The sermon for week July 11, 2010
Amos 7:7-17 Luke 10:25-37 Proper 10 C July 11, 2010
One of the places we visited on our trip to eastern Turkey was Mount Ararat. The obvious connection for most of us is that it is listed in the Bible as the place where Noah’s ark landed after the flood. We didn’t actually get on the beautiful, snow-capped mountain so we didn’t have any luck finding signs of the ark. What I did learn however, is that the ark is really not a significant issue compared to the concerns of many people who live in that area.
In preparation for the trip I read a book by a Turkish journalist called Deep Mountain. In it she interviews people of Turkish and Armenian descent. They have been at odds with each other for a long time, but the primary question concerns events during WWI when they fought each other after having lived side-by-side for many years. In the minds of the Armenians, the Turks committed genocide toward their people. From the Turkish side of the equation we saw statues remembering the genocide of the Armenians against the Turks.
Today the border is closed between these two nations even though they could be beneficial trading partners. The book I read showed how complex the situation is and how difficult is it for people of these two cultures to dialogue about much of anything. Their children learn from a very young age that people on the other side are their enemies and not to be trusted. They learn it in games, songs and the attitudes of adults around them.
At one point on our trip we visited the ruins of a city that sits on the Turkish border with Armenia. All that separates the two nations is a river. We could easily look over into the other nation. All along the border on both sides are watch towers to keep an eye on the enemy. Today, thankfully they are empty, but there is still a military presence and no one on either side forgets the animosity that exists between their people.
Jews and Samaritans are not alone in their divisions as a people. They actually were at one time brothers and sisters in a common culture until the Samaritans chose to believe that a site other than Jerusalem was the sacred place of God. They developed their own scriptures, temple and religious practices and that division became the basis of their hatred and mistrust. So the use of a Samaritan by Jesus in this story is most galling to the Jewish lawyer who hears it.
The lawyer is really an expert in interpreting Mosaic law. As an expert we could question his sincerity in asking Jesus the question he does. However, regardless of his motives, Jesus turns the tables on him so he comes away having learned more about himself and the kingdom of God. Perhaps the same thing can happen for us today.
This is such a familiar story that we often think we already know what it is saying. Many have turned it into a simple moral lesson something like what Rodney King said several years ago, “Can’t we all just get along?” A more detailed look at this story will show us that more is required of us here than just being nice. Jesus indicates that by his choice of a Samaritan as the main character. It is an in your face choice because we all have a Samaritan by some other name in our own lives. So the point is not as simple as being good Samaritans. We will see shortly how difficult a challenge that can be.
Amy-Jill Levine suggests that to understand Jesus here we need to identify with another character in the story. “We should think of ourselves as the person in the ditch and then ask, ‘Is there anyone, from any group, about whom we’d rather die than acknowledge, ‘She offered help’ or ‘He showed compassion?’ More, is there any group whose members might rather die than help us?” Levine goes on to suggest that for her as a Jew, the one who shows mercy in today’s world would be a member of Hamas. For many Americans we might think in terms of September 11 and think of a member of Al-Qaeda.
Suddenly this familiar parable that is often used to encourage good Christians to aid travelers with a broken down car on a dark and stormy night has become a parable that gets us to the hard core of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The questioner is more like us than we are comfortable admitting. He wants to know what the requirements are. He wants to know which hoops he has to jump through so he can “inherit” the kingdom of God, get eternal life.
We all want to know the boundaries or requirements there are for us to be a good neighbor. We don’t ask it in these terms, but how far do we have to go in helping another person to be right with God? Do we have to be nice to terrorists? Do we have to let immigrants into our nation? Do we have to think nice thoughts about the people overseas who are taking our jobs?
But Jesus turns the tables and says, the issue isn’t about those other people. The answer to our questions and our concerns about eternal life or being a neighbor isn’t found in the other person. Instead, it’s found in our own hearts and actions. Jesus isn’t simply saying this by loading on the guilt for the many times we’ve passed by on the other side of the road. He’s showing us what a difference the gospel can make even though it is full of risk and pain and sacrifice. It can lead to life giving change when we would least expect it. It is the story of the cross.
The Greek word for mercy is Eleos and it means more than kindness or pity. It is about all the things that are represented by Jesus’ death on the cross. The way of God is the way of mercy, not revenge. It is the way of pardon, rescue, and generosity. It is only in this way that we can overcome the violence and brokenness of this world and come to healing that brings us back into relationship with each other and with God. Paul Wilson writes: “God in Christ binds our wounds and pays whatever it costs to restore us to life. Christ is the only one who was fully able to love God and neighbor as shown most clearly in the cross.” Thus the only thing the cross puts to death is our anger, hatred and pain. Through God’s mercy it gives new life and that is the challenge we face as Christians today – choosing mercy over our desires to get even and to judge others.
That is how difficult it is to be a neighbor. Yet we are called to walk that path to the best of our ability. We can’t continue to think that being a disciple is a matter of simply being a good person. There is tremendous risk in being a neighbor, in practicing mercy especially for those we feel the least deserving of mercy.
So the lesson of this parable is that we are called to mercy, not doctrine, not judgment, not moral code or even faith tradition. There is something we hold in common as human beings so that showing mercy cannot be restricted to one people or creed and does not depend upon having learned the “right” theological answers. As Douglas John Hall has said, “Christians ought to recognize that there is in the human spirit an impulse to mercy in how we live with each other.
Jesus revealed that impulse on the cross and in his teachings. It is the core of our faith and it is the core of who God created us to be.”
That is why I travel to Turkey. I want to be among people who are different in so many ways and yet I can also see how much alike we are. I can begin to make sense of how and why they live the ways they do and that it is not wrong or worse or better than mine, just different – each with its own strengths and weaknesses. And maybe by breaking down some of the barriers between us we can make the way of the cross into the way of life.
Let me conclude with this story by James Wallace as an example of how God calls us to be neighbors, how it is possible for us to respond. “A year or two ago I read about a 12 year old boy, Ahmad Khatib, who had been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during street fighting near his house in Jenin, the West Bank. The boy had been holding a toy gun. He was taken to an Israeli hospital, where he died after two days. His parents made the decision to donate his organs. Six people received his heart, lungs, and kidneys, including a two-month-old infant. His mother, Abla, said, “My son has died. Maybe he can give life to others.” These parents made their own journey into the mercy of God and were living eternal life. I pray we can too. Amen.
Primary Resources
Lectionary Homiletics, July 11, 2010, “Exegesis,” Paul S. Wilson, p. 49.
Feasting on the Word, WJK Press, Proper 10 C, “Theological Perspective,” Douglas John Hall, pp 238 – 242.
Feasting on the Word, WJK Press, Proper 10 C, “Pastoral Perspective,” Cynthia Jarvis, pp. 238-242.
Feasting on the Word, WJK Press, Proper 10 C, “Homiletical Perspective,” James Wallace, pp. 239-243.