Sermon 07-15-07
Amos 7:1-17, Psalm 82, Colossians1;1-14, Luke 10:25-37

07-15-07, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

The point at which today’s gospel reading begins is a point when Jesus and his disciples have reached a peak moment, a moment of revealed knowledge from God. Jesus says to them, “I thank thee O Lord, the father and mother of heaven and earth, that you hid all these things from the wise and understanding. But you revealed these things to babes. Jesus turned to the disciples, and said, blessed are the eyes which see what you see, many kings and prophets desire to see what you see, but did not see and desired to hear what your hear, but did not hear.”

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.

I am not sure what the disciples saw. But we know the 70 disciples had recently returned from curing and healing many sicknesses with the power, which was given by Jesus. Perhaps it is the world of the Holy Spirit? The disciples had learned the joy of healing that comes from trusting in the Spirit.

Just then the lawyer stood up to test Jesus. I am glad that the lawyer tested Jesus when he was full of spirit and when he was surrounded by his 70 disciples who were also full of the spirit after returning from the village curing and healing many people.

Jesus’ response might have been shaped by the excitement and thrill that the disciples’ return had created. When the power of the Holy Spirit fills us we are ready for anything and as this encounter unfolds we see that Jesus was ready for the challenge…

We need to be thankful to the lawyer, too. Because he became an occasion for us to hear this great story, the parable of the Good Samaritan.

One of the commentator said, it is better call the story as the helpful Samaritan, instead of the Good Samaritan, since we do not know whether he is a good person or bad person. But what he did was a good act. By hearing the title, Good Samaritan, we get a hint that good and Samaritan might have been mutually exclusive at the time the story was told. To Jews who were the original audience of this parable, Samaritans were adversaries. They were despised for having intermarried with Assyrians in the 8 century BC.

So Jesus’ introduction of a good Samaritan shatters all sorts of biases and boundaries about who can be saved by God. It’s like the story of Namman, which we heard last week…You are not saved by your race, not your status, not your gender, not your sexual orientation, not your religion, not your income…, but holy acts save you from going down to the pit…

I want you to be reminded that neither the lawyer who asked question, nor the priest and Levite in the story are bad people. Perhaps they are like us…We are not the kind of Jesus’ disciples who follow the one whom we never heard of…we are not that courageous, or extreme. Jesus was not the mainline person in his time. Rather the lawyer, the priest and Levite might have been the mainline religious people…Since our church is a little different from lots of mainline church in general, and United Methodist church in particular, we may think we are more close to the Samaritan…but maybe, … Perhaps then we are like the lawyers, the priests and Levite who goes to the direction of Samaritan?

Anyhow the lawyer asked the question to test…I am not sure how Luke used the word test, but in our culture, even test doesn’t seem that bad word…does it…we need to make sure this poor rabbi is the one that I can trust and follow….so he is normal person…ethically and religiously perhaps respected..

The priest and Levite who pass by the wounded person are wise and sensible people who know how to protect themselves. Many commentaries said that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a very dangerous place. The road drops rapidly from 5000 feet above sea level to 1200 feet below sea level in the course of about 45 miles. …. The road is famous for robbers who could hide in the ravines and curves along the road. Some robbers might even use a corpse to lure other travelers with good intentions. So suppose you try to rescue a person in need and suddenly a robber who was hidden assaults you.

The closest parallel in our time would be a driver who is reluctant to stop and help a stranger in an isolated place, because we have been taught that the person could be dangerous.

So the Levites and Priests who passed by on the other side make sense…they are the people of common sense and they are regarded as ethical people… In those days, if a priest or Levite were to touch a corpse, they would be regarded as unclean, which would prevent them from going to the temple and performing their duties…

But despite that Jesus commended the Samaritan who was followed his heart, instead of making excuses as to why he should not get involved, so he touched the person who was robed and beaten, gave him the first aid in that spot and took him to the inn and used his own money for the expense…

I was glad that the lawyer stood up to test Jesus, the lawyer revealed who he was and where he was…regardless of whether he had good or bad intentions….because of him Jesus had an occasion to share with us what the neighborliness is about….

The higher question is not who is my neighbor. Rather, out of three, who was the neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?

And the lawyer answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Because of the question he asked, he learned new things..and the next thing is “Go and do likewise.”

This story elevates our compassion. I find myself wanting to go and do likewise. As I read and meditate on the reading, I find myself being more attentive to Hyunji’s needs. Certainly she is not the one who is in most desperate need, but I find myself wanting to be a better mother. It may not be Hyunji’s need, but my need…

I am also reminded of something said by a pastor I hear in a conference once. He challenged the audience to think of our spouse, who is the most close one we have. Do we treat them well? The pastor was Korean male pastor and often Korean males in my generation take their wives for granted …most close, and therefore take for granted…so his question and confession was do we really treat our most close neighbor as we suppose to….even if he was a male, I too had to think of it—am I treating my husband as the way I treat myself…

I hope that the lawyer got humbled. I hope that instead of learning not to ask questions next time, because he got embarrassed (?). He humbled himself, acted on what he learned….He was not even wanting to admit that Samaritan whom he and all his kin and country man despise was the one who did a good deed….so he said, the one who showed him mercy. But that is the exactly the point of Jesus…regardless of who we are, race, gender, sexual orientation, intelligence, income, status…what counts by God is the one who showed the mercy to the ones in need…I bet that’s what the God’s plum line which Amos talked about. amen.

This we do by the power of the Holy Spirit….amen.


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