The Lutheran Hour
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"Extreme Neighborliness"
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Text: Luke 10:25-37
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And Jesus said, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia.
Won’t you be my neighbor? Since Sunday School days I’ve heard the parable in our reading from Luke, chapter 10. It’s one that I really like-especially Jesus’ punch line at the end. It’s the parable of the Good Samaritan. Do you like it, too? Let’s listen to how it starts: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” [Jesus] replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29 NIV)
Hmmm, that’s an interesting reply: “Who is my neighbor?” Do you think that the expert in the law had a neighbor he didn’t like? Do you have any hard-to-get-along-with neighbor stories? I’ve had a few neighbors who bugged me over the years.
Neighbor issues abound. Countries fight with countries, people like us dislike people like them, politicians bicker, coworkers quarrel, and family members squabble. We’ve got neighbor issues. Why? Because, like the expert in the law in Luke 10 who was trying to justify himself and prove that he was an all-around very good guy, we are, in truth, fallen, flawed, and frail people. We have problems with each other. We are a mess. We are sinners. It’s true whether we admit it or not. We need help and repair. We need a Good Samaritan, don’t we?
If you’re tired of living in neighborly conflict, in discord with people in your life, pay close attention. You may not be able to solve the tension in your life, but you have a Friend and a Savior Who cares and Who can. His name is Jesus. That’s why He answered the expert in the law by telling a remarkable story. As I mentioned, it is called the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This is what Jesus said in response, then, to the question from the expert in the law, “Who is my neighbor?” A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side (Luke 10:30-32).
You might think the priest and the Levite were being heartless for avoiding the man in trouble, but as people listened to this story back then, they may have applauded those two church officials. You see, they may well have been doing the right thing according to the letter of the law. According to the Law, an upright, religious person was made ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body. If the man was dead, this priest and Levite were supposed to stay away according to their Law. Since the man could have been dead, many people during Jesus’ time figured those religious leaders were right in what they did.
You see Jesus’ point, don’t you? It is possible to be right, but be wrong at the same time. You can fulfill the law outwardly but violate the heart of God. Bible verses may even back you up to a degree, but you may be missing the Bible’s ultimate point, the grace and the love of God.
Let’s bring it home a bit. You may very well have been totally right, absolutely innocent, and completely blameless when you tangled with your loved one, but you may still need to humble yourself and compassionately apologize to your wife, to your kids, or to your parents, or to a person who is totally wrong and may even be violating God’s ways for the sake of a greater good, a greater love. That’s a tough one, isn’t it?Jesus is digging deep here, friends. Extreme neighborliness, as I like to call it, has to be resourced in something more than the best efforts of sinful people like us. Extreme neighborliness means taking some chances based on the love, the kindness, and even the humility that finds its source in this grace of God in Christ for you. Such self-sacrifice, which risks looking wrong even when you are trying to do the right thing, often shouldering unjust blame for a time in order to bring God’s life-changing love into the equation; that’s a gracious love that really changes things!
When you read the Bible, you can see that those are the exact charges that Jesus often faced when trying to do what people needed from God’s point of view.
In fact, He was even crucified as a criminal! Jesus carried the sin of the world, was given the death penalty on earth, and received the complete wrath of God as He hung on the cross. Why, in order to give the gift of forgiveness, God’s forgiveness, to the world. Jesus looked completely wrong so He could make your life and mine completely right by His grace. It was a risk. It was selfless. It was counterintuitive. It was the compassionate way of God in Jesus.
Sometimes the world understands extreme neighborliness more than we do. That’s what we hear as Jesus continued the parable of the Good Samaritan. Remember, a man was robbed and beaten and was left for dead on the side of the road. Law-abiding religious officials steered themselves to the opposite side of the road when they saw the bleeding heap of naked flesh on the other side. But something shocking happened next. Jesus said: “But a Samaritan…”
Let’s put the brakes on right here. Jesus brought a Samaritan into the picture. The Jewish listeners must have nearly fainted. Samaritans then were despised by Jews. They would rather kill a Samaritan than shake his hand. Jesus might as well have said a terrorist stopped by. The very mention was repulsive. This was mind-boggling. Jesus continued: But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where [the injured man] was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return” (Luke 10:30-35).
A despised Samaritan, an unholy, messed up heretic, from their point of view, showed kindness. He was neighborly. He was probably helping an arch-enemy, a Jew. But he let love prevail. Jesus then asked: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Luke 10:36) The expert in the law replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” He probably couldn’t even say the word “Samaritan,” but he had to admit that the Samaritan proved to be a neighbor. How did Jesus reply? Jesus said to the expert in the law, “You go, and you do likewise” (Luke 10:37). Jesus didn’t only teach him who his neighbor was; He taught him how to be a neighbor to someone else.
Extreme neighborliness. Do you know how to be a neighbor? Jesus, of course, was not merely talking about helping the people who live next door. He was addressing the issue of extreme neighborliness for all. Really, this is where the Christian faith begins: with kindness and self-sacrifice.
In verse 33, the phrase “took pity on him” is a verb connected to Jesus over and over again in the Gospels. I love it in Greek: splangknizomai. You might have heard the word before. It sounds like what it is: overflowing compassion; a compassion from deep within. It is a word that refers to a deep and sincere outpouring of the heart for someone, manifested in gracious and generous action. It’s a Jesus Word – a God Word. You can’t do this on your own, no matter how hard you try; but you can receive this mercy from God as a gift, by grace through faith, and you can share it with others.
You see, we could look at this parable in a different way and see how it can also teach us about Jesus. Although Jesus does tell us to “go and do likewise,” take a moment and picture Jesus as the Samaritan. Then imagine that you’re the beat up guy on the side of the road, dying and injured because of your wounds, your struggles, your sin, your imperfection. You’re the undesirable heap, beat up and traumatized by this broken world and by your own failures.
And Jesus is the Samaritan, the most unlikely Savior from your point of view. He stopped for you. He came to heal your wounds. He picked you up and carried you to safety. He paid the price for you when He gave His life for you on the cross.
Hear the extreme neighborly words from Titus, chapter 3 that describe what this Christmas-Good Friday-Easter Sunday Jesus is all about. He says, “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…Poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6 NIV).
That sounds like a Good Samaritan type of grace, doesn’t it? Kindness through the cross, a washing and pouring out through baptism, generously; a new life given by the grace of God. Jesus is the extreme Neighbor to you, to me, to all people. And by faith, through His Word, He lives in you. By His Spirit, He teaches you and gives you everything you need. Mercied by the Good Samaritan, or even better, by the In-the-flesh Servant Messiah Jesus; “Go and do likewise.”
If you’ve received that kind of mercy in your life, then what might extreme neighborliness look like through your life today to others? How might the love of God in Jesus Christ spill over through you to your family or to the person in the cubicle next to you or to the person who just cut you off in traffic?
Do you feel humility? Do you see how you don’t have to be right about everything anymore? Do you see how you can say, “I’m sorry” and carry the load of someone else’s foul-up while you show them undeserved love? Do you understand that your job in life is not to criticize everyone; your calling in life is to generously show compassion to people who may not deserve it at all. But when you do, that’s when people will see how distinct and amazing Jesus is.
Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This isn’t mushy, milquetoast love. It is strong, courageous, risk-taking, faith-filled confidence in the life-transforming work of God through the counterintuitive work of Jesus Christ. It is extreme neighborliness that defeats hatred, prejudice, selfishness, grudges and infighting. It heals relationships and it mends souls. It builds people up and it opens the door to the Good News of eternal life for them. It will change your life and point everyone to the miraculous compassion of Jesus.
It’s extreme neighborliness flowing from the cross of Christ as you take up your cross and follow Him. And it works, dear friend. It works.
Bernard Hare was a student living north of London in the early 1980s when his father sent him an urgent message: “Get home, son. Get home.” His mother was in the hospital and was not expected to survive the night. Bernard immediately rushed to the train station only to find out he missed the last train. He spent all of his money to board a train to another town, but would miss the connection. He went anyway, wondering what he would do. As he sat despondent and crying on the train, he contemplated hitch-hiking, stealing a car, or stealing some money to make it the rest of the way home.
That’s when the conductor sat down next to him and said, “Are you okay?” Bernard brushed him off and told him to leave. The conductor persisted, “You look awful. Is there anything I can do?” “Get lost,” Bernard said. Bernard was a big guy and the conductor was smaller in stature, but he didn’t give up. “Listen, if there’s a problem, I’m here to help,” he said. “That’s what I’m paid for.” Finally, Bernard relented. He told him his story, “My mom, she’s in the hospital, dying. She won’t survive the night. I’m going to miss the train connection in the next town and I don’t know how I’ll make it home. It’s tonight or never. I won’t get another chance. I’d be grateful if you’d just leave me alone, okay?”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son,” the conductor said. “I’ll leave you alone, then. I hope you make it home in time.” The conductor got up and he made his way to the back of the train.
After about ten minutes, the conductor was back. Bernard was irritated, but the conductor said, “Listen, when we get to your stop, go to platform one as quickly as possible to catch your train to your home town. It will be waiting for you.” Bernard was confused. “What do you mean? Is it late or something?” “No, it isn’t late. I’ve just radioed ahead. They’re going to hold the train for you. As soon as you get on, it goes. Everyone will be complaining about how late it is. Let’s not worry about that this time. You’ll get home and that’s the main thing. Good luck and God bless.”
All Bernard could do through tears and surprise was to say, “Thank you. Thank you.”
Bernard made it home that evening. He was at his mother’s side when she died in the early morning hours. The conductor and his colleagues took all the complaints that night for the sake of a boy in need. Bernard said later, “My meeting with the good conductor changed me from a selfish, potentially violent hedonist into a decent human being, but it took time.” Having been blessed so generously and so graciously, Bernard became a social worker to serve young people in need.When someone is an extreme neighbor to you, it’s difficult not to share that love with the world. When God in Christ is that extreme Neighbor to you, forgiving you, serving you, blessing you by grace, there’s power to go and do likewise! Try me. Try me and see, in Jesus!
Amen.
Action in Ministry for July 10, 2016
Guest: Dr. Susan MobleyANNOUNCER: You’re listening to The Lutheran Hour and this is the segment of our program called Action in Ministry. Pastor Seltz, the story of the Good Samaritan is the story of the classic good neighbor.
SELTZ: That’s the story of grace given without discrimination. It’s a beautiful picture of Who Christ is for us, Mark. However, as we look back in history, there was a time when the church kind of obscured this message of grace. A German monk named Martin Luther appeared on the scene and caused quite an uproar because, once again, he brought to life this Gospel of grace alone through faith in Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: And we have a brand-new resource that we’re excited to tell you about today. It’s the second part of our series on Martin Luther: A Man Named Martin. This segment is called The Moment and it’s the story of Luther; his impact on history. But here specifically we’re talking about events and things that led up to the Reformation. In a sense, the back story of the Reformation. Joining us to talk about that is Dr. Susan Mobley of Concordia University, Wisconsin. Dr. Mobley, thanks for joining us.
MOBLEY: Thanks for having me. I’m always happy to talk about the Reformation.
SELTZ: We’re happy to have you here to do just that. Dr. Mobley, then, if we know Martin Luther at all, we probably are most familiar with his story of how he posted the 95 Theses, the debating points, on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. He wanted to discuss the selling of indulgences. But how is this the tip of the iceberg of what led to the Reformation in the 16th century?
MOBLEY: Well, if you go back and look at the history of the church, it changes all the time. So, in terms of indulgences, what Luther was really concerned about was people’s salvation because you can’t buy forgiveness, you can’t buy salvation. But what he was really worried is that’s what people thought they were doing. The question he really was answering is…it has to do with justification. How is an individual made right with God? And when he looked, he realized that the church didn’t have one definitive answer to that question. There were lots of answers but all of the prevailing answers emphasized man’s actions, not God’s.
SELTZ: Monks in monasteries; there were a lot of them. How did that impact the church at the time?
MOBLEY: Well, for most of the Middle Ages the monastic ideal really prevailed as the ideal life. It was a sense, again, if you were focusing on human actions and making one’s self right with God, then you do that by removing yourself from temptations of the world and trying to live a good life. Most people knew that they couldn’t live that sort of life and so they depended upon the monks to live that for them and to pray on their behalf.
SELTZ: Okay.
ANNOUNCER: What role did Scripture play in the lives of the people at that point and what role did it play in helping to form their thoughts and opinions?
MOBLEY: That’s a really hard question to answer. If you go to Europe and you walk through any cathedral, it’s telling the stories of the Bible visually.
SELTZ: …in the windows.
MOBLEY: The stories of the Bible are prevalent. They’re everywhere; in the songs, in the literature of the Middle Ages; so I think the Scriptures were important to people but they did not have the ability to read them for themselves.
ANNOUNCER: Directly.
MOBLEY: So most people couldn’t read, and even if you could read, the Bible in its entirety is only available in Latin. The chances of being able to read Latin…
SELTZ: They wouldn’t be able to do that…yeah…
MOBLEY: …is slim.
SELTZ: It was an oral culture, but in spite of all of that though, what I love about God’s plan is how He uses even these deviations and human errors for His good. Didn’t all of this just set the scene for someone like a Martin Luther to bring the light of the Gospel again to the forefront?
MOBLEY: It’s funny you say that because the movement, the cultural movement, preceding the Reformation was the Renaissance. Within that is something called humanism which is not used today in the correct sense; but it did place an emphasis upon man as the pinnacle of God’s creation. But it’s the humanists who gave Luther the tool to read the Scriptures in the original languages.
SELTZ: Absolutely. Many doctrines not compatible with Scripture have been adopted before Luther’s time. The biggest loss was the understanding of the application of grace. That takes us back to the Good Samaritan. We are broken. We’re hurt. We’re in need of a Savior. Christ came to save us not because of anything we have done to deserve it and that was Luther’s message. It wasn’t focusing on what people had to do to make this reconciliation, but what God had done. Dr. Mobley, the events that triggered the Reformation took place more than 500 years ago; why is it important to remember this stuff today?
MOBLEY: Our era, if you look at it, is actually not really that different from the 16th century. We are not all that different. We are still broken and sinful. We still live in a fallen world, but we have to be reminded that we can’t fix it. So we don’t have hope for this world; we have hope in this world because of Christ.
SELTZ: There you go. I love it.
ANNOUNCER: We’ve been talking about part two of our series on Martin Luther and the events of the Reformation. The title is A Man Named Martin: The Moment. Our conversation today really is just a glimpse, the tip of the iceberg, of what’s available to you through this resource. You can watch it in its entirety online. There are also discussion guides available. Dr. Susan Mobley, thanks again for joining us.
MOBLEY: Thanks for having me.
SELTZ: And that’s our Action in Ministry segment today to bless, to empower, and to strengthen your life in Christ for others.
ANNOUNCER: You can view or download this content for free at our website. You’ll also find more of our conversation with Dr. Susan Mobley. Go to lutheranhour.org and click on Action in Ministry. That’s lutheranhour.org. For information on ordering a DVD copy, call 1-855-john316. That’s 1-855-564-6316. Our email address is info@lhm.org.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 10, 2016
Topic: What does it mean to be a good neighbor in the church?ANNOUNCER: Now Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today a listener says, “I hear a lot about being a good neighbor to people in the community who are not followers of Jesus, but, let’s face it, sometimes the biggest challenge is how to get along with our fellow believers. What does it mean to be a good neighbor to people in the church?”
SELTZ: That can be a real struggle, Mark. Remember, inside and outside of the church, people are people. We are unique and varied-but we are all sinners who are saved by grace alone. Even as followers of Jesus, whose sins are covered by Christ, it’s not always easy to get along.
ANNOUNCER: We see the same thing happening even in the Bible. The Apostle Paul when he wrote his letters, a lot of times he was addressing conflicts within the church.
SELTZ: He made it very clear, though, Paul did, that followers of Jesus do have a higher calling. Christians aren’t supposed to conform to the ways of the world. The church is the body of Christ; it’s designed to show the world what a new creation in Jesus looks like.
ANNOUNCER: So, while disagreements and conflicts could arise even within the church, the followers of Jesus are called to address those difficulties in such a way that it shows the world who Jesus is.
SELTZ: Think about what the Apostle Paul said to his good friends in Ephesus. He said, “I urge you, then, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling, coming to faith in Jesus, to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).
ANNOUNCER: That’s packed with answers for our listener. It’s got humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love. He also says we are to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
SELTZ: Right, and when Paul is talking about this, he wants us to know what walking in this worthy calling is all about. We’re people justified by grace through faith and it leads us to a proactive effort toward self-sacrificial love, humility, and peace with one another. In fact, the miracle of the church…you can love your friends, but the miracle of the church is you come together with this group of people…and you start to love people you don’t even like all the time. We get to practice that first with our families, and then, of course, with our church families.
ANNOUNCER: Even though there times in the church where we face big issues. It involves debate and disagreement.
SELTZ: Yeah, again though, if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we can deal with these things. Ephesians, chapter 4, addresses the challenge. He invites people to grow up into Jesus Who is the head of the church and in that way, “we may no longer be children…” he says, “carried about by every wind of doctrine, human cunning, craftiness in deceitful schemes.” And here it comes, I love this verse. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, Jesus” (Ephesians 4:14-15).
ANNOUNCER: So, instead of falling into the trap of bickering, we are called to speak the truth in love.
SELTZ: Right. Christ’s truth, in Christ’s love…that’s how the church is set apart from the ways of the world. If we conform to the ways of the world and how they handle differences, we’re acting in the flesh. But if we keep in step with the Spirit, the church is built up in His love.
ANNOUNCER: To be a good neighbor in the church is very challenging.
SELTZ: It is challenging, but we don’t do this under our own power. Remember again, we’re new creations in Christ. We live by the grace of God and do the works He prepared in advance for us to do. When these Ephesian Christians felt a little overwhelmed by this, Paul let them know that it’s God’s love that gives us the power to live this new way.
ANNOUNCER: Right. He tells them to be….<"i>Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1-2).
SELTZ: Yes, we simply love because God first loved us.
ANNOUNCER: Okay, how do you start doing that?
SELTZ: First, I would recommend reading the Gospel of John to see how much God really does love you and how He sent His Son to save you. Revel in that. Be awed by that. And then I would recommend a humble and gentle approach to others, because that’s how Jesus approaches you, especially the people you disagree with or the people you might be annoyed by.
ANNOUNCER: And as we read the Bible, we find that it always recommends listening to people and seeking to understand them before you start talking.
SELTZ: That’s a good idea too because when you’re ready to dialog, I would recommend really be intent on continuing that relationship, doing it privately with a spirit of love, constantly being aware of what they’re saying and what their heart is saying to you. It would be good as a fellow believer, to pray together and to seek unity, to not push your agenda, but to walk with each other and, of course, in all these things see what God’s agenda might well be.
ANNOUNCER: Good advice for how to be a good neighbor not only within the community but to your neighbors within the church.
SELTZ: Absolutely.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Seltz. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Where Charity and Love Prevail” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“O God of Mercy, God of Might” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)