Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
|
|
|
|
Key verse: Luke 10:33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.”
The story of the Good Samaritan has become so familiar to us that we often overlook its radical nature. In our culture, we call anyone who helps a “good Samaritan,” but that only catches one part of the story. Yes, this story most definitely highlights that someone stopped to help. But, it was not just any someone: it was a Samaritan. The Jews of Jesus’ day despised the Samaritans, claiming that they were of “mixed” race. When Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the king took many Israelites back to Assyria and brought groups of people from Babylon and other places in Assyria to live in Samaria. Those Israelites that did remain in the land ended up marrying the Assyrians that came there, and so to the “pure” Jews, the Samaritans had betrayed their heritage by marrying outside the faith. (See 2 Kings 17:24-40.)
Their contempt would have been similar to those of white Americans toward people of color during the Civil Rights era. Imagine Jesus telling this story to a Ku Klux Klansman in the 1950’s, only the Good Samaritan would be the Good African American. In addition, Jesus’ listeners would have expected themselves to be placed in the position of the hero initially. After Jesus claimed that a priest and a Levite (temple assistant) walked by without helping, the listeners might have assumed that Jesus was making a point about ordinary people being more compassionate than the elite priesthood. But, when Jesus completed the story, his audience could not place themselves in the role of hero because the hero was their enemy. Jesus invited them to view their enemies through new eyes and to change their understanding of neighbor away from the social boundaries of the day toward a definition based on action and love.
Using the active love of the Samaritan, Jesus answered the lawyer’s question about eternal life. The lawyer, an expert in Scripture, knew the law, but wanted to test Jesus. Instead, Jesus turned the tables and tested the lawyer. When the lawyer first asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asked him, “How do you read the Scripture?” Even in Jesus’ day, people could read Scripture in many different ways with different interpretations. The lawyer gave the correct answer, but knowing the answer is not the same as living the answer. Jesus twice invited the lawyer to go beyond head knowledge and start living the Scripture, the first time saying, “Do this and you will live,” and at the end of the story saying, “Go and do likewise.” For Jesus, knowing the Scripture did not bring eternal life; living it did.
Living the Scripture involved both loving God and loving neighbor. In Luke’s gospel, the story of Mary and Martha hosting Jesus in their home followed this story of the Good Samaritan. If you remember, in that story, Martha busied herself with meal preparations while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, angering Martha who asked Jesus to intervene. Again, Jesus broke the conventional rules of society, praising Mary for sitting at his feet as a disciple, something society forbade women to do. For Jesus, loving someone involved more than busy doing, including also paying attention and being with the person. Mary demonstrated love for God while the Good Samaritan demonstrated love for neighbor, showing that faith meant love in all relationships. This love involved taking time to care, sacrificing ourselves, our own safety and even what society thinks about us, to care for our relationship with God and with others. Jesus invites us today to that same sacrificial love, taking time out of our busy schedules to care for our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with our neighbors.
Questions for Reflection
1—What stories have you heard about Good Samaritans who stop to help others? Have any of those stories involved the “hero” being an “enemy” or despised person? If Jesus were telling you that story today, who would be the despised person in your life that would serve as the hero? How does that make you feel about that person?
2— What social boundaries does our society have today? How difficult is it to cross those social barriers? Which social boundary might Jesus be calling you to cross through this story? How can you go and do likewise?
3— When is it hardest for you to take time to care? How can you slow down enough to pay attention to the needs of others? How might God be calling you to inconvenience yourself and sacrifice your time to care for someone in need?
4—How did the Holy Spirit speak to you in worship today?
|
|
Sermon Notes for
Luke 10:25-37