TITLE: “The Neighbor”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus. Amen. Our text for this morning is from Luke 10, with focus on the words, Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.

I wonder sometimes if we forget the name of our faith. Christianity. It kind of rolls off your tongue. Christianity. And yet in the midst of all of the things of this life, the very foundation of our faith may easily be lost. Roofing problems. Daycares. Schools and Academys. Outreach. Budgets and money. Family problems. Health, either yours or a loved ones. Relationships, be they good or bad. It’s easy to get in the middle of all these things, church life or home life or work life or your so-called-life, and then to get up Sunday morning and go to church, and to believe that it is all these things you do everyday that make you a Christian. You take care of and provide for your family. You put some money in the offering plate. You serve on a committee somewhere. You sing and pray and hear God’s Word, more or less. That must mean you are a Christian, because you are doing the right things.

But what we so often forget is that Christianity is about Christ and His work for you, not you and your work for Him.

Our Lord knows our fundamental self-absorption, and so he tells us a parable. There once was a man who believed he knew everything. He knew what God wanted, and furthermore, he believed that he could deliver. God, after all, had given him a good heart apparently. He was a good person. And so, like any good lawyer, he only asks questions that he already knows the answers to. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The answer, to him, was obvious. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love you neighbor as yourself.” It was in the book. Deuteronomy, to be exact. When the children of Israel needed a summary of the Law, because Ten Commandments was apparently too complicated, God gave it to them. Love me with everything you are and have, and love you neighbor as much as you love me.

Jesus decides to play along with this lawyer. Because no lawyer can get the best of the One who gave the Law itself. He answers as the lawyer expect. So the lawyer, in order to justify himself and make clear to all of those around who was the real keeper of the Law, asks Jesus the next obvious question: and who is my neighbor?

Now the obvious answer, at least to us, is that your neighbor is anyone in need. But that answer was not so obvious in Jesus’ day. In fact, many of the Jewish bible scholars of Jesus’ day firmly believed that your neighbor was another Jew that you came across, not anyone else. As long as you try to take care of those in the family, as it were, then you are keeping the Law. Do just enough, and no more.

This is, to be fair, exactly how we all behave when it comes to works of love and charity. We’ll take care of our own, but going outside of that little comfort zone is, well, it’s just too expensive. You see, when you look at generosity, you measure. If I give this much money or time or talents to this project, then I won’t have enough for that project. If I give too much at church, then I won’t have enough for my children’s college fund, or my own personal party fund. Even with the best of motivations, which we all rarely if ever have, you only have so much to give. And it is never enough. So you measure your charity and love. You decide all the time how much will you give.

It is easy at this point to say that you have to do that. I mean, you only have so much to give. If you give more, then there will be nothing left. But this is precisely what the Law demands. Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. Anything you keep for yourself you give to your neighbor, anyone that you run across in need in your life.

Does that make you nervous? Do you feel your pocketbook getting smaller, your precious time slipping away, your control over your life disappearing? You should feel nervous. In fact, you should feel more than nervous. You should feel convicted, for you can’t do it. Just like the man in our text could not bare the thought of actually reaching down, touching this half-dead, stinking and nasty Samaritan, in the same way, you cannot bare the thought of being outside of your comfort zone.

Whatever you do to the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me, so said Jesus in another parable about charity and love. When you reach out to those in need, whether you’re talking about your own family, the family of faith, or anyone else in need, there is Jesus. For you see, Jesus so identifies with this world that He is in this world. He is in that beggar on the street. He is in that child who needs a father. He is in that grandmother whom no one comes to see in the nursing home. He is there. And when you refuse to give of yourself, you cut yourself off from God Himself, for that is what sin does. Sin separates you from God and it separates you from the very people whom you love and need the most.

But there is hope, dear children of God. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. And again: Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Jesus is both the man lying dead on the road, as he did on the cross, and he is the Good Samaritan, who comes and binds up our wounds, and who pays the price to the innkeeper, no matter what the price may be. You can’t do it, dear friends. Don’t deceive yourself. But the good news of the Gospel is that He has done it. He has done it all. And even more than that, He now uses you here in this world, to accomplish His holy and wonderful purposes. You may not even realize it is happening, but He’s there.

Christianity, you see, is not about you and your works. It is about Christ and His work. It is about His work for you and in you, by Word and Sacrament. So come to His Holy Table, the banquet of sinners, and receive from Him what you cannot do for yourself. Come and believe. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.