"Being Neighborly" - Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent

Being Neighborly
Lent 1 – Narrative Lectionary 3
March 5, 2017
Grace, Mankato, MN
Luke 10.25-42

On Ash Wednesday, we learned that Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and is on the way, as we know, to the cross. The day before, I had caught the tail end of the final Hobbit movie, based on the book by JRR Tolkien. I remembered the subtitle of the book is “There and Back Again,” the story about how a being called a Hobbit becomes an unlikely hero. It occurred to me that great stories often involve journeys such as “The Odyssey.” Upon further reflection, it occurred to me that the reverse is also true, that great journeys often involve great stories along the way. This Lent as we travel toward Jerusalem and the cross, Jesus is going to tell some great stories, ones that we call parables.

In the movie, Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln is portrayed as an inveterate story teller. In one scene, as he is clearly getting ready to let another one fly, one of his cabinet members runs screaming from the room saying, “Oh, no, he’s going to tell another story!” By the time Lent is done, we might do the same. At the very least, as the lawyer might, we could say, “That’s the last time I ask Jesus anything.” For we need to be reminded that Jesus’ parables are designed to open us up as much as we endeavor to open them up. In the parables of the so-called Good Samaritan and Mary and Martha (which I consider it parabolic) we are reminded just how dangerous Jesus’ stories (parables) are. They are not puzzles to be solved as much as they are mysteries to be entered into.

To take the parable of the Good Samaritan as directive to help anyone in need, even those we don’t care about, would be enough for today. In our present political climate of fear of the other, it would be a good thing to remember that our neighbor is one to whom we show mercy and compassion. And I am certainly grateful for the way you have stepped up, in the past and recently to those in need. You’ve helped settle refugees, some whom I met yesterday at the funeral of Joyce Nelson.  You feed the less advantaged at Crossroads Campus Ministry and Salvation Army as well as on Wednesday nights.  You have supported disaster responses and mission work all over the world. And last Sunday you voted to start a campaign to raise money to open our building even further to those in need in our community.

But, I want to suggest another way to enter the parable, this time through the eyes of the victim. It’s notable that Jesus chose a Samaritan as “good” since they and Jews were bitter enemies. It’s been observed that had Jesus reversed the roles, the Jew “good” and the Samaritan the victim, no one would have batted and eyelash. And as we recall from Ash Wednesday text, it was a Samaritan village that didn’t welcome him.

So why does Jesus use a Samaritan as the hero? Well, to get at this question, I’d like you to think for a moment about someone or group of persons you despise or are afraid of. Perhaps it’s a young, black man in a hoodie or motorcycle gang member. Perhaps it’s an entitled white person or a politician from the opposite political party. Maybe it’s someone who has hurt you deeply or even someone you have hurt. Whoever it is, you would avoid this person at all costs. Now, imagine you are bloody and beat up and through swollen, blurry eyes you see this person coming to help you. You might reasonably think, “Oh, no, not them. I’d rather die than be helped by them.”

Without solving the parable, I think Jesus opens up to at least two things to think about. First, he wants us to get a heads about the one who will be the savior of the world. After all, Jesus is the one who is going to go to Jerusalem, be rejected and die on the cross. Second, Jesus invites us to look with news eyes where God is working in the world. Often, it is in the most unlikely and unexpected places where God shows up, even through the so-called rejected ones. The parable of the Good Samaritan invites us to consider recognizing the presence of God in those we most fear, despise or reject. Furthermore, we are to be forewarned: Jesus will be telling more stories as we go “There and Back Again.” God bless you as you travel this road, open your eyes to see the neighbor as the locus of God’s action, draw near to them and have compassion. Amen.