Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity - September 6, 2009

The Church Season of Trinity
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (Sepember 6, 2009)

“Life and death”

Readings:
Psalm 32
2 Chronicles 28:8-15
Galatians 3:15-22
Luke 10:23-37

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 10th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 10:23-37 (NIV)

23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Our Gospel reading is known as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” Everyone knows this one, even people who have never read the Bible are probably familiar with it. It is so well known that even the words “Good Samaritan” have made their way into our vocabulary. When someone stops to help a traveler with a broken down vehicle, the person stopping is called a “Good Samaritan.” And all those people who went by and didn’t bother to stop, well there are many more names for them because we don’t hesitate to call them every name in the book. We all very much want to be like the Good Samaritans who stops and help us, but when it’s our turn we don’t always want to stop. In fact just like the Priest and the Levite more likely than not, we make our way to the other side of the road so that we can pass on by. Jesus first told this parable to an expert in the Law, who asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”(v. 25) Even though the question was wrong, we can be glad the question was asked, because truthfully it is a matter of ...

LIFE AND DEATH

In our Gospel lesson Jesus knew the intent of these questions by the so called expert in the Law. Jesus knew the lawyer wasn’t really asking any of his questions for any of the right reasons. Because the lawyer after engaging in a discussion, the real reason for him asking all those questions soon became apparent.

In fact, the first question asked by the lawyer is very telling, he asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”(v.25) Usually there are only two reasons to ask a question, either you know the answer and want everybody to know how smart you are, or you don’t know the answer and really want to learn. Well the Lawyer knew all the Law as written in Leviticus, which is the book of the Law. He knew the list of what to do, what not to do, “Do not lie, do not deceive one another, do not swear falsely, do not defraud your neighbor, do not pervert justice”(Lev 19:9-18)

So why did the lawyer ask the question in the first place, if he already knew the answer? The text gives us the answer, “He wanted to justify himself.”(v. 29) So Jesus told him a parable which spoke of life and death. It was a parable which talked about a half-dead man. Ironic, quite frankly, for the man that Jesus was telling this to thought he was alive by his own actions and would live because of his own actions. Truth be told the lawyer listening to the parable was worse off than the man on the side of the road, because the lawyer was, “dead in his transgressions.”(Eph 2:5)

And greater still is how we today hear the parable with our own confident smugness. Oh yes, we say, I would have helped that poor unfortunate man. We look at our lives and only think of the good that we have done. Yet somehow we forget all the words which we have spoken in anger, and the lack of charity we have toward our fellow man. We peek out of the side of our eyes at someone else and think of what a hypocrite they are. We forget the angry slip of the tongue, the Sunday morning golf outing. And just like the lawyer, at the end of the day we believe our charity outweighs our sin, we justify our actions, and expect that we live a good life because of all that we have done.

But the real question remains, “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” Repent. Know that there is nothing we can do, there is no list which we can complete which will give us justification for all eternity. For it is a miracle that only one man lived a perfect life on this earth and He lived it so that you too may live with Him. By our actions we stand before God condemned. By God’s grace He has given us His Son. Jesus willingly crossed over a tumutuous road to save our bodies from certain death Christ’s road to His death on the cross won for us all that is needed to justify us. Christ gives us an eternal inheritance which we in know way deserve. There is nothing we have done, there is nothing we are doing, there is nothing we will ever do to justify ourselves, because Christ has already done all that needs to be done, and He freely gives you the inheritance of eternal life.

By our own efforts and the life we live, and by all our sins, we take our place next to the priest, the levite, and the lawyer in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The lawyer implied that maybe not everyone was his neighbor. And yes we do stand there right next to the lawyer because we too want to pick and choose our neighbors, liking some and hating others, but in no case do we love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

We thank and praise God that he has been merciful to us. That He loved us so much, He gave us His one and only son, Jesus Christ. In Holy baptism, by the water combined with God’s Word we are freed from the condemnation of the Law, the guilt and power of sin, and the power of the devil and death. By the faith, which we are given through the work of the Holy Spirit we are bound to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. Like the Good Samaritan we are called to show mercy to the needy and miserable, no matter who they may be. Because Christ first did this same thing for us, He loved us the needy and the miserable. By His actions, Jesus Christ loved us so much that He gave His life to conquer death, and in so doing Jesus gives us the assurance that we will inherit eternal life. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
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