Proper 10 C Good Neighbors

 Proper 10 C Good Neighbors
July 10, 2016
By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell


As scripture guides us through the season of Pentecost, we are all learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how important it is to look for the true worth of another human being. To be honest it’s what I personally admire most about the man Jesus. He met all sorts of people. Some mired down in their destructive way of life, some mired down in self-righteousness. No matter how people presented themselves, Jesus had an uncanny ability to see their God given potential. Then through His persistent, patient love, He coaxed, kidded, and inspired men and women to see in themselves what He saw, then offered His encouragement to live up to it. Isn’t that what every parent, teacher, friend, and leader would want to emulate? 


The other thing I love and admire about Jesus was His confidence in people’s hunger for wholeness, and their personal integrity that they would choose the truth for themselves. For example: When Jesus told the rich young man to get rid of his material idols, a condition that had put him in a state of spiritual bankruptcy, the young man walked away. What did Jesus do? ….nothing. But He knew the seed had been planted. I would like to believe that later, when the time was right, the rich young man would revisit Our Lord’s proposition. 


In today’s Collect we prayed for that very thing to happen to us. “Lord, grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do, and then find the grace and power to faithfully accomplish them.


When we pray like that, and believe in the power of prayer, there’s a strong chance that we will find our lives headed in a new direction. God answers prayers in one of four ways; Yes, no, wait, and……Hang onto Your Hat! Now, let’s watch Jesus start that change process in today’s Gospel. He is approached by a wonderful young man, who I believe is sincerely interested in living a life that would truly please God. No doubt he was familiar with the words we just heard from Deuteronomy. (He is a lawyer, and Deuteronomy is the book of the law).


The law says, “The Lord will make you abundantly prosperous when you observe His commandments and decrees.” So, the young man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In other words, how can I be sure that I am living the life that will be a delight to God, and bring me abundant joy?


Isn’t that the question that we should all come to God with on a regular basis? How can I make this life; God’s delight, my joy, and my neighbor’s respect?


As Jesus often did, He invites the man to answer his own question. You’re a lawyer, what does it say in the law? “Easy,” says the lawyer, “I’ve known the answer to that one since I was a child. 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.”


Let me try to rephrase his good answer in my own words. Make a relationship with God your number one priority, and learn how, by God’s grace, to save something of yourself for people who need your care. Do this and it will delight God, bring joy to your life, and make you a trusted resource of respect and encouragement to your neighbor. 


Lawyers, as we know, are interested in words, and their precise meaning. So, this young man asks Jesus for his interpretation of the word “neighbor.” Our dictionary defines neighbor as one who lives nearby, or in close proximity. 


We have lived on Wauna Vista Drive for 35 years, and we have always had nice neighbors. We take in each other’s mail and paper when someone will be out of town. We loan each other tools and trucks, and exchange pleasant conversation. One neighbor, age six, used to regularly ring our doorbell so he could retrieve some object that in his strength and exuberance he had hurled over the fence. Now, through our living room window, we enjoy watching him completely dismantle and reassemble his truck. He is amazing.


I think the lawyer was hoping that the definition of neighbor would look something like the neighbors I just described. But, darn it, Jesus always seems to have a way of broadening our horizons and expanding our boundaries. 


Instead of giving a pat definition of “neighbor” Jesus tells a story, and I believe with “mischievous intention” makes the hero of the story someone that his lawyer friend can not stand! Samaritans were jews who lost their Jewish purity by joining themselves to foreigners in marriage. They were considered “half-breeds.” If you were a Jew, you would not want your daughter to fall in love with a Samaritan.


In Jesus’ story, the man that was half-dead is carefully avoided by two Jewish men of God, but then receives excellent care from a Samaritan. Can you believe it? ……a Samaritan that is good! Then Jesus asks the lawyer which of the three do you think was the neighbor to the robbery victim? What could the lawyer say? We know what he could not say. He could not bring himself to say…why it was the Samaritan. But he had to say something so….he said, it was the one who showed mercy.


Love your neighbor as yourself…. but who is my neighbor? I believe Jesus is trying to expand our neighborhood. According to the story, a neighbor could be anyone in need that we are able to help.


While “Channel surfing” I came across a televangelist who wanted to “get rid” of anyone who was a sinner; by his definition: “Send them all to an island so we can keep America for God and Jesus Christ!” I wondered if we both knew the same Jesus.


Example) The Interlocken Lane Encounter: Once, while making a parish call back in Minnesota a parishioner opened her door and greeted me with… “That damn Roman Catholic Church!” She was holding a martini. It was 4:00 p.m. When I asked why she would say that, she explained that the Roman Catholic Church had made it possible for a…black family….to buy a house on Interlocken Lane. I was moved to ask, what kind of a man was he? She said, “We’ve never met.” As it turned out, he (her new neighbor) held a doctor’s degree in physics, and was employed by Honeywell who needed his talent.


It occurred to me that, like the good Samaritan, he just might be the smartest, nicest man that had ever lived on Interlocken Lane.


In today’s Gospel we see that:

We can beat people up.

We can pass people up.

Or

We can help people up


Let’s pray today’s collect again: “Lord, grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do, and then find the grace and power to faithfully accomplish them.


Jesus asked, who was the neighbor? The one who showed mercy. Go and do likewise.

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