How to Love
Others As Yourself!
Sermon for Sunday July 15, 2007
1. Good Morning. Let’s pray.
O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be
pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2.
Opening
comments: So what does our Lord want to
say to us this morning?
Last Sunday in my absence Fr. Lucas – it still feels funny saying that
about one’s own son – anyway . . . Fr. Lucas was really looking forward to
visiting with y’all because he has always felt loved and accepted at TCC. Commenting on this he recently said, “Dad,
you really do have a very very special group of people at TCC.”
Now when I hear that I must confess that I feel very good about y’all
but then I wonder how can we continue to nurture whatever virtues will maintain
this goodness in our body and guard against ever becoming arrogant or
complacent about it. Or even lose it
through what some believe is the inevitable cyclic life cycle of any
community. This widely held theory
suggests that this initial “caring” stage is sooner or later replaced by a “bureaucratic”
or more formal state and so the community deteriorates until it dies or is
reborn as it were.
Here we are about to establish ourselves in the Irondequoit community
and the prayer that’s running thought my soul is “O Lord, how can we maintain this relatively
healthy state and not fall into a less lively and more formal and even stylized
community?”
I think today’s scriptures are God’s answer to my questioning
prayer. The Good Samaritan must become
our mascot – our patron saint as it were.
It’s
the Good Samaritan who remains ever the caring brother who can be counted on to
do the right thing by me or anyone else near him.
So let’s look at the Good Samaritan to learn what God wants to teach us
through him.
But before going immediately to our Gospel reading about the Good
Samaritan let’s look briefly at the Old Testament reading because it has
something preliminary to tell us:
3. Please turn with me to our Old Testament
reading for today: In Deuteronomy 30
verses 9 through 14 we read about the children of Israel who had lost their
first love and had become arrogant and hard hearted but through a process of
God’s purging had come to the point of redemption and restoration to that first
state of humble and contrite submission to our Lord. Let’s see what was the key to this process
and thereby perhaps learn how not to lose it in the first place.
Deut.
30:9 Then the LORD your God will make you
most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb,
the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again
delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, Now listen very
carefully to verse 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and
decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. So we are to “turn” or keep our hearts
“turned” towards God Himself – but now listen very carefully to verse 11:
Deut. 30:11 Now
what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your
reach.
Did
you hear that – what God is telling them and us is that this process of
remaining “turned towards God” isn’t too hard.
It’s not beyond the reach of any one of us in this sanctuary. You and you and me and her and him and you
and you can do this! We really can
remained turned towards and tuned in to God and in so doing maintain our first
love for Him!
We
really can!! Reading on:
12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will
ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who
will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it’s in your mouth and in
your heart so you may obey it.
Ah! Did
you hear it? The primary posture of the
person who loves God and therefore his neighbor is someone whose heart is
turned towards God and this posture is at our very core!
Believe it or not it’s what we were made
for. Yes, we, you and I were made for
God – made in His image – Imago Deo!
It’s at the very core of our nature to yearn for Him – to want to draw
near to Him! This desire is in our very
DNA – it’s at the core of our hearts!
It’s not outside of us – it’s our inner drive.
So we’re being told is that this ability to
remain turned towards God is not hard – it is in fact the most natural thing
for us – almost! We can’t unfortunately
forget the Fall where that natural instinct was perverted and turned inward to
ourselves! Oh we have a yearning for God
and the concomitant ability to turn towards Him but we also have a yearning to
play God and to turn inwards to ourselves.
It’s this split within our very being that Jesus came to heal. He came to restore our hearts!
Unfortunately for most of us it’s all too easy
to forget God and choose for ourselves over and against others. To be selfish instead of self-less! To turn ourselves inwards instead of
God-wards!
I know this is a terrible weakness in me – but
more of that in a few minutes.
Let’s turn now to our Gospel reading and
really focus in on the Good Samaritan:
4. Focusing in: Let me ask us a framing question: What was it that compelled the Samaritan to
help the Jewish man who had been badly beaten by the robbers and how can you
and I be more consistently compelled by such a motivation? In other words, how
can you and I become more and more like the Good Samaritan in our daily
lives.
Incidentally, one of the big questions that needs to be addressed is
the cost of becoming a Good Samaritan!
Some, perhaps even most of us, are going to balk at the cost of becoming
a Good Samaritan. The practice of this
virtue always has a steep price. Vice is
so much easier in the short run. It’s quite
hard to turn away from ourselves and focus on God and others! Now notice I said it was “quite hard” I
didn’t say it was impossible. By the
way, this is precisely why the spiritual discipline of fasting is so very very
beneficial. But that’s another sermon –
back to our primary focus.
So
let’s explore what makes a Good Samaritan shall we?
Please turn with me now to the Parable of the Good Samaritan in your
Bibles. Turn to the Gospel of St. Luke
chapter 10 beginning at verse 25. Please
listen now as I read and try to discover the key virtues of this wonderful man:
Luke
10:25 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.’” – in other words, to be a great man or woman
of God our whole being must be turned towards and tuned in, as it were, to
God. Every bit of us must be focused
upon Him – we must love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength –
with all of our being. And when this is
in place we must and will most assuredly love our neighbor as ourselves – as if
they were ourselves. In other words,
there will be no distinction between us and them. We will love them as much as
we love ourselves.
Ah! This is the way it
was always meant to be. This was the way
it was in the Garden of Eden and this is what Christ is restoring. We’ll explore this sublime heavenly reality
more in a few moments.
What follows now
in our reading is a word-picture of what someone looks like who does this! Let me say that again – this is what someone
looks like who “DOES” this!
So let’s read on –
Jesus answered . . . 28
“You have answered correctly so do this and you will live.” Do what?
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength
and then love your neighbor as you love yourself! Love them so much that you are unable to
choose between yourself and them – your self and their selves merge! They are as important to you as you are
important to yourself.
John 15:13 Greater love has no
one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus loved us as
much as He loved Himself and so when the final test came He chose for us over
against Himself. This was heavenly love
in action. This is the sort of love we were
made for! You and I were made for this kind
of loving. It’s this kind of loving that
restores us to our original nobility
- our original created state!
It’s this kind of
love that liberates us from our incarceration -
within the constricting walls of ourselves.
OK – let’s read on
– verse 29: But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he
asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Now
remember this expert in the law wanted to do what? To justify himself! Ah!
Self focused – the defend and protect and shore up that which had been created
at the Fall – an independent – self-protecting self - our sorry attempt at god-hood!
This man wanted to establish the legitimacy of
Himself! A tragic mistake and one so
very very hard to turn away from because to do so feels like suicide! Turning away from our very selves is not easy
but it is not only possible be absolutely necessary if we are ever to enter
into our birthright and that is the freedom of those turned totally towards God
– loving God with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength! And it’s only when we do this that we are
truly able to love our neighbor as if they were ourselves!
Let’s keep reading – verse 30 “In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down
from
Perhaps
this may be a bit like us not wanting to get too close to ex-criminals, or
street people or even people who aren’t exactly just like us - The untouchables of our western clean middle
class world.
When we
avoid people like this aren’t we acting just like the priest? And so we’re not being a Good Neighbor and
we’re certainly not loving our neighbor.
Could
it be argued then that in ignoring these people not only are we not being good
neighbors but we’re not acting out of a love that’s completely sold out to the
Creator of all beings. We’re not loving
God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength for if we were we would love
our neighbor as ourselves and we would therefore stop and help the wounded man
instead of passing by with a disdainful look on our faces!
So let’s read on –
verse 32: So too, a Levite
who served the
when he came to
the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan[1],
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 (e˙pimele÷omai
epimeleomai;
which means - to take care of, to
give proper consideration to some issue or matter — ‘to think about, to be
concerned about, to give attention so as to respond.) 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 (e¶leoß
eleos; mercy, pity, compassion: —compassion(2),
mercy(25).)
on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Now I want to draw your attention to the word that Jesus used to describe the attitude of the Good Samaritan and to the word that the Inquirer used to describe him.
Jesus used the word - splagcni÷zomai;
and it means: to experience great affection and compassion for someone — ‘to
feel compassion for, to have great affection for, love, compassion.’ to be moved in the inward parts, i.e. to feel compassion; to take care of; to give proper consideration to some issue or
matter — ‘to think about, to be concerned about, to give attention so as to
respond.’
We’re
being called to this deeper love for all!
This is the level of love that God is calling us to for all!
This
is a tall order isn’t it!
Let
me share with you an experience I had recently in which God awoke me and gave
me a tremendous urge to pray for the virtue of a deeper love for all whom He
brought me into contact. I felt the
feeling and responded to God’s call to pray for this. I have prayed this prayer every morning since
that initial experience almost without exception.
O
how convicting it is for me now when old patterns of criticism well up and I
indulge them only to be convicted by the tiny virtue of love that God is
growing in me.
I
will talk more about this soon . .
Now compare this
with how the expert described him:
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who
had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Now the Greek word he used was e¶leoß eleos; and it means: mercy,
pity, and compassion.
This second meaning is very straightforward
but the first word describes a more fundamental “care” don’t you think? Jesus was describing a man who “gave proper
consideration to the man’s situation.
The Good Samaritan was concerned about the man and it was out of this
deep concern that he showed compassion – elios!
Yes, he showed compassion because of His deep
concern for the man. Truly the Samaritan
was good and out of this goodness flowed his compassion.
I find it fascinating that Jesus used this
man as an example don’t you. Why do you
think Jesus used a man who was despised by the Jewish establishment?
Could
it have been that He wanted to show that compassion – true concern for our
fellow man - wasn’t something only for the Jews but for all humankind even for
those who stand at the other side of our cultural or economic or ethnic divide?
Yes, God’s love breaks down every barrier –
even the barriers that arise between husbands and wives over the years or
between fathers and mothers and their children.
The love that comes from God reaches out beyond ANY – and God means
“ANY” barriers.
Now we need to explore how we are to do
this. What’s a key to all of this?
Now share my personal
experience in all of this.
About 3 weeks ago I awoke
on morning very early and was overwhelmed with a burning desire to ask God to
make me a truly great lover of all people.
My heart was bursting and I knew then that this was of God. That God was growing something inside of me
and all that I had to do was pray the prayer that He was leading me in.
All of this was very very
easy! All I had to do was flow with the
tide that God was inexorably drawing me along in.
I believe that God was to
stir up this desire in each of our hearts right now!
But I need to share the
rest of the story with y’all!
Over the next weeks after
this wonderful time of prayer God has been revealing ever so painfully how
desperately short I fall in this virtue!
Ah! He caught me by the heart and then showed me those things in my heart that needed to be cleaned out if that loving desire is to become the dominant drive in my heart.
Can you see it now? To become like the Good Samaritan I needed to
cooperate with God in some necessary cleansing – much like what y’all have been
doing to this grand old building – cleansing it and thereby preparing it for
Worship and Good Works to the end that God’s Kingdom will be glorified and
expanded!
Please bow your heads and
let me pray for all of us that God would awaken in each and every one of us a
deep and abiding desire to be true Christian lovers – to become lovers just
like the Good Samaritan!
Let’s pray . . . .
Amen and Amen!
[1]
Samaritan: It is
important to note that Samaritans were despised by the story's target audience,
the Jews. The Samaritans were also largely taught by their interpretation of
history to hate Jews. [2]
Thus the parable, as told originally, had a significant theme of non-discrimination and
interracial harmony. But as the story reached those who were unaware of the
status of Samaritans, this aspect of the parable became less and less
discernible: fewer and fewer people ever heard of them in any context other
than this one. To address this problem with the unfamiliar analogy, the story
is often recast in a more recognizable modern setting where the people are ones
in equivalent social groups known to not interact comfortably. For instance
instead of a Jew being helped by a Samaritan one could place a Palestinian in
that role, or even a member of Hezbollah aided by an orthodox Jew. One could
also have a racist helped by a member of another race, a sexist woman helped by
a man, or a devoutly religious person helped by an atheist, or any reverse or
combination thereof. The message's essentials is that humanity's bonds in
brotherhood transcends social and cognitive segmentations which we adopt in our
lives.
Thus cast appropriately, the parable regains its socially explosive message to modern listeners: namely, that an individual of a social group they disapprove of can exhibit moral behaviour that is superior to individuals of the groups they approve; it also means that not sharing the same faith is no excuse to behave poorly, as there is a universal moral law. Many Christians have used it as an example of Christianity against racial prejudice.