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Faith Lutheran Church, Medford OR
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Luke 10:23-37 JESUS TO YOU: GO ‘DO LIKEWISE’
PRAYER Dear LORD Jesus, You are the only Good Samaritan Who has seen us lying in our blood-guiltiness on the way of this life. You did have mercy on us and took away the sins of the world. We pray You, fill our hearts and minds with this good- Samaritan spirit that we do not harden our hearts or pass by on the other side when we see the misery and evil found around us and throughout this sin-cursed earth, but follow Your example of compassion and Christian love. We ask You to hear our prayer and to bless the proclamation of Your Word of Law and Gospel. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus, Who calls you to flee for refuge to His infinite grace and mercy, seeking and imploring His grace, dear fellow redeemed;
ABRUPT ENDING Look at it again, and you’ll notice this Gospel has a rather abrupt ending. “Go and do likewise” says Jesus, and the next verse of Luke 10 begins a whole new account. You can almost hear the silence in the abruptness, see Jesus and the expert in the Law staring at each other, each waiting for a response. Jesus knew the response He was waiting for, but the expert in the Law was no doubt a little confused. We shouldn’t be surprised if, standing there, he thought to himself or perhaps even said out loud, “Do likewise? Do what likewise? Be a good neighbor? Be kind? Go out and look for people on the side of the road and help them? And what does ‘likewise’ mean? Does it mean to copy the actions of the Samaritan exactly, does it mean to emulate the Samaritan, or come as close to it as you are able? You’re going to have to give me more direction here, Jesus.” Even aside from the content and message of the Parable, the abrupt ending to it must have made this a very frustrating encounter for the expert in the Law.
TRY TO STUMP ME But then, encounters with God’s Law tend to be frustrating, and the Law very abrupt. The man in our text approached Jesus very comfortable with God’s Law. He had studied it, analyzed it, and debated it to the point where he figured he had mastered it, even conquered it. He was an expert in it, so much so that it is simply a topic of casual conversation for him. What do you think of this weather today, Jesus? Oh, and you seem like a pretty religious fellow. What more do You think I need to do to be sure of my place in heaven?” So comfortable is the man with God’s Law that he is actually eager to ask that question, because he thinks he is prepared to deal with the answer. He’s like a sport’s fan who thinks he’s about to be quizzed on his favorite team. He’s saying to Jesus “You think You can stump me, Jesus? Go ahead and try.” And he rapidly fires off an answer to Jesus’ first question. What does the Law say? Easy! “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.”
[JUST] DO IT And that, too, when you think about it, is a pretty brief, pretty abrupt answer. So rather than discuss, or analyze, or debate it, Jesus allows the Law to stand in its abruptness. You’re right, says Jesus. That is it. You have spoken well. Now do it.
TH’LAWNOLONGERTAME Andthatleavesanuncomfortablesilence, because the lawyer discovers that stripped of his analysis and explanation the Law has also been stripped of its cushion and is no longer tame. It begins to reassert its authority over his conscience, and this is vexing indeed. So the lawyer seeks to tame the Law again, show it who’d boss, by forcing the Law to explain itself. Those words are so plain, Jesus. They could mean anything. Like the word “neighbor”; what does that mean? Who is my neighbor?
10 COMMANDMENTS We understand the lawyer’s question because we too have worked hard to become experts in the Law in the hope of taming it. We hear the Ten Commandments:
1. You shall have no other gods. 2. You shall not dishonor God’s Name. 3. You shall honor God’s Word. 4. You shall honor your parents. 5. You shall not murder. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not lie. 9 & 10. You shall not covet.
WE TRY TO WIGGLE And they too, are rather curt, rather abrupt in their speaking to us. Alone they call us up short and leave us wanting. Like the lawyer in our text, we find they intrude on any comfort we have established with God’s Law, and we don’t want the abruptness to stand. We are left with no answer, and so we work to fill that uncomfortable silence with words that we hope will re-establish that comfort zone. We seek to explain our behavior to dull their impact, so that when the Fourth Commandment confronts our disobedience to our parents or government, we are quick with our expert explanation of why I was justified in talking back to my parents, or doing what they told me not to do. When the Sixth Commandment condemns me for not always loving and appreciating my spouse, or not always respecting God’s institution of marriage, I am quick with my explanation of how my spouse has mistreated me, not met my needs, not been loving to me, and how I need to love myself before I can love another. When the Law condemns me for my greed, I am quick to explain how I have so little, and others have so much more. If God were only more generous with me, then perhaps I could give more.
AMBIGUOUS [COMMANDMENTS] We know what it is like to feign confusion over God’s Law, to say “The Commandment is so old, the words so ambiguous. How can we ever really know what they mean? So let us both sit down and ask, What does this passage mean to me, and each come up with our own understanding, and call them all valid.”
STILL, I’M BETTER THAN… We know what it is like to be “comfortable with God’s Law,” to think we have mastered it. To see the evil in the world and think, I am so much better than that. Better than that kid who never listens to the teacher. Better than that guy who does drugs. Better than that girl who sleeps around, that guy who’s cheating on his wife. Better than co- worker who is so lazy, or that customer who loses their temper. We know what it is like to have the Confession of Sin in the service become more of a
formality, something we hope others are taking seriously. We often refer to our sinful nature as the Old Adam, but perhaps better would be the Old Lawyer, who always stands ready to rationalize our sinful behavior, explain it away, so we can stay comfortable. It’s a wretched thing.
YET, YOU ARE BLESSED[?!] And yet, Jesus calls us blessed. Blessed, not that we have mastered the avoidance of guilt and living in the fantasy world where nothing is our fault. There is no “ignorance is bliss” theology in Christendom. But blessed because of what your eyes have seen and what your ears have heard. For while you have seen your guilt, you have heard your condemnation, you have also seen your Savior, and you have heard His Words to you. “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You have heard Jesus say to you, “Your sins are forgiven.” You have heard Jesus say to you, “This is My Body. This is My Blood; given for the forgiveness of your sins.” Jesus has spoken to us to tell us that while we have tried to dismiss our sin, or explain it away, or ignore it, He has dealt with it. He has taken our punishment for it. He has died our death for it, and now it is separated from us. It was taken from us and put on Jesus, and so long as it is with Him, it can no longer trouble us. You see, more than a lesson on how to treat our neighbor, this Parable is a lesson on how our Good Samaritan took us, broken and bleeding by the rough and abrupt treatment of the law, and bound our wounds and healed us, and promised to do all that is required to make us fit for God’s Kingdom. The Law may deal with us rudely and abruptly, but in doing so it drives us to Jesus, whose yoke is easy, whose burden is light, and who gives rest to our souls.
[NEXT.] MARY & MARTHA Under the category of how Scripture always has something new to teach us all the time, in all the years of preaching this text, this is the first time I noticed this Parable is followed by the story of Mary & Martha, and what an excellent fit that is. This is no coincidence, because what do you have in the story of Mary and Martha? Two sisters, one who sought to find her place with Jesus in her service to Him, and the other who found her place with Jesus in listening to Him, and Jesus who does not condemn Martha for her doing, but Who does commend Mary for choosing the better part, the One Thing that is Needful. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus would say to you — Do Likewise.
CHOOSE THE BETTER PART. Do not attempt to assuage your guilt or justify your sin through many actions and much doing, but sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him speak Words of love and comfort to you, so that your eyes may be blessed, your ears rejoice to hear a message that was given not to kings and prophets, but to you, dear child of God, Amen.
[Laache p.541, v.2] Love, alone the Law fulfilling, Is the bond of perfectness, Love, Who came a Victim willing, Paid our debt and brought us peace; Therefore love and peace in union Ever grow in sweet Communion, And through love, we may abide One with Him Who for us died.