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GETTING ALL THE RIGHT ANSWERS BUT FLUNKING THE TEST
Luke 10:25-37; Galatians 6:1-10
A sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church by Carter Lester on
July 11, 2010
Introduction: Today’s reading from the gospel of Luke is a familiar one – the parable of the Good Samaritan – so familiar that when we hear it begin, we may find ourselves tuning out and letting our minds wander because we already know what it says – right? What can we learn from this story about the priest, Levite, and Samaritan that most of us have heard so many times before? One answer is to pay more attention here to what happens before and after the parable. But perhaps it would also help to hear something old and familiar in a new way. Hear then Luke 10:25-37 (paraphrased from Eugene Peterson’s The Message):
“Just then an elder who was his church’s Clerk of Session stood up with a question to put Jesus on the spot: “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?
Jesus answered: “What’s written in God’s Law? What do you read there?
The man answer said, “That you Love the Lord your God with all of your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence – and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
But wanting to justify himself, the man asked Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way, he was mugged by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him, and went off leaving him half-dead. Fortunately, a minister was on his way down the same road, but when he saw the body, he angled across to the other side. Then a youth advisor showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
A Muslim illegal immigrant came traveling down the road and came upon the man. When he saw the man’s condition, he had compassion on him. He gave him first aid and bandaged his wounds. Then he gave the man a ride to a nearby inn and made him comfortable. In the morning, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs more, put it on my bill – I’ll pay you on my way back.’”
“What do you think?” Jesus asked. “Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by the robbers?” “The one who showed him kindness,” the clerk of Session answered.
“Go and do likewise.”
Let us pray.
Most of us have heard this parable enough to know who the good guys and bad guys are. But for those who first heard the parable, the priest and Levite were the “good guys.” There was no reason to expect them to pass by. And the Samaritan was the bad guy. There was a bitter tension between Jews and Samaritans. Samaritans were the descendants of a mixed people, Jewish and non-Jewish, who had opposed rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. They had constructed their own temple in Samaria and formed their own hybrid religion. To Jews, Samaritans were seen as social outcasts, religious heretics, and sometimes even as a foreign enemy. One of the charges made against Jesus was that he was a Samaritan and possessed by demons (John 8:48).
In other words, the Samaritan was just the opposite of the priest and Levite – and of the lawyer. I jumping into the parable, we often overlook what happens before and after Jesus tells the parable. Jesus tells the parable because of the questions posed by what most translations call a “lawyer.” “Religious scholar” may be a better understanding. In any case, what we know is that he wants to test Jesus. And that he knows his stuff. He has no problem answering Jesus’ question about what the law says is necessary to inherit eternal life. “Love God and neighbor” he answers in a nutshell. And he has no problem giving an answer to Jesus’ question, “Which of these three was a neighbor to the man?” The religious scholar rightly answers, ”The one who showed kindness,” but even then he cannot bear to identify the positive example of a neighbor as a Samaritan.
The religious scholar has all of the right answers. But he still flunks the test. Because at the end, Jesus does not tell him, “Great answer! You are my best pupil.” Instead, Jesus says to him, “Go and do likewise.”[1]
That is the pinch for us all isn’t it. Getting the right answers is often not nearly as hard as passing the test, that is, putting those right answers into action. No one needs to tell us that it is the Samaritan who is the good neighbor here. I doubt if any one of us would deny that God wants us to show compassion and kindness to others. Our problem is not a lack of answers – it is a lack of follow through.
Why is that? What gets in the way of us showing the compassion and kindness that we know we should offer to others, but which we often fail to do? Four road barriers came to mind. I am sure there are others, but consider these four obstacles.
The first barrier that prevents us from showing compassion and kindness is fear.
Jesus never says why the priest and Levite cross to the other side, but fear could
have been a factor. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a notoriously dangerous stretch because it is a descending and narrow road through the mountains with many twists and turns. And the man lying there has obviously been assaulted. What if he is bait – and the ones who robbed and beat him are awaiting another victim?
Fear can get in the way of us offering kindness as well – especially to strangers. We see a stranded vehicle and wonder if it is safe to stop. We cross paths with someone has a problem but who seems to have some kind of mental illness as well, and we avoid stopping to help because who knows what they will do. We see someone being picked on at school. We don’t join in making jokes at their expense – we know better than that, but neither do we try to befriend him or her. We fear what people might say about us.
It is understandable that we are wary in certain situations. These are difficult situations. On the one hand, there is nothing in the gospels to suggest that God wants us to be reckless or foolhardy. But on the other hand, Jesus also does not promise his disciples safety and security when it comes to follow him. He does ask us to take up a cross after all.
While we may need to prayerfully sort out how to respond in some potentially dangerous situations, let us make no mistake: there are few stronger barriers that prevent us from showing kindness and compassion than fear. With fear, we are more likely to lash out with anger than reach out with compassion. When we are fearful, we are more inclined to draw in and look after number one than we are to shower someone else with kindness. Any student of history can tell you that in fearful times, cruelties and abuses are often quick to follow – in part because fear leads to actions that people might otherwise not commit. And, in part because in fearful times, good people are more prone to do nothing.
Fear drives out kindness and compassion. But love casts out fear. Let us be driven more by love and less by fear, lest we come across someone in need and pass by on the other side.
A second barrier to kindness is preoccupation and busy-ness. We are so focused on what is to come ahead of us that we ignore what is right in front of us. We are too preoccupied to notice, too busy to stop.
One reason why the priest and Levite may have passed on to the other side was the responsibilities that awaited them at the Temple in Jerusalem. Or they may have been concerned about what would happen if they were to touch the man if he was dead. Dead people were considered ritually unclean and if the priest touches a dead man he might be unable to take his turn in the Temple.
Not only do most of us know the answers here – that good neighbors show kindness and that Jesus wants us to be kind to others – we want to be a good neighbor and show kindness. But too often the distractions of every day life get in the way. We are too busy, too much of a hurry to get to where we need to be. We are too preoccupied with things that we consider important, that we fail to do the things that Jesus considers important.
Some years ago a famous study was done with seminary students. Researchers gathered a group of ministry students in a classroom and told them that each of them had an assignment. Their assignment was to record a talk about this parable. The recording needed to be done in another building, however, and they were told that the schedule was tight so that they needed to hurry to that other building. So off they went, one at a time. Unbeknownst to them however, the researchers recruited an actor to play the part of a man in distress, slumped in an alley, coughing and suffering. What happened? Most of the students rushed past the hurting man without even stopping. They were in too much of a hurry to teach about the parable of the Good Samaritan![2]
We may well laugh at the seminarians – so long as we consider how similar we can be. Who do we walk by without noticing because we have more important things to do? When does our busy-ness and our sense of needing to hurry get in the way of showing kindness to someone else in need?
The third barrier is a darker one – one that few of us would want to admit stands in the way of us showing kindness. But this barrier shows up more than most people want to admit. Sometimes the thing that stands in the way of our kindness is the prejudice that the person in need is not deserving of our help.
Perhaps we see that their struggles and suffering are the result of their own choices. What responsibility do we have to go out of our way to show kindness to them – they are responsible for their choices? One commentator even said that the traveler in this parable has “no one else but himself to blame for the plight in which he found himself.”[3]
Sometimes we blame the victim – and sometimes we notice how different the victim is from us. They may come from another place, think or act a different way, look different. Be on your guard if you hear a lot of “they” and “them” in your speech: “Why do they live like that?” “They could have a better life, but they have chosen to live that way.” “They don’t have the same values we do. They are – fill in the blank here – “un-American,” “pagan,” “infidel.”
Like the lawyer, we may want to find a loophole when it comes to loving our neighbor and draw the circle as tightly as we can. But, as the hymn writer declares, “There is a wideness in God’s mercy….The love of God is broader than the measure of the mind; and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.”[4] In light of God’s ever widening grace, our kindness and compassion is also to reach out to ever widening circles, circles that do not end at the edge of our neighborhood, or church, or country, but which reach far wider. If we are going to be modern day Samaritans, then we will learn to speak much more of “we” and “us” rather than “they” and “them.” And we will be prepared to recognize that the best examples of kindness we may come across may come from non-Christians, just as it does in Jesus’ parable.
What keeps us from showing kindness and compassion as the Samaritan does in Jesus’ parable? A fourth reason is that it is hard!
I don’t know if you have seen the insurance company ad. It shows a series of strangers doing an act of kindness, picking up something that has been dropped, holding the door open for someone else. In each case, the recipient of such act of grace “pays it forward” by offering help to someone else. I really like the commercial, and each of those helping acts are a form of kindness.
But let’s face it, kindness is far more than a nice smile, or opening the door for someone else, or letting someone go in front of us. Look at what the Samaritan does here. He stops whatever he is doing to bind up the injured man. He takes a detour from his own plans to take the man to an inn and take care of him. And he pays for the man’s stay in the inn – two days’ pay – and he tells the innkeeper that “when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.” This is going the extra mile and a half.
Showing kindness is not easy. It may take us from our schedules and routines. It may cost us something. And we may not get anything back in return.
We may well wonder if the hard work of showing kindness is worth it, especially in a world that hardly values kindness. Has any of you had a job review where “shows kindness” was one of the factors commented on? Or can anyone of you name a college that listed “kindness” as a criterion for choosing students. Results – on the job, in the classroom, and on the playing fields – that is what counts. Success, strength and toughness – that is what is usually valued highest in our culture – not kindness or compassion.
Paul is aware of that. That is why he tells the Galatians in the passage we heard earlier: “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” (6:9).
Showing kindness to all neighbors is hard. None of us will do it as consistently as Jesus wants from us. But why do we show kindness and compassion to our neighbor? Not just because that is what Jesus requires. But also because that is what we have already received from Jesus Christ.
For when it comes to Jesus, we are the person in the ditch, the one who lies helpless and wounded by our sins and the sins of others. And along comes a Good Samaritan, “a Good Samaritan named Jesus – despised and rejected” – who never passes by on the other side, but always comes to rescue us, lift us, heal us, and save us.[5] The lawyer asks, “Who is my neighbor?” The better question is “Who has been a neighbor to us?” It is Jesus, the crucified one.
Have you experienced his mercy and kindness? Then you know what to do – this week and in all the weeks to come. No matter what barriers may get in the way, no matter whom you come across…with His help, go and do likewise.
[1] Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), 150.
[2] Darley, J.M., and Batson, C.D., “From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1973, 100-08.
[3] William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 139.
[4] Frederick William Faber, “There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy.”
[5] From a sermon by Tom Long,