Proper 10C (Lk 10:25-37)  07-11-2010

“Who is my neighbor?” An important question for us to consider and, as we hear this morning, the answer has consequences for our actions. Last weekend, Carol and I spent the first part of the long July 4^th weekend in our yard, pulling up weeds and putting down mulch. A lot of hard work, especially in the heat, but our yard looks much better and hopefully our neighbors are happy with the improvements. Who is my neighbor – in this case, the people who live in the area near our house. After working in the yard, we spent the remainder of our weekend at the beach and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the annual festivities of the July 4^th weekend. During our visit to the beach we met many of the same people who are there year after year, but we also saw many new people – visitors we had never met before. For the duration of the weekend, we enjoyed some rest and had the opportunity to share fun and fellowship with others – and all of these people were our beach neighbors. But as the weekend came to an end and many of the visitors began to go home, the focus of attention along the beach turned to a rather large tree. This tree stands on the property of a home at the edge of the beach and provides wonderful shade for the property owners. The larger the tree – the more the shade! But the larger the tree – the more the beautiful view of the ocean disappears for those who live behind this wonderful shade tree. The property owners have some decisions to make about their tree: should they grow their tree and enjoy the splendid shade on a hot day or should they trim their tree back to reveal the beautiful view of the ocean to those who live behind the tree? Who is my neighbor?

In our Gospel lesson this morning, we hear a lawyer exchanging questions with Jesus. First, what is required of us in order to inherit a share of eternal life in heaven – love the Lord your God with all that you have and all that you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. This first exchange prompts the lawyer to seek clarification: who is my neighbor? We might wonder, was the lawyer simply curious to see if his definition of “neighbor” was adequate or was he searching for boundaries to his love for others? Regardless of the lawyer’s intent, Jesus does not fall for any trap the lawyer might intend for him and instead tells a story.

A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho; traveling down a road that had many isolated and dangerous areas. As Jesus told this story, the man who fell into the hands of robbers and was beaten was likely intended to be someone of the community in or near Jerusalem…a person who would be familiar to the people who heard this story. Soon enough, a Priest traveled down that same road and we might imagine the Priest had enough compassion to stop and help, but he passed the man by on the other side of the road. A short time later, a Levite traveled down the road and he too passed the man by on the other side of the road. The Priest and the Levite, leaders of the community, might have worshiped with this man or at least had seen him in the past. But the Priest and the Levite passed by the man – and although this is surprising at first, if they stopped to help they would have been unclean according to Jewish law and unable to serve at worship. To help this one man would jeopardize their duties to the community for the rest of the week…and what would the congregation think? And then a Samaritan came down the road. The Samaritan was a Jewish person from the northern region of Israel who did not worship at the Jerusalem Temple, but at a local synagogue in Samaria. No one would expect anything from a person such as this – this person is certainly not my neighbor! But the Samaritan stopped and helped the man in need.

The Samaritan put his personal agenda aside; he put all thought of the time or expense involved with helping the stranger aside; and be became personally involved with helping the man in need. As Jesus told this story for the benefit of the lawyer, and us, he was sure to point out that the Samaritan did something that cost time and money: there was personal sacrifice involved; there was a very personal expense that the Samaritan paid in order to assist the man in need. But why would a stranger, a Samaritan even, help the man in the street? What was the difference that allowed the Samaritan to act with compassion when the Priest and the Levite could not? We are given a hint to this question when Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which one of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” And the lawyer replied, “the one who showed him mercy.”

The Samaritan showed the man mercy – and the Samaritan’s mercy is what made him different from the Priest and the Levite in two important ways. The word “mercy” from the original Greek is meant to convey not only compassion and kindness, but also conveys an understanding that action is involved. The “mercy” we hear in our Gospel lesson is not a passive and distant compassionate reaction, but an active word of goodwill. The Samaritan is different because he believed that those who have the ability and resources to help those in need are compelled to take action to help. The Samaritan is also different because he does not seek to define boundaries of neighbor and stranger as the lawyer did. The Samaritan reflects Jesus’ understanding that there are no boundaries to the one we call neighbor.

“Who is my neighbor?” As I reflect on my long weekend during the July 4^th holiday, I think to myself, “who is my neighbor?” The picnic guest from out of town; the young ice cream lover who jumped into line to get a double-scoop and some extra hot fudge; or the person struggling to carry all their beach chairs, towels and umbrella – yes to all these! But after the fireworks grand finale was over, there was still the problem of the ever-growing shade tree. Like the Priest and Levite, people who appear to be so similar can discover there are things in their life that really separate them and they simply walk to the other side of the road. We all have “shade trees” in our life – and sometimes we live under the shade of the tree and sometimes we struggle to see beyond the tree. But there are no boundaries to the one we call neighbor and to our neighbors we are called by Jesus to love as ourselves and to show mercy. The Samaritan showed us how to love with great mercy and Jesus teaches us, “go and do likewise.” AMEN.