Luke 10 25-37 2004 (2)
Pentecost 8
Luke 10:25-37
July 25, 2004
“THE” Good samaritan
Introduction: We all remember the first war in Iraq called Desert Storm. The United States and her allies came out on the winning side of a tense battle with the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. When Desert Storm came to an end after tense months of waiting and a few short days of actual fighting it was time to take stock of things. The most grievous task was counting up the dead and notifying loved ones back home. Each unit had to account for its personnel. Who was alive? Who had been killed? Who was missing in action? Private Benny Blades was one of those listed as missing in action in his unit. There was no body to prove that he was dead. No one could remember seeing him wounded. His disappearance was a mystery.
The mystery turned into a miracle. One day about a week after the fighting had ceased Benny Blades was picked up along the road by soldier’s returning from the front. The men and women in his unit were overjoyed with Benny’s return. His comrades wanted to hear his story. What happened to him? How did he survive? What happened to his legs? Benny told his story. He had been wounded by Iraqi fire. He took several bullets in his legs. Unable to move he could only lie on the field of battle and hope that someone would rescue him. On the second day of his ordeal he was rescued – by an Iraqi soldier. Groans and laughter followed Benny’s words. How could this be, the soldiers wondered?
Benny went on, “I talked to the soldier myself.” His name was Ahmed. He said he saw me lying on the field of battle from his battlefield outpost. “What’s more he saw two of our jeeps pass fairly close to where I was without stopping to help”
What Ahmed had seen were a chaplain and a medic. The chaplain slowed his jeep as he came by the area and saw the soldier lying there. However, he was afraid of the unsecured area. He didn’t stop. The other jeep that Ahmed had seen was driven by a medic. The medic had been called north for a serious emergency. He too spotted the soldier lying in the field. But this was just one wounded man. He was on his way to tend to many wounded men. So the medic didn’t stop for Benny.
Benny continued his story. “Ahmed said that when he saw our jeeps pass me by he thought that he’d better do something himself. He came to me in his vehicle, tended to my wounds, and then drove me behind their lines to a medical unit. He ordered the medical personnel there to look after my legs. Ahmed came around a number of times to make sure that I was getting proper treatment. Who would ever believe that there was a good Iraqi soldier out there who would save my life? He is a real hero to me. Without his help I’d be dead. Ahmed will always live in my heart as a model of kindness.
There was stunned silence among Benny’s comrades as he finished the story. Finally, Terry Slawson spoke up. He spoke for just about everyone in the room. “Sorry Benny,” he said, but I don’t believe a word of it. I really don’t. There is just no such thing as a good Iraqi soldier.” Then everyone cheered.
Perhaps even in our own minds it is unsettling to think about the kindness of an enemy Iraqi soldier and the neighborly kindness that he had shown to an American soldier. Perhaps it was just as unsettling for the expert of the Mosaic Law as Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. After all the Samaritans, too, were despised by the Jews. Perhaps it is a story that should not comfort but rather unsettle and teach about the reality of God’s expectations about faith and how we live our lives.
There are several levels on which we can take in the parable of the Good Samaritan. First is our understanding that we, in many ways are capable of being any of the characters in the parable. The second is that we understand Jesus Christ to be the ultimate example of the Good Samaritan.
First, how are we like the characters in the story? The Lawyer who confronted Jesus asked Him a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus being a good teacher answered him by asking a question in return. Jesus asks, “What is written about it?” In a way Jesus was just throwing the man a softball. After all he was an expert about what was written. He smacks a home run out of the park. He responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells him that he has answered correctly. It boils down to the matters of faith and life, faith in the one true God which in turn affects how we live our lives with respect to the people around us. Of course the lawyer pushes Jesus further by asking him, “Who is my neighbor?” It wasn’t an honest question but rather an attempt to justify his own actions. For us, it is not difficult to accept loving God with our heart, soul strength and mind. We are probably all in agreement on this. But the question is how far we let this affect how we live and love. We all set limits on how far our neighborliness will go. Like the lawyer we would prefer to do things our own way so that we can justify our own behavior. Consequently Jesus tells the man the story of the Good Samaritan.
As the man lies dying in the road, the first people to come upon him represent the religious elite, a priest and a Levite. They definitely had predetermined ideas about who was their neighbor, who they were to be concerned about, and who they would show compassion to. Their limits determined that they should walk on the other side of the road and walk past the dying man. Some people have given reasons for their passing the man by. I suggest that what ever their reasons, they were wrong in not stopping. They may have had the head knowledge that they should love the Lord with heart, soul, strength and mind; but this knowledge had not affected their lives. James the brother of Jesus put it this way, “Faith without works is dead.” The priest and the Levite had determined limits on their neighborliness that were not in accord with the will and Word of God. Again this plays itself out in our lives in many ways. There are many people that we would not normally show kindness and compassion to, people that we really wouldn’t want to call our neighbors. The limits are different for every one of us. Many of us would say I’m not a racist but would raise an eyebrow if a black family moved into the apartment or house next to us. Many of us would feel a bit challenged if we came in contact with a homosexual couple that had aids. And you can bet most of us would limit our contact. I dare say that most of us have driven past homeless people and thought to ourselves “He deserves what he has, he is lazy, he should get a job, take a bath; we think, “He has chosen his life.” Sometimes it is hard to do the compassionate thing, the neighborly thing, even to the people we know in church or even to the people in our own families. But as a result of our faith, loving God with all our hearts, souls, strengths and minds, we are compelled to do what we would not normally do. God’s Spirit enables us to do it. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians and prayed for them that they, “may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work.”
Such fruit comes from a love of God that is had by faith in Jesus Christ. This too comes from “growing in the knowledge of God the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Our redemption has life changing impact. It was a bitterly cold day. A boy stood shivering on a steel grate in the sidewalk. His clothes were thin and tatters. A woman dressed for the weather stopped and talked to the boy. He indeed was a child of the street. The compassionate woman took him to a clothing store and clothed him from head to foot. The boy was filled with joy and gratitude. He could not thank her enough. As they said good-bye the boy turned back to ask, “Are you God’s mother?” The woman smiled and answered, “Oh, no. I’m just a child of God.” The boy smiled back and said, “I knew you were related.” Our actions testify to who we are as God’s children.
This brings us to the character of the man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. We know from first hand experience what that man lying in the street felt like. Just like him, many of us have been stripped of our worldly possessions, robbed of our independence, wounded in our bodies with age and sickness. And some of us feel like we have been left here for dead. You know the plight of the man in the story of the Good Samaritan. You also know how he was saved by his good neighbor.
I. Spiritually, we are like the man lying in the street.
That man was hurt. He was in pain and he needed somebody to take care of his wounds, to give him shelter and protection. He feared that there would be no relief for him. How many times have you felt the same way? Physically or mentally in pain, how many times have you felt that there would be no relief? That man needed somebody to take care of him. He could no longer take care of himself. He had lost control of his life and must have been terrified. Many of you may feel like you too have lost control of your lives. You too must rely on other people to help you. That man was left alone and for dead. How many times have you too felt the sting of loneliness, longing for someone to listen to you, to understand you? You may have even felt like you have been left here for dead. Yes, at different times in our lives we all have or will experience that man’s pain.
III. He was Saved by the Good Samaritan and so are We
What happened to that man was tragic. What has happened to you is also tragic. But you are not the only ones involved in this tragedy. Whether they know it or not all the people of the world are involved. Because of sin, every one of us has been beaten, robbed, stripped and left for dead. Sin has beaten up our bodies and caused us to be weak and sick. It has robbed and stripped us of our rightful place as children of God. It has left us for dead, physically, spiritually and eternally.
God did not pass the world by. And He did not pass you by either. It is unsettling to know that even though we were God’s enemies because of our sin God sent His Son into the world to be our Good Samaritan. Jesus is the ultimate Good Samaritan. Jesus did what nobody else could do. Even though we despised Jesus too, like that Iraqi soldier was despised, He took us in his arms and mended our wounds. He restored to us everything that was taken away. He clothed us again with His royal clothes. And he has made a place for us to stay with our Heavenly Father. Jesus is our Good Samaritan. He loved us enough to get dirty by touching us when no one else would or could. He picked up our wounded bodies, carried us and cared for us and gave us life by giving up His own life on the cross.
Conclusion: We may have to wait to experience the grandeur of what Jesus, our Good Samaritan, has done for us. However, our Lord continues to be with us even when we feel alone. His pledge to us has been given in the gift of the Holy Spirit and expressed in our faith. Though the world would leave us for dead we are made alive in Jesus Christ and in His cross through the forgiveness of sin. God has heard our cry for help. Our help comes in the name of the Lord -- Jesus, our Good Samaritan. Amen.