandits were there and you really had no chance to escape.

I suppose if there had been newspapers it would not have been unusual to read about the latest mugging on the Jericho Road.

\\ \\ And that’s what happens to our traveler in Jesus story.

He falls prey.

He was ambushed, robbed, beaten, stripped, and left to die in a pool of his own blood.

Now, the question in the story is who is going to stop and help?

Who is it that will not give in to the temptation to pass by on the other side?

\\ \\ *I  The first passerby, it just so happens, was a priest from the local temple who saw this beaten man.*

It may seem curious to us that he makes no effort /at all/ to stop and help but this priest was probably thinking that the man was already dead and that time for help had now passed.

But he’s probably, also thinking in the back of his mind that, according to temple law, whoever touched a dead man was considered unclean for seven days.

That meant that he would lose his turn of duty in the temple.

His obligations to the temple obviously came before his obligations to this beaten man, a man whom who didn’t even know.

\\ \\ It was ceremony before charity for this particular priest.

So he passed by on the other side.

\\ \\ Not long ago on the Today Show there was a pastor interviewed on the subject of AIDS.

His position was: *These people are not victims; they got themselves into this mess.

They have no one to thank but themselves.

Why should we help?*

That might well have been the position of the Priest on the Jericho Road: He took his chances.

When you travel by yourself on a dangerous highway you get what you ask for.

He got himself into this, let him get himself out.

\\ \\ *II  The next passerby happened to be a Levite, a man literally born into service to the synagogue*.

He slowed down and curiously approached this beaten victim.

He knew that quite often, these bandits had a habit of setting traps by using decoys.

One of the bandits would play the role of the beaten victim.

Then when some unsuspecting traveler stooped over to help, the others would come running out and pounce upon him.

*This Levites motto was safety first: In life, you need to be careful what you commit yourself to*.

After glancing over the body, and carefully looking from side to side to see if anyone was watching, he too passed by on the other side of the road.

\\ \\ I am not too sure that our reasons for passing by on the other side of the road have changed too much over the years.

\\ \\ Some of you remember the Seinfeld show.

In its final Episode, which aired at the end of the 1998 TV season, the main characters (Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer) receive a one year sentence for failing to help someone who was being robbed.

\\ \\ What happens is this: Their plane encounters problems and they find themselves stuck in the fictional town of Latham Massachusetts.

So to kill some time, they wonder around on the sidewalks in this quaint New England town.

In the process, they witnesses a car jacking at gun point.

\\ \\ Being New Yorkers and the kind of people they are, they make fun of the guy who is being robbed.

Kramer, who has a camcorder in his hands, films the incident as a curiosity.

They never lift a hand, never shout out; they are 10 yards away, and don’t do a thing to help.

They just stand there and casually watch and make jokes!

The robber speeds off with the car and the police arrive late on the scene.

With the excitement over, Jerry turns to his friends and suggest they go get something to eat.

The poor victim standing dazed in the street, sees them start to leave and reports them to the police.

\\ \\ As they start to walk off the officer stops them and says, "Alright, hold it right there."

\\ \\ Jerry: What? \\ \\ Officer: You’re under arrest.

\\ \\ Jerry: Under arrest, What for?

\\ \\ Officer: Article 223 dash 7 of the Lakeland county penal code.

\\ \\ Elaine: What, we didn’t do anything.

\\ \\ Officer: That’s exactly right.

The law requires you to help or assist anyone \\ \\ in danger as long at its reasonable to do so.

\\ \\ George: I never heard of that.

\\ \\ Officer: It’s new, its called the Good Samaritan Law, Let’s go.

\\ \\ The series ends with them serving their time.

The critics hated it.

It was not what people expected, but ironically, that last episode had a redeeming quality to it.

For nine years Seinfeld's characters used and ridiculed, and made fun of practically everyone they met.

The four of them were the Priest and the Levites of our modern world.

We climb the ladder of success and FedEx gives you the world on time.

This is our attitude.

It’s kind of like the VISA commercials on TV now that insinuate that using cash or writing checks disrupts the smooth flow of our fast paced social order – only that quick swipe of a credit card can maintain the delicate balance and order of things.

Stopping to help someone crimps our style and requires too much of our time.

\\ \\ Looking back on it I can't help but wonder if the script for that final episode was taken right out of Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan.

George says that he never heard of that one.