July 11, 2010         Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-10; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37

Upon hearing the parable that Jesus tells the Lawyer, the Lawyer has the question “Who is my neighbor?”The questions I bring, are “Who is Jesus in this story?” and “Where do you and I fit into this story?”

Is Jesus the Levite or the Priest?  Is Jesus the broken person that has been stripped and robbed and left for dead; is that Jesus? Is that you or me?  Or, is Jesus the Samaritan walking from Jerusalem on the Jericho road?  Might you or I be that Samaritan person? 

Well, a clue to what this parable is about can be found in looking at what comes before the parable.  What comes before is Jesus telling his disciples that he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem and in three days rise again.  He also has sent out his disciples into the towns to prepare the way ahead of him telling that the kingdom of God has drawn near.  They are heading towards Jerusalem where Jesus will suffer, die and rise again, and his disciples have just returned with great accounts of how there were able to help people. 

With this in mind, let’s go exploring.  First of all I venture that Jesus is not placing himself as a priest or a Levite because they did not help the person who was suffering. 

The Lawyer that Jesus is talking with uses the words ‘inherit eternal life’.  When you inherit something, you are receiving something from someone who has died.  You typically do not earn an inheritance.  Eternal life is inherited as a gift that we receive through the mercy of Jesus Christ.  We receive this gift in the waters of Baptism when we die and rise with Jesus entering into that life-giving, all cleansing water of life. As children of God, we inherit eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Our God specializes in death and resurrection.  Isn’t it in our own brokenness that we most meet Christ who calls us to resurrection?

I can see Jesus’ face in the mercy of the Samaritan.  I can see us in the face of the person lying along side the road.

When we are most in need of a savior, when all is dismal and we feel as if we have been robbed of all we have, all our strength and abilities, all our power, all control over the every day that seemed as if it would go on forever is taken from us and we yearn for someone to come and pick us up and restore our lives once again and provide us with the strength and hope of a new beginning; this is when we see Jesus as the Samaritan. 

I see the face of Jesus in the Samaritan who sacrifices his plans for the day, sacrifices his finances, sacrifices his own safety as the robbers could still be near by, sacrifices time from his journey in order to help the one along side of the road who surely has nothing to give the Samaritan in return.  The broken person has no clothes, no money, no status.  All he has is his brokenness and neediness.  Isn’t that where we find ourselves sometimes?   We have lost in the game of life.  Our finances are out of sorts, our friends are making faces at us,  the jobs we apply for that we had last summer are taken by older people who are trying to support their families, we experience a loss of a pet, or worse yet, a loved one, a deer runs in front of the car, our insurance rates go up, our bodies give out on us and are not dependable and we have to adjust our plans according to what our body wants rather than our mind dreams of.  Let’s face it.  We are the one alongside of the road in need of Jesus to come and pick us up and save us.  We are the one in need of mercy.  Lord have mercy, hear our prayer.

PAUSE

Where do we see the face of Jesus? 

Let’s go to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 verses 34 – 46.  “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Jesus’ story of redemption is about death and resurrection.  I see within this parable the face of Jesus in the man laying along side the road. He is stripped, robbed, beaten and left for dead.  Jesus is seen in the one who has lost everything and is down and out along side the road.  The priest and the Levite see themselves as having far too important work to be done in the temple ministering to God to be able to stop and take the time for this broken person along the road.

As Jesus talks with the lawyer of how we inherit eternal life. The answer as to how we inherit eternal life is to enter into the compassionate life of Jesus Christ that we have been baptized into in Jesus death and resurrection in the waters of baptism.  When we receive the Holy Spirit and we are marked with the cross of Christ forever, it is like receiving new eyeglasses.  We cry Lord have mercy and we inherit the merciful life of compassion.  Our eyes are opened up.  Our perception changes from seeing the downtrodden as those who have earned what they have received, to seeing them as Jesus who is broken on the cross. We enter into the ‘mercy’ of Jesus Christ in reaching out with love, compassion, forgiveness, to pick up another and carry them, to show them a new life of resurrection, to join them in their brokenness and sooth their wounds, clothe their nakedness, meet their brokenness with eyes that see them as Christ sees them, better yet, sees them as Christ among us and join in the ministry of resurrection.

Where is Jesus in this story?  Where are you in this story?  I believe that Jesus is to us who we most need Jesus to be. We are both the broken person along side of the road needing mercy and Jesus lifts us up and shows us mercy.  We are also given and inherit eternal life so we can be the hands of Jesus reaching out to those in most need of healing and compassion.  Amen, Come Lord Jesus, Come

Pr. Karol Hendricks-McCracken