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5th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10 (15) year C
HumorClergy on the MovePeace & Justice  | NexGen Worship

Texts & Discussion:

Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Other Resources:

Commentary:

Matthew Henry,    Wesley

Word Study:
Robertson

This Week's Themes:

Loving/Serving Others
Personal Vision/Calling
God of Justice


 



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 Texts in Context | Text Commentary - First Lesson; PsalmEpistleGospel
Prayer&Litanies
|  Hymns & Songs | Children's Sermons | Sermons based on Texts

 

 

Sermons:


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Who is My Neighbor?

based on Luke 10:25-37
by Dr. David Rogne

A young, rather innocent girl from a small country town went to seek work in a large city. She was given one of those massive forms to fill out: Name, address, family history, etc. When she came to the question, "In case of emergency, whom should we notify?" she called the personnel manager over and said, "I don't understand." The manager said, "Well, you know, if some accident befell you on the job, or some emergency arose, whom should we call?" She responded, "Why, the nearest human being, of course." If only that were so! When she has spent a little time in the city, she will discover that many human beings are not that neighborly.

Our scripture reading for this morning picks up on the idea of neighborliness and helps us see some of its characteristics. You will remember that a lawyer, seeking to test Jesus, asks him, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him what he already knows from the Jewish law, and he responds that people are to love God, and their neighbor as themselves. When Jesus responds that that will satisfy the requirements, the lawyer persists and asks, "Who is my neighbor?" It is then that Jesus tells the story of a man making a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho along the road that was called in those days the "bloody road," because it was filled with caves and sharp turns where robbers could hide and fall upon lonely travelers. Usually people would travel in groups for greater protection, but this man who was alone, became the victim of muggers, and was left to die. A priest and a religious professional who passed by offered no help, but a despised Samaritan, a half-breed, coming on the scene, had compassion and took care of the man.

Then Jesus concluded the story by asking who was neighbor to the hurt man in the story, and the lawyer had to confess that it was the one who showed mercy. Jesus said simply, "Go and do likewise." Does that mean that everyone who wants to do "likewise" has to go out and find a mugging victim to help? I don't think so. "Likewise" means that we have to be as sensitive to our opportunities as the Samaritan was to his. There are, however, some characteristics in this good Samaritan that will help us to identify how good neighbors act.

For one thing, the Samaritan took action. Sometimes, when we are faced with a problem, we prefer to study it to death. Xerox is a case in point. It devoted millions of dollars and years of effort to the development of a personal computer. It hired many of the most brilliant minds, people who would eventually make microcomputer technology possible. But Xerox couldn't make the decision. The former director of research says that they had a sure-fire micro product ready long before the founders of Apple Computer came on the scene, but, he says, they got bogged down planning the Invasion of Normandy, and didn't get into the market. Similarly, when we embark on some program of good work, somebody can always think of one more report that we should have before we begin, and as a result, nothing is done.

Sometimes the problem is that we don't agree with one another about how to proceed, so nothing gets done. Max Lucado, in his book, And the Angels Were Silent, tells of Peter Loetz who took a bad fall that left him with a punctured lung and broken ribs and internal bruising. Lying in an emergency room, barely conscious, he probably thought things couldn't get any worse. They did. As he looked up, the two doctors responsible for his care began arguing over who would get to put a tube into his crushed chest. The argument became a shoving match, and one doctor threatened to have the other removed by the security police. "Please, somebody save my life," Loetz pleaded as the doctors fought over him. The two doctors were arguing over procedure. While they were debating, two other physicians assumed responsibility for the patient and saved his life.

Fortunately, the Samaritan didn't have anyone to argue with. Indeed, those who were listening to Jesus' story would have assumed that the Samaritan would not have had any insights worth listening to anyway--he would not know the laws of God--he would be held in contempt. Yet he knew what was called for--action. Henry Ward Beecher pointed out a long time ago that "Religion means work. Religion means work in a dirty world. The world has got to be cleaned by somebody; and you are not called by God if you are ashamed to scour and scrub." If we really want to be helpful, we have to get beyond talking about the problem and do something.

Another thing the Samaritan did was to give of his time. He no doubt had some place to be--an appointment to be kept--a customer to see. But he interrupted his journey, took the time to administer first aid, put the victim on his own donkey, got him to an inn, stayed the night, and cared for him.

Time is the hardest thing for us to give one another. Michael Quoist has written: “When I was young, my mother was going to read me a story, but she had to wax the bathroom floor and there wasn't time. When I was young, my grandparents were going to come for Christmas, but they couldn't get someone to feed the dogs, and my grandfather did not like the cold weather, and besides, they didn't have time. When I was young, my father was going to listen to me read my essay on ‘What I Want to Be When I Grow Up’ but there was Monday night football and there wasn't time. When I grew up and left home to be married, I was going to sit down with Mom and Dad and tell them I loved them and would miss them, but my best man was honking the horn in front of my house, so there wasn't time.” [continue]